I never liked counter seating in restaurants or izakaya (Japanese-style bars).
Even if I went to these places alone, I always thought it would be better to be seated at a table. When I’m with my husband, we are not a very sociable couple, and it would be even better if we sat at table seats.

For me, counter seating seems to be for regular customers, and I don't know how to behave, what to do if a stranger tries to strike up a conversation with me, or how to interact with the counter staff. I know this comes from just my bias or timidness, though.

It happened when we were traveling in Kagawa prefecture.
After a full day of sightseeing on Naoshima Island, we returned to Takamatsu City and looked for a place to eat and drink, but all the izakaya were full.
My legs were killing me, so we wandered into an izakaya. It was a small izakaya in an unfamiliar place that we usually hesitated to enter. However, we were enticed by the menus on the signboard. When we opened the sliding door, a lady welcomed us. It seemed like a husband and wife ran the business, and he oversaw cooking.
The lady led us to the counter seats.

I was a bit nervous. However, the lady’s calm personality and ability to draw us into a conversation, respected us as a customer and tried to make us feel comfortable. We started to talk about our impressions of Naoshima Island, and she talked about local cuisine and culture that I never found in the guidebooks.

At the end of the evening, when we told her we would visit Kompira-san Shrine tomorrow, she said, “Please do your best to go to the inner shrine on top of the mountain. There is an omamori (small bag amulet charm) you can only buy there.” Our original plan was to go to the main shrine, where you need to climb 785 stone steps. If we decide to go to the inner shrine, we have an extra 583 stone steps.
 
We took her advice. It was a tough walk to the inner shrine. We felt a great sense of accomplishment. Of course, we bought an omamori too.
I appreciated our conversation at the counter the night before.
On reflection, we had a better experience.

Now, I like counter seating. After leaving izakaya, we are a little pleased to be able to say to each other, “We did it.”