Yuma Sushi — Restaurant in London

October 2019:

I'd like to update my previous review and report that Yuma has fixed the service issues. We now eat there regularly and the customer experience, timeliness of order fulfilment and food are all very good. Not the best sushi in Chiswick but nor is it aspiring to be. This is a great value local restaurant and has a lovely team running the place who are as warm and friendly as their Katsu curries.

April 2019:

I live 2 minutes from Yuma Sushi and have eaten there dozens of times since they opened. The food is generally very good, for the price, and the owners and staff are very pleasant. I like them and wish them every success.

The problem is they have become too successful in a short period of time, particularly as a result of online orders. Great for Yuma and awful for customer experience. If you eat-in off-peak, or order to collect off-peak, then you will likely have a great meal and experience friendly service. If you order during the peak hours however you will likely wait a long time and may have your order executed incorrectly, which just happened to me. After ordering in-person at 7:40pm, they said come back when we call you in 20 minutes at 8pm. We did return after 20 minutes, but with no call from them, and waited around. The order was still not ready 45 minutes after it was initially placed, which eventually was at 8:25pm. I felt this was not acceptible service and raised the discrepancy with them. To my significant irritation they said it wasn't their fault due to a surge in online orders, which I contested given this is a manageable aspect of the restaurant. Furthermore, one of our dishes was missing from the final order, although thankfully we were not charged for it.

Yuma!!!! Trade-offs between demand, supply and customer service are very common challenges for any successful business, which you are. Priorities for order-fulfilment should clearly be made according to order time and not volume or format. Why should locals suffer because 20x online orders followed them!? I suggest you create more capacity at peak times and manage expectations accordingly when people order. Also, apologise when you mess up and don't shirk your responsibilities for service. This alone is enough to lose customers.

Overall - very good food, inconsistent service and increasingly patchy customer experience at peak times. I hope things improve as this business is...

Surprisingly scrumptious and definitely doesn't get as much attention as it deserves. Probably due to the fact that it's tucked away slightly further away from the main road. Stationed just around the corner from the tube, Yuma Sushi offers a bigger than average selection of sushi and their hot dishes are great quality also - my favourite is their Chicken Teriyaki.

While it isn't the most spacious restaurant, it does feel very much alive as it's still close to the high street and has a chic atmosphere to an extent. Very friendly staff also who were attentive and friendly right from the spot. Other options nearby include Kitsaku and Go Chisou which I personally feel their quality to price ratio cannot match that of Yuma's.

Recommended if you're...

A small, bright and friendly Japanese cafe with a home-made authentic feel. The staff were happy to accommodate 7 of us by moving some tables around, and were then constantly attentive and helpful.

Starters of gyoza, edamame and spring rolls were all beautiful (although using liquid chilli sauce on the edamame instead of chilli flakes/powder/chilli salt was a bit messy!)

Then it came to the mains and my mind was blown. I had the Volcano Rolls - substantial and generous rolls of salmon and tuna, battered in a light tempura and drowning in a gloriously sweet and spicy mayo. Not what I would usually go for, but now I don't think I'd ever want anything else. Truly exceptional - will be back as often as possible.

Prices and beer selection...