Izakaya Sumi Claremont — Restaurant in Claremont

It was my first time visiting Izakaya Sumi on Thursday 15 Feb after passing it frequently for a few months because the supermarkets at Claremont Quarter are my local shops. Whenever I pass Izakaya, I always see it packed with patrons and I get envious of the food when I stare in through the glass windows.

As my mom is visiting me in Perth, I decided to bring her to Izakaya for a treat!

We ordered the Dragon Maki, Seafood Udon and Sizzling Spicy Pork to share.

The first dish that arrived was the Dragon Maki, it was beautifully presented but chewing it was a challenge. The squid tentacle was very tough and hard, making it really hard to chew. We ended up pulling it out so that it doesn't spoil the enjoyment of the sushi.

The second dish that arrived was Seafood Udon. My mom and I found it to be a little light on taste and was underwhelmed.

The third and final dish was the sizzling pork. We both loved it! It was piping hot and delicious! And we paired it with the Seafood Udon to add flavour to the noodles.

I am sure the other food might be good and I initially planned a second visit to try the hotpot, which seem popular with other customers but this underwhelming experience is a deterrent.

During payment of the bill, I shared with the cashier about the difficulty chewing on the squid tentacle and did not make much of an issue regarding the Udon as she was already terribly apologetic. Staff that evening was polite.

Lastly, I had to request for drinking water during the payment of the bill as we weren't offered drinking water throughout the meal service. We went back to our table to drink a glass of water before leaving the restaurant.

I shared the above feedback with the restaurant as they got in touch via email as part of their feedback process.

I received a response from the manager (below):

Thank you for taking the time to provide your detailed feedback.

We are most appreciative of your comments and will discuss with the kitchen staff ways of improving, the toughness of the squid is definitely noted. Water is meant to be ordered on the iPad (no charge for filtered) however we will advise the waitstaff to keep an eye out for patrons without any drinks at all, and to serve water in that instance. Thank you for pointing this out!

We hope we will see you back again in the future, and that your next experience will be...

Very nice place for dining. Clean, fresh and bright atmosphere as the restaurant has only been opened a few months ago. Ordering via electronic tablet on the table only, once ordered, no cancellation allowed. Maybe can change the system so that customers can review the items together before pressing submit rather than submitting each dish individually once pressed!!! Staff encountered for the night are all friendly except need to work on answering to the ‘call staff’ once customer pressed the button. We’ve had to press it 4 times and still no one attended so had to make a hard effort to try and wave at the staff physically for attention. Each dish are all well presented and will make you drool and want to dig in right away. Although not quite to the 100% authentic Japanese flavour I was expecting but they were still all very delicious. Unagi tempura was one of a kind, never seen it in any of the Japanese restaurant I’ve been to in Perth. One star down for the service but also for not providing pickled ginger with the dishes, even with sashimi. I’ve not been to one Japanese restaurant that does not provide pickled ginger!! Really disappointed!! And lastly, be warned, they do NOT do any sushi here, only very limited selection of single serve nigiri!!! Huge disappointment, but we still enjoyed...

We cannot really comment on the food as we did not get that far but if the quality is in direct proportion to the service and atmosphere, then beware. This place has the atmosphere of an IT operation in a freshly minted high rise in the middle of some large town. Sterile, bland, dreary, dull and soulless with bare tables and a computer screen at the very far end of the table which only those adjacent to it can access or see. We were directed to one of these tables with no further information about what we were supposed to do next. After a long pause, when we realised that no one was coming to help, we got up and asked one of the 12 year olds behind the counter whether there was any proper service or menu's and summarily told that all requests for food and drink, in fact any transactions, were to be carried out via the screen. That information was enough, so we left. If you haven't had enough of your screen at work enjoy a sterile and unfriendly atmosphere with experienced 12 year olds leading the show, then this is the place for you. My suggestion however, dear reader, would be to not waste your time, order an Uber and head to Joy Kitchen or Wild Dining in Fremantle. These restaurants offer superb asian food, an adequate atmosphere, proper menu's and service...