Shiki — Restaurant in City of Rochester

Today, I went to Shiki for the first time after talking about it for months. I lived in Japan for a semester abroad and later, as an English teacher for a total of 5 and a half years. So, I've eaten a lot of Japanese food, making my expectations a bit higher than most. My mom, who enjoys trying different foods, had never been to an authentic Japanese restaurant, so I thought it would be nice to take her out to try something new, and to share a little bit of my travels with her right here in Rochester. We both had a great time in the relaxing, quiet atmosphere, and she said it was the best meal she'd had at a restaurant all year. Indeed, the food was excellent - it brought me right back to my time in Japan. The prices are extremely fair, especially for authentic Japanese food. If you go for sushi, you will probably have a different bill than we did, but I still don't think it was unreasonable. That said, we went selected from different parts of the menu. I did my research with the aim of locating a real deal spot run by a Japanese chef in Rochester - this isn't the case at many of the sushi or ramen joints you find popping up all around the country, and if you want authentic Japanese food, it's something you should genuinely consider. Coincidentally, I read on the website that the chef is from Hokkaido, which is where I happened to live and work. The annual snowfall there makes Rochester look like a paradise in winter. Onto the food - We ordered several different plates, which I suggest everyone do; This is a common way to order when dining at an Izakaya (Japanese Pub). Getting a little bit of everything and sharing it with the people you're dining with is fun because you all get to talk about what you liked, and it's also nice because you don't have to have a whole plate of the same food. The salad was a nice starter to the meal. I enjoyed the dressing, which we found out had some sesame, soy sauce, and Kewpie mayo. The tempura was excellent. A perfectly fried assortment of vegetables with two jumbo shrimp. Delightfully light - not too oily by any stretch. Karage (fried chicken) was also good, piping hot as I expected (unable to wait, I burned my mouth, worth it). A nice portion for two to split, especially since we indulged in two different fried foods... The udon also paired well with the tempura - a light, "yasashii" flavored soup. I enjoyed the slice of fish cake on top as well. The table next to us had some fantastic plates in front of them. I was especially interested in the katsu curry, which is one of my favorite dishes of all time... Next time I'm in Rochester, I will certainly be back, and I have a feeling my mom will become a regular. Highly...

I don't write reviews often. Only when I've had either an exceptionally positive, or exceptionally negative experience with a restaurant or business. Thankfully, this review falls into the former category.

I've eaten at Shiki four, maybe five times now. I've dined in 3-star Michelin restaurants. I'm not saying that Shiki is at the level of Michelin attention, but it now occupies the same space in my brain in terms of how memorable of an experience it is to eat there as do my experiences at the Michelin-rated establishments.

I'm not Japanese, nor am I of Japanese heritage, but when eating the Katsu Curry at Shiki, I feel I've been transported to a suburb somewhere in the expanse of Tokyo, eating a home-cooked meal that the head of the host family has lovingly prepared, something they have been honing for years, decades. The dish is not only sublime in terms of flavor, but it also has that ineffable quality of "home". Its presence on the menu is rare to begin with; this is the only Japanese restaurant that I have been to in the US where I have seen it. Order it, you will not be disappointed.

Everything else that I've had there has been excellent. The refreshing seaweed salad comes to mind. Though I always order the Katsu Curry as my main, all of the sushi I have tried off of my dining partners' plates has been very, very good. The vegetable tempura features high-quality produce lightly battered and fried to perfection.

I have been served by 3 different individuals throughout my visits, and the service has always been excellent. The wait staff are attentive, efficient, and very personable. I have dined with my mother a couple of times, and she is a rather inquisitive person when it comes to food. Each server has individually gone above and beyond to engage her and answer the questions she had around ingredients, preparation, etc.

The atmosphere also factors into the bewilderment one feels: "Am I in Rochester, NY?" The lighting is warm, the decor is simple but inviting. It's nice to see the two chefs, who I presume to be husband and wife, working away together behind the sushi counter and in the kitchen.

It's just a singular experience, especially to be situated in Western New York. I am happy it is there and I wish it many more years of success. I will be moving far away soon, but I do hope to visit again some day, and order the...

Honestly extremely disappointing experience. This was one of my favorite Japanese spots.

We didn’t have a reservation and were seated - 1 adult, 2 kids. The restaurant started filling up. We were still eating and wanted to order more food as one more person was joining us. It didn’t seem like an issue when I asked for extra table settings. It took awhile for servers to tend to us. Denied more sushi orders because I was told to look at the receipts on the sushi counter. I was okay with that. I asked about last call for the kitchen since we were 50 mins from close, they said they’d check to see if we could order. A group came in claiming a reservation for five, the server comes back and tells us that we cannot order any more food and that we didn’t have a reservation, but these people did. It was awkward and indirect. I asked directly if they were kicking us out because of the lack of context, server just apologized, and asked if we wanted to box our food. We still had a lot of rolls, katsu, and apps on the table.

If you are going to seat people without reservations and kick them out to accommodate a late reservation, you should address a seating limit or set clear reservation only expectations. We had so much food on our table and seated a total of 45 mins. It was severely awkward, embarrassing, and...