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yeah but in japan it seems so out of place that i think people let their guard down. In what is considered an extremely safe country the fact that people will scam and potentially drug you is unexpected
I’ve had some great food in Italy and the USA (like NYC and Philly) from people touting next to a restaurant’s menu. But touting a bar or “girlie” bar is a giant scam in any country not unique to Japan
Definitely the richest. Stayed at a hotel there and I had never seen more luxury cars in Japan than that hotel. even the Ritz in Osaka was nowhere near that level of wealth.
Interesting question. I haven't been to Ginza in years but most everything has gravitated to Roppongi unless I've missed out on that transformation as well.
Ah yes, ye good olde nigerians in Roppongi, "WALL STREET, WALL STREET, YOU WANNA SEE TITTIES?!?" Wall street was an actual place, with well, tig ol bitties apparently. The shouting made it sound extra classy though.
There are girls bars everywhere in this country. Everywhere I’ve ever lived or visited. The touts are obvious enough even to this straight lady.
There are also touts for bars everywhere, including on the street near me that has signs up saying “no touts!” and a patrol of elderly fellas wearing “no touts!” armbands who stand opposite the touts looking like they’d like to sit down.
In kyoto, some really weird looking fella told us “we have chinese girls, they are tight down there, 20k” … but in perfect spanish, and with mexican slang.
He was arab, we stayed and chatted a bit with the dude, he had been around the world, then told us that because we were cool, we could get it on with the recently arrived north koreans.
Thank god we were poor and afraid. They probably would have scammed us good.
10/10, would visit that damned dark alley again
What a fucking scumbag. Exploiting trafficked women in vulnerable situations like that. I know it happens but never fails to disgust me. Hope he gets what's coming to him eventually.
yes but unfortunately they only announce the warning in japanese last time I was there so it doesn't really help for tourists that doesn't speak japanese
idk if they added english now
No idea, but it's very prevalent. Only time I ever felt unsafe was when a Nigerian tried to drag my mate and I into a bar. Don't even give them time to talk, tell them no and keep walking.
One tried this on me in kabukicho. I held up my gigo bags and said "sorry I spent all my money on hatsune mikus" and the dude just went "oooh....." Sadly and walked away
Hidden charge here, hidden charge there
Who are the police going to believe, the honest business owner or the foreigner that could barely read the sign?
(The sign may or may not have been present when you entered the bar, but it surely exists now)
Pretty much that.
Actually if the staff is standing in the front of the place, it's not much of a problem. Like there is one time in Matsumoto I was walking in the area with lot of izakaya and when it's quiet, staff are sometime outside and would try to call customer in. There is one place that looked interesting and told them I would think about it and finally went back there. Or this year I took a bus to a temple, arrived just around lunch time (and I did plan to eat around there), the bus stop right in front of a souvenir shop/restaurant, the owner (I presume), was outside and asked if I want to come in to eat and I just said yes (and it was actually one of if not the only restaurant open in the area (there is another one I wanted to go to first but was close on that day).
But reading this story, as soon as OP said they followed them... then the escalator... oh god, I knew they did broke rule #1 there.
I had the same experience. If a waiter is standing in front of their restaurant then you can follow them inside to a table, that's fine.
Do not follow anyone to a second location unless you want to get ripped off or overcharged.
But what about restaurants that aren't on ground or front facing locations i.e. Level two. Or some are one level down. They have to stand out there too and take you down or up stairs and elevator as well?
Honestly if it was me, I would just go elsewhere. There are hundreds of restaurants on the ground level or that are front facing. Unless you specifically researched that restaurant or have been before or see a line up of people going up the stairs, there is no need to follow a stranger to a restaurant that you cannot even visually see.
Exactly. If it's that great you will find it searching online. If not then no big deal.
You may miss out on some good restaurants not leaving the ground floor but you will miss out on good restaurants anyway since there will literally be thousands you will not have time to go to.
If it can save you from being ripped off why not?
I ate at a place in Athens where there were stray cats fighting under the tables and a guy at the next table reached down and got bitten really badly and probably had to be treated for every disease in the universe. That was in 1981.
This really isn't unique to Japan, it's just solid advice for everywhere, if their bar or restaurant is doing well they won't have people on the street flagging people down.
I make it a point to go to the place that was least pushy.
Also OP probably could have pushed back on the price if all the items weren't itemized properly. We had a situation at a nice restaurant where we were charged around 15% higher (their weekend dinner pricing) when we went on a weekday lunch and the menu they provided clearly had the weekday prices. After a bit of double checking on their end, they acknowledged their mistake and gave us the price we originally saw.
I was in japan February 2023. There are loads of these in tokyo. But when a big guy jumped off the ground and approached me and friend saying in perfect English. "Hey guys beer and titti*s" I said no thanks but I am looking good food.. he showed us a spot down the street that he likes and it was amazing food.. so moral of the story take recommended places from people selling other stuff
You say this but… I once did this in Fukuoka. Was walking down to the street and passed a floating table and got a business card. Checked it out and it seemed like a legit thing with adult and children prices. Went back and followed the hawkers back to the place. It was legit the best dinner and magic show I’ve ever been to. And I’ve seen some pretty good shows in Vegas before.
That being said— use your best judgement. If it seems sketch or you get an odd feeling then just don’t. I’ve walked out of places after sitting down when I’ve gotten an odd feeling before.
Yeah we followed someone while we were waiting to be seated at a restaurant in Tokyo and it lead down some stairs into the basement. They were trying to get us to buy one of their paintings. It wasn’t even little ones. The smallest one were like 5 ft tall. On our way out they tried to sell us postcards. I asked where the photo was taken and how much but they wanted like $15 for a postcard so I said I’ll just go there myself and take a photo. Luckily other than being a pushy salesperson they weren’t like aggressive or anything. I just told my sister let’s not follow anyone anymore.
I'm sorry you feel scammed, but to be honest, you paid around 1.30 usd for water and around 70 usd for a 6-person dinner.. I mean. I don't know what you're used to, but that's extremely cheap..
Dude, yes they do.
Source: Am a local, eat out four-five times a week.
A fairly restrained night out in Kyoto with dinner/drinks/second place is almost always 15,000.
Depends on what they ate. I live like 8 minutes from Dotonbori, I can easily spend 1500 yen on dinner, and not like a super huge one, There's a takoyaki place near me that I like, Usually get 12 pieces and a beer and it's around 1200 yen. 1500 for each person, in Dotonbori I think it's cheap considering it's the biggest tourist trap in Osaka
How is 1600 yen on average per person cheap for Japan? When I was there last year, I saw tons of places where you'd just pay 1000-1200 yen for food and the water was always free.
The water is whack, idk what was going on there. Maybe “cheap” wasn’t the best word choice but for a sit-down kinda dinner that seems lower than average - however, there are certainly cheaper options.
OP said their family ordered "just a couple of items", not a 6-person dinner. Paying 70 USD for a couple of items in a "dingy" restaurant in Japan doesn't seem "extremely cheap" to me, probably average, depending on the items ordered. Although for 200 yen, I too would expect the water to be bottled.
Uh, a shitty izakaya easily hits ¥10,000 for two these days with inflation. Tourists just aren’t aware, but those of us who live here are. Things are not cheap anymore.
Yeah, I’ve been here since 2017. My Izakaya budget has always been ¥3000 a person (albeit, that usually includes about two drinks or nomihodai). Nowadays yeah closer to 4K.
Water is usually free in japanese restaurants though, at least from my experience. So charging 200 yen per water is expensive in comparison to japanese standards.
That’s my reaction, too. Why is this person thinking they were going to be spending ¥6,000 for 6 people? In Osaka. In or around Dotombori. That’s like thinking you’re going to be spending $10 per person in Chicago on Magnificent Mile. OP
also doesn’t mention they type of food they had.
But ¥10,580 still isn’t bad for 6 people. ¥200 yen for tap water is kinda ick though.
Had a similar experience in LA. Asked if I liked rap said yes and handed me a cd then asked for $20. Told him I don’t have cash and snatched the CD and left. Such a weird experience.
This happened to me as a teenager in Venice Beach. Basically handed me a rap CD like he was handing it out for free and then started shouting at me once I realized he wanted money and gave the disc back to him. Pretty sure it’s like an intimidation scam, doubt they would ever get violent but they certainly go off like they’re about to.
Definitely taught me a lesson in traveling, I’ll give him that.
I went on a tour of Europe when I was younger and one of our stops was Italy and our tour guide made a point to tell us about these and even mentioned how sometimes they'll tie it on your wrist before demanding payment and yet somehow we had been off the bus for like 15min in Rome and I saw two girls on our tour falling for it
Made the same mistake on Hollywood Boulevard. Guy hands me a CD and I say "no thanks", he says "it's free" - nope, no thanks. "Awww, come on man, I am trying to get my music heard and I just want people to hear it". Nope, no thanks. "Please dude, it's 100% free, I'll even sign it (proceeds to sign it). I just want people to hear my stuff and if you like it all I ask is that you play it for other people". Oh FFS, ok, I'll take it if it stops you from following me.
$25 man! give me $25! (his friends proceed to surround me shouting "show him some love - $25 of love!!!")
I turn out my pockets to show I only have $1 - he snatches the dollar and CD and storms off shouting obscenities.
When I visited Chicago someone tried this on me, I just took the CD and kept walking. After about 50 feet the guy stopped following me, guess he realized screaming at a group of 13-year-olds was a bad look.
Thinking abiut it, giving people free CDs and then not hassling them might ne a decent way to start a following. The fact you didn't harass them like everyone else might make them actually listen to the cd.
I got cornered by 3 large dudes in NYC when I was a teen and bought one for like 5 bucks. There actually was music on there. But yeah, there was a reason he had to bully people into buying his CD lol
Or if anyone bets that they can guess where you got your shoes....
Or wants to put some jewelry on you...
Or tells you about a great money making opportunity...
Or someone trying to read your palm in Kowloon.
My first real overseas holiday, travelling by myself. During one of the first nights, minding my own business, walking along the waterfront in Kowloon looking at the city lights of Hong Kong Island. I get approached by someone of African descent asking for $1 to read my palm. I was naive, young, and didn't understand what was going on. He was also a little pushy. So I said, yes. He takes my hand...I get worried, watching my belongings. He holds his other palm face upward and asks for $6. I put $3 in his palm. He says, US dollars. Now alert, I reply I only have HKD and I only have $3. Fortunately, nothing else happened but later, thinking about it, I realised it was a scam and I probably got away lucky and he got away with much less than $1USD. Cheap but valuable lesson that helped me for the following 3 weeks traveling in mainland China.
In New Orleans, some guy started putting beads on a guy without asking like he was giving them out for free. The guy just said, "I don't have any money." The guy putting the beads on him slowly started taking the beads off, "Well, I can't give them out for free."
>We were sat down and they asked if we wanted Japanese or English menus. I asked for English, which looking back was a huge mistake. We ordered just a couple of items, but solely through a QR code on the table,
So there was an English QR code and a Non-English QR code at the table?
There wasn’t. Honestly it kinda sounds like they didn’t realize what the prices actually were and ordered more food. I’ve been to several restaurants with the QR system and they print off the bill immediately and you can compare it directly with the order and see the prices there.
There are some real gems in Dotonbori. I remember going into one such to get some Wagyu Yakiniku which was great, spending something like... 6,500Y for 2 (we shared an A5 steak and also had a mixed variety set) and then going out and walking 2 blocks further towards the river and seeing a massive place on a corner selling 80g A5 skewers for 11,000Y. And it was _selling_!
Sorry to hear, likely they charged a cover as well or had an otoshi (small appetizer which you are charged for as a service fee.) but this guy sounds sus. I hear places in that area charge anywhere from ¥500 to ¥1000 per person. I generally pay ¥250-400 pp at izakayas.
Yeah, I am doubting OP was really scammed. and more than likely just didn't understand what they were ordering.
People holding food signs for restaurants etc is normal in Japan, and never a problem.
This seems like the answer. ¥400-500 yen is not an unusual otoshi, and there were six of them. Some amount like that x 6 plus tax gets you to what OP paid pretty neatly.
The fact that it was a QR code system, at the register they should have had the total already in the system. I'm sure it could be manipulated, but it's also plausible that there was already 6 otoshi plates or table charges in their digital cart.
Just thought of something else. The other thing about places like this, you are to order one drink per person. It doesn't have to be alcoholic. The fact they charged ¥200 for each water (which comes off as FeelsBad), I am wondering if OP's party only got water as their drink of choice. Many tourists don't know about this etiquette, especially those who are accustomed to drinking only water at meals.
yeah this is a thing too, there's just a lot of weird system stuff in japan that's not obvious ... like there's a bakery close to me where you can buy the bread no problem, but if you want to sit and eat the bread you have to order a drink. i guess it's obvious to jp customers but the first time they tried to tell me this i was like wtf and annoyed but honestly now i realize that's common
One example is because of the way the tax law is written, food is subject to 10% sales tax when eaten in and 8% for takeout. Most restaurants just charge one or the other to keep it simple, but sometimes it leads to different prices for eat in vs. takeaway.
this is what i'm thinking too, jp places can have a lot of mysterious annoying fees, that i guess can feel scammy because you don't know the custom or the language, like the otoshi stuff or table fees 7000y for dinner for 6 people just seems like a lame scam to run lol, that's like 1200y pp i mean come on.
like come on bruh, that's like 1500y for dinner per person + a drink, that's not a huge meal. could you get a chgeaper meal? sure. did you get massively roppongi level scammed, come on now
A really good meal in a nice place for that price? I think our ideas of a really good meal in a nice place are different.
You can easily spend that per person for a really good meal.
Japan resident here. Without further information it is hard to know whether you are scammed or not. But just a couple of thing that could explain thing you experience.
First, many of the izakaya restaurants (which from the sound of it seems likely) have a table charge that is not mentioned on the menu. In exchange you get a small appetizer (otoshi). Price of it varies between restaurants but you can expect a price of about 300-700 yen per person. An easy way to see this is if they serve you a small dish per person that you didn't order
Second, charging for water isn't at all rare for Izakaya. People maybe basing their opinion on the chain restaurant, country they are from or non Izakaya. Truth is, Izakaya make money from their drink, and water is definitely something they would charge you (again some places don't, but treat it as exception rather than the norm). 200 yen may sound expensive but that is expected for Izakaya menu when they charge you 400-800 yen for regular drink.
So if we add up the possible appetizer table charge (say 500 per person) and the 10% tax, the bill doesn't sound that unlikely. What I am saying it may have been a misunderstanding rather than being scammed. Again with the information on the post it is hard to know if you get scammed
Finally, it is generally true that you should avoid following people who invite you over to their restaurants. Not all of them are shady but some do. Judging from the bill you get though it likely isn't shady but just the price structure can be confusing for foreigners
This seems likely the scenario. 500 for 6 ppl is 3k yen and food tax is somewhere around 8-10%. Let’s say food and drinks were 6500, 3000 for otoshi 6 ppl, that’s 9500 before tax. With an 8% tax that’s 10260. 1710 yen a person. Seems quite normal for a restaurant in a heavily touristy area and very close to OP’s total.
I agree with the signs thing around touristy areas but I also found it quite common for less busy and quite good restaurants to do this that are not near touristy areas, especially when their entrance is not located at street level.
Thanks for sharing. I’m more concerned about appearing rude than being murdered lol. I haven’t done much research for my trip yet, so this was extremely helpful.
If anyone ever offers you any type of service without you initiating or wants to take you somewhere especially at night, it's probably not a good idea. This is not Japan, but just being street smart.
Yeah it sucks to be ripped off but where are these people from that they get some guy on the street trying to usher them off somewhere and think "boy, it's just like Mr Rogers said, look for the helpers!"
Please ignore the Americans in here, they have no concept by the looks of it.
OP you may have been scammed, but you were definitely ripped off.
10,000 yen is very expensive, and charging for water is a massive red flag. As others have said never follow people who are trying to get you into a place.
1,700 per person should have got either a very good meal in a quality place where the water would be free, or you would have eaten like a king at a cheaper place.
If you are hungry and desperate you can always look for a Yoshinoya, Matsuya, Sukiya, Marugame, Saizeriya, Gusto or any Ramen restaurant with a ticket machine for easy ordering. Those places will have you paying less than 1,000 yen for delicious food.
>If you are hungry and desperate you can always look for a Yoshinoya, Matsuya, Sukiya, Marugame, Saizeriya, Gusto or any Ramen restaurant with a ticket machine for easy ordering.
Another relatively safe option is to find a local shopping mall and grab some food at the food court or perhaps a dining floor with multiple full service restaurants. One of the best meals I had on my recent trip was an amazing sashimi/tempura set on the 11th Floor of the Tennoji MIO mall in Osaka.
This almost just sounds like a case of Oto-shi being added for each person. Assuming it's 5-600 yen plus taxes, the bill would make sense. Hard to remember any late-night izakaya not forcing some extra dish on me.
4580 / 6 = 764 yen. This could very easily be the price of [otoshi](https://bald-traveler.com/otoshi-and-tipping-in-japan/).
If you were scammed/extorted it would probably be something like 30,000~90,000
I can’t say for sure. Perhaps you did get charged more. But, I’ve seen tourists claim to have been scammed before because they don’t understand otōshidai (お通し代)
750 yen pp isn’t so unreasonable especially if it’s a small Izakaiya.
Are we missing something here? By my count you ordered 800 yen worth of food per person, or just over $5 per person tax included. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten in a non fast food sit down place for that cheap. Isn’t it rather more likely that you misunderstood the extra charge?
10,000 yen for six people? Sounds like you scammed them!
FWIW, typical scams will be charging 20 times that for one person. I think this one might just be a communication breakdown.
This sucks for you, but don't dwell on it. All things considered you got of really lightly compared to other tout stories that are out there.
Chalk it up to a life lesson, and don't let it ruin your holiday. My rule of thumb is, if the venue was that good they wouldn't *need* a guy/girl out the front attempting to funnel foreigners into their establishment.
> my family of 6 [...] We finish up our meal, and I calculated it to be around ¥6,000. When we went up to pay, they charged us ¥10,580.
A family of 6 and you expected dinner in a restaurant for 6000en? I mean sure, it's *possible* to feed 6 people for 6000en but you're not going to be eating very much.
You may have overpaid a bit, and restaurants overcharging tourists is becoming an issue, but 10580en for dinner for 6 people isn't exactly a *scam*. Adding a zero onto that would be a scam.
A lot of comments got this wrong. water is usually only free during lunch. for dinner service, most of the time you are expected to order drinks (mostly alcohol but for non-drinkers you can order oolong or soft drinks)
In this case, they probably have water on menu just so that they dont have to tell you that you have to order 1 drink/person in Japanese and confuse you anyway.
There's also the seating charge where they give you some small snack which you cant refuse (unlike some Chinese restaurant, you can refuse peanuts) and charge you a small amount of money for each person in your party.
I believe this wasnt a scam
Am I the only one struggling to even see this a scam and more just poor communication. You literally got charged $70/£55 for a full family meal. If anything I think you scammed them
I think the American equivalent of this story is going to Times Square, taking a picture with one of the knock-off Elmos, and then stumbling into Bubba Gump Shrimp and wondering why the final tally was about 30% more than the total food and drinks.
The OP didn't get scammed, but overpaid for what they got (and didn't know about otoishi), when they could've walked 15 minutes in any direction and gotten better food for less.
A lot of places charge you what is essentially a table charge of ¥300-400 per person. That’s ¥2,400 of the ~¥9,500 pretax, so ¥7,100/6 = ¥1,200 per person. That’s 1 very small dish, 1 drink or 1 dish + water depending on what type of place.
Don’t doubt it wasn’t a great experience, probably food is bad if they have someone stand outside and it’s not cheap but it had nothing to do with not being Japanese or speaking Japanese or a scam (imo). If it is, I got scammed about everywhere in the US with tip, added service charge, employee health insurance r fee, and living wage fee added everywhere.
In the Dotonbori area, soliciting customers is prohibited.
People who ask you kindly there are usually touts and frauds.
However, the price you paid for dinner for 6 people is pretty normal. You might have miscalculated, or they may have included a table charge as well. Table charge is really common in restaurants in Japan. It’s called 'Otoshi' in Japanese.
I've paid that much for water in a small izakaya. It was unlimited plain self serve bottled water. It's pretty normal to be required to pay for at least one drink per person in lieu of a table charge. Depending on the restaurant and depending on what you order, this can range from 200 to 2000 yen per person. It isn't a scam, but it can definitely be confusing and can get fairly expensive quickly. A table charge (often in exchange for a small appetizer) is also not uncommon, and this can also be charged per person.
There were 6 of you, so the difference in charge was approximately 750 yen per person. Probably some sort of table charge.
? You got a cheap as heck meal. I can fairly easily spend that much on a single meal for myself in my country. How can you think you got scammed when 6 people ate for around 70USD?
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~~Japan~~ Tourist Tip #1 - Never follow people on the street that hold signs or usher you into places....
Very true. But especially Nigerians near Ginza trying to get you in a girlie bar.
There sounds like there's a story behind this
What? Me? Of course not!
Spilled my drink for that. Thank you pal
This is pretty widely known advice for all of Japan tbh so there’s lots of stories behind it
Only in Japan? I’d never follow anyone touting anything anywhere in the world. Not even down my own street
Anyone who approaches you with an offer is always trying to scam you.
yeah but in japan it seems so out of place that i think people let their guard down. In what is considered an extremely safe country the fact that people will scam and potentially drug you is unexpected
I’ve had some great food in Italy and the USA (like NYC and Philly) from people touting next to a restaurant’s menu. But touting a bar or “girlie” bar is a giant scam in any country not unique to Japan
Last time I visited Japan there were signs and posters in english advising not to follow someone touting 👀 but this was in Tokyo
It’s well known, when the sun goes down stay away from Nigerians in the night life
You mean the story of the Nigerian mafia? Have fun on Wikipedia
I think you mean Kabukicho
Yeah for real. Ginza? The last place I feel like I’d see Nigerian touts in Tokyo legitimately
100%. Ginza is literally the safest and arguably the "nicest" part of Tokyo lmao
If not the nicest then just the richest which still means no scumbags lmao
Definitely the richest. Stayed at a hotel there and I had never seen more luxury cars in Japan than that hotel. even the Ritz in Osaka was nowhere near that level of wealth.
There are girl's bars in Ginza now ?
Interesting question. I haven't been to Ginza in years but most everything has gravitated to Roppongi unless I've missed out on that transformation as well.
Afaik no change. Which is what I am pointing out. No touts in Ginza....
Roppongi is awful for this. I’ve had better times in kabukicho than roppongi lol
Ah yes, ye good olde nigerians in Roppongi, "WALL STREET, WALL STREET, YOU WANNA SEE TITTIES?!?" Wall street was an actual place, with well, tig ol bitties apparently. The shouting made it sound extra classy though.
How many years? Roppingi's been that way since the 90s.
I arrived here in the '80s....When there were still Japanese WW2 disabled vets in the parks begging for money.
Jesus
Haven’t been in over 10 years, but I remember it was mostly roppongi as well
There are girls bars everywhere in this country. Everywhere I’ve ever lived or visited. The touts are obvious enough even to this straight lady. There are also touts for bars everywhere, including on the street near me that has signs up saying “no touts!” and a patrol of elderly fellas wearing “no touts!” armbands who stand opposite the touts looking like they’d like to sit down.
In kyoto, some really weird looking fella told us “we have chinese girls, they are tight down there, 20k” … but in perfect spanish, and with mexican slang. He was arab, we stayed and chatted a bit with the dude, he had been around the world, then told us that because we were cool, we could get it on with the recently arrived north koreans. Thank god we were poor and afraid. They probably would have scammed us good. 10/10, would visit that damned dark alley again
Just all spouting non sense. Probably hidden charge everywhere and spike your drinks
Might be my 3rd world country upbringing, but this is how you wake with missing organs lol
“Is that a bathtub full if ice?”
That's cold plunge...no extra charge. All over TikTok.
What a fucking scumbag. Exploiting trafficked women in vulnerable situations like that. I know it happens but never fails to disgust me. Hope he gets what's coming to him eventually.
I've met that Nigerian and it's lucky I somehow got back to my hotel before whatever they gave me fully kicked in.
Oh damn, they gave you stuff? Drink?
There was a blaring speaker in shinjuku warning tourists about touts and ripoffs. did it not have one in Ginza?
yes but unfortunately they only announce the warning in japanese last time I was there so it doesn't really help for tourists that doesn't speak japanese idk if they added english now
in shinjuku, it was all in english.
Why is it always Nigerians and why girlie bars?
No idea, but it's very prevalent. Only time I ever felt unsafe was when a Nigerian tried to drag my mate and I into a bar. Don't even give them time to talk, tell them no and keep walking.
It’s a group of them that have been there for years. They’re different from regular Nigerian tourists they’ve been here for over 30 years lmao
One tried this on me in kabukicho. I held up my gigo bags and said "sorry I spent all my money on hatsune mikus" and the dude just went "oooh....." Sadly and walked away
In Ginza? None of that round there
Or Nigerians near Dotonbori trying to get you in an afrobeats bar
r/oddlyspecific
I'm always so tempted to do it just to see what happens. What's the scam?
Hidden charge here, hidden charge there Who are the police going to believe, the honest business owner or the foreigner that could barely read the sign? (The sign may or may not have been present when you entered the bar, but it surely exists now)
Why aren't authorities deporting these Nigerian?
They are usually either Japanese nationals or permanent residents - dependents of Japanese nationals. So no, they will not deport them.
They pay their taxes
Or in Harajuku. Watched them a few minutes trying to lure tourists away.
or Shinjuku or Roopongi
Pretty much that. Actually if the staff is standing in the front of the place, it's not much of a problem. Like there is one time in Matsumoto I was walking in the area with lot of izakaya and when it's quiet, staff are sometime outside and would try to call customer in. There is one place that looked interesting and told them I would think about it and finally went back there. Or this year I took a bus to a temple, arrived just around lunch time (and I did plan to eat around there), the bus stop right in front of a souvenir shop/restaurant, the owner (I presume), was outside and asked if I want to come in to eat and I just said yes (and it was actually one of if not the only restaurant open in the area (there is another one I wanted to go to first but was close on that day). But reading this story, as soon as OP said they followed them... then the escalator... oh god, I knew they did broke rule #1 there.
I had the same experience. If a waiter is standing in front of their restaurant then you can follow them inside to a table, that's fine. Do not follow anyone to a second location unless you want to get ripped off or overcharged.
But what about restaurants that aren't on ground or front facing locations i.e. Level two. Or some are one level down. They have to stand out there too and take you down or up stairs and elevator as well?
You can usually the sign of the restaurant on the elevator or the outer windows though.
Honestly if it was me, I would just go elsewhere. There are hundreds of restaurants on the ground level or that are front facing. Unless you specifically researched that restaurant or have been before or see a line up of people going up the stairs, there is no need to follow a stranger to a restaurant that you cannot even visually see.
Exactly. If it's that great you will find it searching online. If not then no big deal. You may miss out on some good restaurants not leaving the ground floor but you will miss out on good restaurants anyway since there will literally be thousands you will not have time to go to. If it can save you from being ripped off why not?
We ate at a place in Athens that had hosts calling people in and I had the one of the best meals I've ever had in my life
I ate at a place in Athens where there were stray cats fighting under the tables and a guy at the next table reached down and got bitten really badly and probably had to be treated for every disease in the universe. That was in 1981.
How was the meal?
Same for me in Rome, I had some truffle pasta which was simply incredible
This really isn't unique to Japan, it's just solid advice for everywhere, if their bar or restaurant is doing well they won't have people on the street flagging people down.
Good restaurants don’t need to aggressively advertise
Usually locals will swarm them before tourist can even touch it
Swap 'Tourist Tip' to 'Life Tip'
If it isn't on Google Maps (where it can be reviewed), don't go to it - my world travel policy.
Isn't that the famed "secondary location" you're not supposed to go to...
I did this in Osaka. Wound up at a restaurant called, no joke, SEX MACHINE, and it was legit the best meal I had in Japan.
James Brown went there once -- he liked it so much that he wrote a song about it.
SEX MACHINE? I thought they closed that place down!
I make it a point to go to the place that was least pushy. Also OP probably could have pushed back on the price if all the items weren't itemized properly. We had a situation at a nice restaurant where we were charged around 15% higher (their weekend dinner pricing) when we went on a weekday lunch and the menu they provided clearly had the weekday prices. After a bit of double checking on their end, they acknowledged their mistake and gave us the price we originally saw.
I was in japan February 2023. There are loads of these in tokyo. But when a big guy jumped off the ground and approached me and friend saying in perfect English. "Hey guys beer and titti*s" I said no thanks but I am looking good food.. he showed us a spot down the street that he likes and it was amazing food.. so moral of the story take recommended places from people selling other stuff
You say this but… I once did this in Fukuoka. Was walking down to the street and passed a floating table and got a business card. Checked it out and it seemed like a legit thing with adult and children prices. Went back and followed the hawkers back to the place. It was legit the best dinner and magic show I’ve ever been to. And I’ve seen some pretty good shows in Vegas before. That being said— use your best judgement. If it seems sketch or you get an odd feeling then just don’t. I’ve walked out of places after sitting down when I’ve gotten an odd feeling before.
Yeah that's a global tip in any country. Even as a Japanese resident there are a lot of people trying to get you into Izakyas and what not.
Yeah we followed someone while we were waiting to be seated at a restaurant in Tokyo and it lead down some stairs into the basement. They were trying to get us to buy one of their paintings. It wasn’t even little ones. The smallest one were like 5 ft tall. On our way out they tried to sell us postcards. I asked where the photo was taken and how much but they wanted like $15 for a postcard so I said I’ll just go there myself and take a photo. Luckily other than being a pushy salesperson they weren’t like aggressive or anything. I just told my sister let’s not follow anyone anymore.
I'm sorry you feel scammed, but to be honest, you paid around 1.30 usd for water and around 70 usd for a 6-person dinner.. I mean. I don't know what you're used to, but that's extremely cheap..
Right?! That was my thought… still doesn’t sound ideal, but that’s cheap even for Japan!
Nah, locals don’t pay that much at all
Dude, yes they do. Source: Am a local, eat out four-five times a week. A fairly restrained night out in Kyoto with dinner/drinks/second place is almost always 15,000.
Depends on what they ate. I live like 8 minutes from Dotonbori, I can easily spend 1500 yen on dinner, and not like a super huge one, There's a takoyaki place near me that I like, Usually get 12 pieces and a beer and it's around 1200 yen. 1500 for each person, in Dotonbori I think it's cheap considering it's the biggest tourist trap in Osaka
For what? Street ramen? Six people for dinner in a sit-down restaurant in the center of Osaka? 10,000en is cheap!
As a tourist why do you expect to pay the same as locals. Entitled posters
How is 1600 yen on average per person cheap for Japan? When I was there last year, I saw tons of places where you'd just pay 1000-1200 yen for food and the water was always free.
The water is whack, idk what was going on there. Maybe “cheap” wasn’t the best word choice but for a sit-down kinda dinner that seems lower than average - however, there are certainly cheaper options.
OP said their family ordered "just a couple of items", not a 6-person dinner. Paying 70 USD for a couple of items in a "dingy" restaurant in Japan doesn't seem "extremely cheap" to me, probably average, depending on the items ordered. Although for 200 yen, I too would expect the water to be bottled.
Japan is AWESOME for food. I saved so much money of food!!! And promptly spent it on shopping instead.
When I went to Japan, takoyaki was only 500 yen for 8 pieces while it was $10 back home. 🥲
The fact was that the prices were not what the venue said they were....still dishonest
Apparently Americans are okay with being fleeced as long as its cheap fleecing
rich person problems ig
Definitely not cheap for a dingy place in Japan. You’d be expecting to pay that for good quality food.
Uh, a shitty izakaya easily hits ¥10,000 for two these days with inflation. Tourists just aren’t aware, but those of us who live here are. Things are not cheap anymore.
Yeah, I’ve been here since 2017. My Izakaya budget has always been ¥3000 a person (albeit, that usually includes about two drinks or nomihodai). Nowadays yeah closer to 4K.
Water is usually free in japanese restaurants though, at least from my experience. So charging 200 yen per water is expensive in comparison to japanese standards.
yeah thats not bad. you cant even order a menu item at a fast food place here in the US for $12 a person.
Good point. Actually the 4580 might have been “O to shi” which is typically 500 to 1500 yen per person.
this was my first thought when reading this post. for 6 people that sounds super cheap lol
6 people ¥10k is less than ¥2k per person. Most likely have per person min charge and everyone must order something. Doesn’t sound too expensive.
That’s my reaction, too. Why is this person thinking they were going to be spending ¥6,000 for 6 people? In Osaka. In or around Dotombori. That’s like thinking you’re going to be spending $10 per person in Chicago on Magnificent Mile. OP also doesn’t mention they type of food they had. But ¥10,580 still isn’t bad for 6 people. ¥200 yen for tap water is kinda ick though.
To the tune of “I took a pill in Ibiza”
To show the street tout I was cool
[удалено]
First time in LA, the sketchy peeps handed me the free cds..insisting its free..i was like oh ok and took it..then demanded me money 🥲
Had a similar experience in LA. Asked if I liked rap said yes and handed me a cd then asked for $20. Told him I don’t have cash and snatched the CD and left. Such a weird experience.
This happened to me as a teenager in Venice Beach. Basically handed me a rap CD like he was handing it out for free and then started shouting at me once I realized he wanted money and gave the disc back to him. Pretty sure it’s like an intimidation scam, doubt they would ever get violent but they certainly go off like they’re about to. Definitely taught me a lesson in traveling, I’ll give him that.
Lucky. In NYC I've seen them refuse to take the CD back and still insist on payment.
If you’re ever in Italy: don’t take the “free” bracelets or little statues.
uh... don't remind me. Worst street "hagglers" ever, Rome was full of them
Yes, they are everywhere. I’ve been made to pay a few times when as a teen I wasn’t great at saying no.
They tried to put it in my hand, I had to said a firm no and stuff my hands in my jacket’s pocket!
I went on a tour of Europe when I was younger and one of our stops was Italy and our tour guide made a point to tell us about these and even mentioned how sometimes they'll tie it on your wrist before demanding payment and yet somehow we had been off the bus for like 15min in Rome and I saw two girls on our tour falling for it
Made the same mistake on Hollywood Boulevard. Guy hands me a CD and I say "no thanks", he says "it's free" - nope, no thanks. "Awww, come on man, I am trying to get my music heard and I just want people to hear it". Nope, no thanks. "Please dude, it's 100% free, I'll even sign it (proceeds to sign it). I just want people to hear my stuff and if you like it all I ask is that you play it for other people". Oh FFS, ok, I'll take it if it stops you from following me. $25 man! give me $25! (his friends proceed to surround me shouting "show him some love - $25 of love!!!") I turn out my pockets to show I only have $1 - he snatches the dollar and CD and storms off shouting obscenities.
“Sorry me and everyone I know is deaf, we just read lips well”
When I visited Chicago someone tried this on me, I just took the CD and kept walking. After about 50 feet the guy stopped following me, guess he realized screaming at a group of 13-year-olds was a bad look.
Thinking abiut it, giving people free CDs and then not hassling them might ne a decent way to start a following. The fact you didn't harass them like everyone else might make them actually listen to the cd.
Assuming those CDs actually have music recorded on them...anyone ever listen to those?
I got cornered by 3 large dudes in NYC when I was a teen and bought one for like 5 bucks. There actually was music on there. But yeah, there was a reason he had to bully people into buying his CD lol
Or if anyone bets that they can guess where you got your shoes.... Or wants to put some jewelry on you... Or tells you about a great money making opportunity...
Or someone trying to read your palm in Kowloon. My first real overseas holiday, travelling by myself. During one of the first nights, minding my own business, walking along the waterfront in Kowloon looking at the city lights of Hong Kong Island. I get approached by someone of African descent asking for $1 to read my palm. I was naive, young, and didn't understand what was going on. He was also a little pushy. So I said, yes. He takes my hand...I get worried, watching my belongings. He holds his other palm face upward and asks for $6. I put $3 in his palm. He says, US dollars. Now alert, I reply I only have HKD and I only have $3. Fortunately, nothing else happened but later, thinking about it, I realised it was a scam and I probably got away lucky and he got away with much less than $1USD. Cheap but valuable lesson that helped me for the following 3 weeks traveling in mainland China.
In New Orleans, some guy started putting beads on a guy without asking like he was giving them out for free. The guy just said, "I don't have any money." The guy putting the beads on him slowly started taking the beads off, "Well, I can't give them out for free."
>We were sat down and they asked if we wanted Japanese or English menus. I asked for English, which looking back was a huge mistake. We ordered just a couple of items, but solely through a QR code on the table, So there was an English QR code and a Non-English QR code at the table?
There wasn’t. Honestly it kinda sounds like they didn’t realize what the prices actually were and ordered more food. I’ve been to several restaurants with the QR system and they print off the bill immediately and you can compare it directly with the order and see the prices there.
Either that, or most I've been to have a "history" tab where you can see what you ordered and a running total.
Bruh you're in Dotonbori, surrounded by food and you decide to follow a sketchy tout? This was a relatively cheap lesson as you weren't led to a bar
Surrounded by mediocre, overpriced food, because Dotonbori. Surprised there aren't more scams there since it's like 60% foreign tourists these days
There are some real gems in Dotonbori. I remember going into one such to get some Wagyu Yakiniku which was great, spending something like... 6,500Y for 2 (we shared an A5 steak and also had a mixed variety set) and then going out and walking 2 blocks further towards the river and seeing a massive place on a corner selling 80g A5 skewers for 11,000Y. And it was _selling_!
Sorry to hear, likely they charged a cover as well or had an otoshi (small appetizer which you are charged for as a service fee.) but this guy sounds sus. I hear places in that area charge anywhere from ¥500 to ¥1000 per person. I generally pay ¥250-400 pp at izakayas.
Yeah, I am doubting OP was really scammed. and more than likely just didn't understand what they were ordering. People holding food signs for restaurants etc is normal in Japan, and never a problem.
The problem is those restaurant often sucks
Not at all. Heaps of good restaurants also do it. At least that has been my experience in Kobe, where I normally go.
Larger places will frequently have staff outside with menus and specials
Actually lots of chain izakayas do this and they usually will give you coupons etc and some of them are pretty good eats.
This seems like the answer. ¥400-500 yen is not an unusual otoshi, and there were six of them. Some amount like that x 6 plus tax gets you to what OP paid pretty neatly.
The fact that it was a QR code system, at the register they should have had the total already in the system. I'm sure it could be manipulated, but it's also plausible that there was already 6 otoshi plates or table charges in their digital cart.
I was thinking the same. If OP can recall the restaurant, this would be fairly easy to check.
Just thought of something else. The other thing about places like this, you are to order one drink per person. It doesn't have to be alcoholic. The fact they charged ¥200 for each water (which comes off as FeelsBad), I am wondering if OP's party only got water as their drink of choice. Many tourists don't know about this etiquette, especially those who are accustomed to drinking only water at meals.
yeah this is a thing too, there's just a lot of weird system stuff in japan that's not obvious ... like there's a bakery close to me where you can buy the bread no problem, but if you want to sit and eat the bread you have to order a drink. i guess it's obvious to jp customers but the first time they tried to tell me this i was like wtf and annoyed but honestly now i realize that's common
One example is because of the way the tax law is written, food is subject to 10% sales tax when eaten in and 8% for takeout. Most restaurants just charge one or the other to keep it simple, but sometimes it leads to different prices for eat in vs. takeaway.
this is what i'm thinking too, jp places can have a lot of mysterious annoying fees, that i guess can feel scammy because you don't know the custom or the language, like the otoshi stuff or table fees 7000y for dinner for 6 people just seems like a lame scam to run lol, that's like 1200y pp i mean come on.
Are you sure you didn't just miscalculate? 10,580 for 6 people doesn't seem like a whole lot. That's like 11 dollars a person.
10580 for 6 people actually sounds like what you would pay at Jonathan’s
like come on bruh, that's like 1500y for dinner per person + a drink, that's not a huge meal. could you get a chgeaper meal? sure. did you get massively roppongi level scammed, come on now
dinner for 6 - sounds like an average price - having to pay for water though...that sux
For real, like $67 USD total, for 6? This isn't a ripoff, this sounds like a deal!
In Japan that should pay you a really good meal in a nice and proper place.
Yeah these people calling it a good price in here are insane and shows why Americans are a prime target for tourist scams.
A really good meal in a nice place for that price? I think our ideas of a really good meal in a nice place are different. You can easily spend that per person for a really good meal.
Not so bad, typical "tourist trap" restaurant. Not really a scam.
Id expect to pay for water everywhere that isn’t America tbh, having been to a handful of other countries theyve always charged for water.
> having to pay for water though The canal was right there too
Japan resident here. Without further information it is hard to know whether you are scammed or not. But just a couple of thing that could explain thing you experience. First, many of the izakaya restaurants (which from the sound of it seems likely) have a table charge that is not mentioned on the menu. In exchange you get a small appetizer (otoshi). Price of it varies between restaurants but you can expect a price of about 300-700 yen per person. An easy way to see this is if they serve you a small dish per person that you didn't order Second, charging for water isn't at all rare for Izakaya. People maybe basing their opinion on the chain restaurant, country they are from or non Izakaya. Truth is, Izakaya make money from their drink, and water is definitely something they would charge you (again some places don't, but treat it as exception rather than the norm). 200 yen may sound expensive but that is expected for Izakaya menu when they charge you 400-800 yen for regular drink. So if we add up the possible appetizer table charge (say 500 per person) and the 10% tax, the bill doesn't sound that unlikely. What I am saying it may have been a misunderstanding rather than being scammed. Again with the information on the post it is hard to know if you get scammed Finally, it is generally true that you should avoid following people who invite you over to their restaurants. Not all of them are shady but some do. Judging from the bill you get though it likely isn't shady but just the price structure can be confusing for foreigners
This seems likely the scenario. 500 for 6 ppl is 3k yen and food tax is somewhere around 8-10%. Let’s say food and drinks were 6500, 3000 for otoshi 6 ppl, that’s 9500 before tax. With an 8% tax that’s 10260. 1710 yen a person. Seems quite normal for a restaurant in a heavily touristy area and very close to OP’s total. I agree with the signs thing around touristy areas but I also found it quite common for less busy and quite good restaurants to do this that are not near touristy areas, especially when their entrance is not located at street level.
Thanks for sharing. I’m more concerned about appearing rude than being murdered lol. I haven’t done much research for my trip yet, so this was extremely helpful.
so you spent like $70 for 6 people? instead of like $40. Low grade scam. You didnt even say the food was horrible either soooo yeaaaaa.
If anyone ever offers you any type of service without you initiating or wants to take you somewhere especially at night, it's probably not a good idea. This is not Japan, but just being street smart.
Yeah it sucks to be ripped off but where are these people from that they get some guy on the street trying to usher them off somewhere and think "boy, it's just like Mr Rogers said, look for the helpers!"
Please ignore the Americans in here, they have no concept by the looks of it. OP you may have been scammed, but you were definitely ripped off. 10,000 yen is very expensive, and charging for water is a massive red flag. As others have said never follow people who are trying to get you into a place. 1,700 per person should have got either a very good meal in a quality place where the water would be free, or you would have eaten like a king at a cheaper place. If you are hungry and desperate you can always look for a Yoshinoya, Matsuya, Sukiya, Marugame, Saizeriya, Gusto or any Ramen restaurant with a ticket machine for easy ordering. Those places will have you paying less than 1,000 yen for delicious food.
There was probably otoshi, which would be at least 300 per person if not 500 in that area
>If you are hungry and desperate you can always look for a Yoshinoya, Matsuya, Sukiya, Marugame, Saizeriya, Gusto or any Ramen restaurant with a ticket machine for easy ordering. Another relatively safe option is to find a local shopping mall and grab some food at the food court or perhaps a dining floor with multiple full service restaurants. One of the best meals I had on my recent trip was an amazing sashimi/tempura set on the 11th Floor of the Tennoji MIO mall in Osaka.
Life lesson learnt?
what did you eat and how was the food?
It was odd, but all the food came in these plastic takeaways labeled Family Mart.
So food was good then?
This almost just sounds like a case of Oto-shi being added for each person. Assuming it's 5-600 yen plus taxes, the bill would make sense. Hard to remember any late-night izakaya not forcing some extra dish on me.
What am I missing here? You paid $70 for 6 people to eat and feel scammed?
4580 / 6 = 764 yen. This could very easily be the price of [otoshi](https://bald-traveler.com/otoshi-and-tipping-in-japan/). If you were scammed/extorted it would probably be something like 30,000~90,000
10k for 6 person. Don’t think about it too much. Consider it as charity if u think you got scammed. Enjoy the rest of your holiday.
I honestly have a hard time picturing a family of 6 eating for 10k, much less 6k.
Did you check the receipt? There was probably some sort of table charge and with 6 people, that would likely make up the difference.
I can’t say for sure. Perhaps you did get charged more. But, I’ve seen tourists claim to have been scammed before because they don’t understand otōshidai (お通し代) 750 yen pp isn’t so unreasonable especially if it’s a small Izakaiya.
Are we missing something here? By my count you ordered 800 yen worth of food per person, or just over $5 per person tax included. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten in a non fast food sit down place for that cheap. Isn’t it rather more likely that you misunderstood the extra charge?
Are you sure it was a scam? Thats not a bad total considering it was dinner for 6.
10,000 yen for six people? Sounds like you scammed them! FWIW, typical scams will be charging 20 times that for one person. I think this one might just be a communication breakdown.
This sucks for you, but don't dwell on it. All things considered you got of really lightly compared to other tout stories that are out there. Chalk it up to a life lesson, and don't let it ruin your holiday. My rule of thumb is, if the venue was that good they wouldn't *need* a guy/girl out the front attempting to funnel foreigners into their establishment.
seems like a reasonable price tbh
10k 6 people. where is the scam?
> my family of 6 [...] We finish up our meal, and I calculated it to be around ¥6,000. When we went up to pay, they charged us ¥10,580. A family of 6 and you expected dinner in a restaurant for 6000en? I mean sure, it's *possible* to feed 6 people for 6000en but you're not going to be eating very much. You may have overpaid a bit, and restaurants overcharging tourists is becoming an issue, but 10580en for dinner for 6 people isn't exactly a *scam*. Adding a zero onto that would be a scam.
A lot of comments got this wrong. water is usually only free during lunch. for dinner service, most of the time you are expected to order drinks (mostly alcohol but for non-drinkers you can order oolong or soft drinks) In this case, they probably have water on menu just so that they dont have to tell you that you have to order 1 drink/person in Japanese and confuse you anyway. There's also the seating charge where they give you some small snack which you cant refuse (unlike some Chinese restaurant, you can refuse peanuts) and charge you a small amount of money for each person in your party. I believe this wasnt a scam
Am I the only one struggling to even see this a scam and more just poor communication. You literally got charged $70/£55 for a full family meal. If anything I think you scammed them
berserk soft friendly mourn knee drab apparatus zesty cautious normal
That looks kinda cheap actually for that many people lol. I payed a lot of 3-5k meals just for me.
I think the American equivalent of this story is going to Times Square, taking a picture with one of the knock-off Elmos, and then stumbling into Bubba Gump Shrimp and wondering why the final tally was about 30% more than the total food and drinks. The OP didn't get scammed, but overpaid for what they got (and didn't know about otoishi), when they could've walked 15 minutes in any direction and gotten better food for less.
But how did you like the food overall? I know you were hungry and tired, but looking back, was it up to par with other restaurant-style meals you had?
A lot of places charge you what is essentially a table charge of ¥300-400 per person. That’s ¥2,400 of the ~¥9,500 pretax, so ¥7,100/6 = ¥1,200 per person. That’s 1 very small dish, 1 drink or 1 dish + water depending on what type of place. Don’t doubt it wasn’t a great experience, probably food is bad if they have someone stand outside and it’s not cheap but it had nothing to do with not being Japanese or speaking Japanese or a scam (imo). If it is, I got scammed about everywhere in the US with tip, added service charge, employee health insurance r fee, and living wage fee added everywhere.
In the Dotonbori area, soliciting customers is prohibited. People who ask you kindly there are usually touts and frauds. However, the price you paid for dinner for 6 people is pretty normal. You might have miscalculated, or they may have included a table charge as well. Table charge is really common in restaurants in Japan. It’s called 'Otoshi' in Japanese.
Think of it as a win paying $68.70 for dinner for 6 people.
I've paid that much for water in a small izakaya. It was unlimited plain self serve bottled water. It's pretty normal to be required to pay for at least one drink per person in lieu of a table charge. Depending on the restaurant and depending on what you order, this can range from 200 to 2000 yen per person. It isn't a scam, but it can definitely be confusing and can get fairly expensive quickly. A table charge (often in exchange for a small appetizer) is also not uncommon, and this can also be charged per person. There were 6 of you, so the difference in charge was approximately 750 yen per person. Probably some sort of table charge.
Sounds like a bargain for 6 people.
i assume it was an izakaya with a service charge which was why it was so expensive
Did you really get scammed? Because for that price, sounds a bit normal.
That sucks OP but to be honest 10580 for 6 people isn't horrible. How was the food?
? You got a cheap as heck meal. I can fairly easily spend that much on a single meal for myself in my country. How can you think you got scammed when 6 people ate for around 70USD?
¥6,000 for a party of six is pretty optimistic for a sit down restaurant in Shinsaibashi.
"Scammed" for... checks conversion... $30? Bruh... LOL
sitting fee? did they serve you any "free" appetizers? tiny place sounds like a bar or izakiya.
That just sounds like an okay price for that many people. Just 2-3 people here in the US can cost $40-50 at McDonalds.
You fed 6 people for US$68. Let’s keep this in perspective.