Kumi Sushi — Restaurant in Crystal Lake

I can't remember the last time I wrote a poor review. That should give you an indication of how bad the experience was... My wife and I chose Kumi Sushi for our wedding anniversary based upon the positive reviews. What a mistake... We arrived around 6:30 pm and were seated quickly. We also were greeted by our server quickly and she took our drink order and we ordered a Seaweed Salad Appetizer We then waited... and waited... and waited... The place was only about 25% full, so we didn't really understand why this was taking so long. After about 20 minutes our server finally appeared from the back and we flagged her down and reminded her about our drink order. She told us they were being made. Another five minutes passed and we saw her go behind the bar and begin to make our drinks. A frozen Margarita and a Pina Colada. I could see her looking confused, reading the recipes for both as she was trying to make them. After some time she finally emerged with our drinks. She served us and since I was losing confidence, I was reluctant to even order Sushi. Nonetheless, it was our anniversary and I was trying to save the experience. After ordering Sushi, I reminded her about our Seaweed salad Appetizer. She said they are making it . Then she left our table and said something in Japanese which I don't speak but I heard the words.. Seaweed salad. At this point I was done. I walked up to her at the waitress station and said, we'll pay for our drinks and be leaving. She asked why and I said you JUST placed the order for the Seaweed salad we ordered 30 minutes ago. She said it's made fast and done. She pointed to a plate on the sushi bar that looked like an ice cream scoop of seaweed. I told her we are leaving after our drinks. So I go back to the table and take a sip of my frozen strawberry Margarita and I was shocked to taste salt. She has salted the rim of a strawberry Margarita? You sugar the rim of a strawberry and salt the original or lime flavor. My wife's Pina Colada was watery and blah. At this point another server came by and seemed to be taking better care of her tables so we told her how disappointed we were. She apologized and said it's because they were very busy... We almost laughed out loud...WHAT? The were 20% full at best and had three sushi chefs. I even told her it was our anniversary and how disappointing the experience was in HOPE they'd buy our drinks or something to keep us there. But no.. she just said they were busy and sorry. She then walked over to our server and started having a very loud and animated discussion clearly unhappy with her in front of all the customers. How unprofessional. At this point the Hostess brought our Seaweed salad over and said it was on the house... FINALLY someone who gets it. We took a few bites and it was warm, soggy and was lacking taste. We took a few bites but since we had no napkins or plates it was awkward to eat. We drank about half our drinks which we paid $18 for, and quietly left. We put the poor experience behind us and went to Woow Sushi on Randall Road and had wonderful service and food. In the end we had a very nice anniversary. We live only about a mile from Kumi Sushi and we were so hoping it would be our "go-to" Sushi spot. Unfortunately, we won't be back... and I suggest you skip it too. Woow Sushi or Kyoto is a much...

i stopped in for lunch because they offer gluten free options. I chose a lunch special which was specifically listed as available gluten free for a $2 upcharge. The lunch included soup, salad, shumai, rice, california roll and teryaki beef. I could only eat half the meal. Though they charge an extra $2 for gluten free, that option just means you cannot have salad, soup or the shumai appetizer because none are available gluten free. I got (barely) 4 very small.pieces of california roll.

I asked if they could comp my tea since half the meal was not gluten free and they said "no" and offered only more salad...a small portion of lettuce with no dressing. They served me the shumaai knowing it was dangerous for me to eat. Since I was paying extra, I thought they were making gf substitutions.

For $14, I got half a meal and was annoyed.

It is possible to offer an all gluten free meal and make minor adjustments, like more of what is safe, to avoid robbing the customer. Or exclude the gluten containing items and charge less, not more. Or just say "we don't do gluten free" and I can go elsewhere.

This is not about being trendy or precious. I would have been satisfied if they gave me tea as a substitute for soup, and a couple more pieces of california roll instead of the appetizer. Or, just don't offer gf if you don 't want to serve it. It is not hard to offer oil and vinegar...

We came to Kumi Sushi for a late lunch on a Saturday and had the Casino Roll and Dancing Eel roll. There was one other woman in the restaurant, who left pretty early into our meal. Despite the near-empty restaurant, though, service was incredibly slow. We had to wait to place our drink order... then receive the drinks... then order our sushi... then to flag down the waitress for the bill... for a rather dead time of day, I didn't expect a huge wait. There was a host as well as a waitress and (at least) 2 sushi chefs. The waitress was hidden away in the back for most of our meal and the host was keeping to himself.

The sushi was tasty, but even in quality with other sushi in the area. I thought that the plating for the Casino roll was cute with the multiple colors of tobiko on top. Both of our rolls were signature rolls, which often come with a higher price tag, but I didn't feel that the plating warranted that much of a price increase when the ingredients themselves aren't so far from the norm. I will admit, the asparagus in the Dancing Eel roll was a nice touch and created some good texture.

The atmosphere is interesting with its twinkling lights but much better-suited for nighttime; the black curtains just make the sky look drab during the day when there is light peeking through.

I'd rate this at 3.5/5, but the slow service really...