Ryuu Sushi — Restaurant in Grosse Pointe

Tried this place for the first time on a date night with my wife - we won’t be returning.

It didn’t seem busy when we got there, and we were seated immediately. We were given water by the host … and then no one ever came back to take our drink order or ask if we wanted appetizers. We would’ve flagged down a server, but we couldn’t get any of the staff to actually look in our direction.

30 minutes later, one of the bartenders comes to our table; no “hello” or “sorry for the wait,” just “do you know what you want?” We ended up ordering our drinks, appetizer, and rolls all at once. The server was kind of curt and never looked up from their iPad. They came back once to deliver our drinks and some plates for our sushi (which they kind of dropped on the table), and that was the last we saw of them. No refills on drinks, no checking in to see how we’re doing, back to no eye contact from the staff.

About 45 minutes later, we saw one of the other staff members hand off an absurdly large dish to the host, and then watched as that dish made its way to almost every table in the dining room to see whose it is. When this well-traveled platter finally got to us, they asked if it was ours. It was our first time there, and a couple of the rolls didn’t look like what was described on the menu, so we said we didn’t think so.

The dish was then left unattended for a minute or two at a table at the front of the restaurant while the host and another bartender (I assumed) looked over orders to see who it belonged to. The bartender (different one than our original server) brought it back over - turns out it was ours. She apologized for the confusion and said the wrong table had been marked. She was much more friendly than our original server - admittedly a low bar - but then mentioned that she didn’t actually work there and was filling in (all things considered, that tracks).

Our appetizer came out at the same time as everything else. The sushi was all room temperature and kind of mid in regards to flavor.

Several other couples arrived after us, were seated, got multiple rounds of drinks and their food, raised children and sent them to college, then left before we got our food.

I wrote this while sitting waiting (another 20+ minutes) for the bill to come. It never did, so we went to the bar and asked for it.

One and...

This place needs to do two things:

Fully separate itself from Sidecar. Level up the food.

To my first point, Sidecar shares the patio with Ryuu, so you’re having sushi and a glass of wine, and the table of dudes behind you is smashing onion rings and beer buckets. Talking about the game and dropping F-bombs Loudly shooting the breeze. Which I am known to do as well, but at sushi bars.. It completely throws off the vibe.

To my second point, the food just tastes so meh. I’m really not some sort of snob or sushi aficionado, but cold rolls should come out cold, not room temp. Also, the flavors were really bland. We got four different rolls; spicy salmon, eel avocado, a baked roll, and a classic/simple. The flavors just don’t stack up to Blufin. The worst part was the texture, everything was kinda mushy. Good sushi has complimenting textures/ crunchy, soft, mushy, grainy, etc. everything was mush. The crab didn’t have that fresh taste, it was a lot of flavorless imitation crab.

I had high hopes and wanted to like it, but it just wasn’t it. Very middle of the pack at best.

I will say, shout out to the service. Our server was kind, helpful and available. Also, our hostess was super accommodating and kind as well.

Lastly, I get giving someone a lil extra booze in their cocktail to say, “we appreciate you” but that’s a fine line. My cocktail had WAY too much gin in it. It’s a cocktail I get frequently and make at home. The proportions were off, too...

We tried this restaurant for the first time on a Monday. No reservations, but immediately seated. One person took our drink order. My bar drink was delivered by someone else and the Diet Coke was served by our original server. (Good cross service.) After this, the service got a bit wonky. Our order was taken. Someone completely different brought our appetizer of edimame, but to the table next to us. That table informed the staff person they didn't order it. I overheard the exchange and raised my hand that it belonged to us. Next, someone brought out two soup bowls and tried to deliver them to our table. I waved them away while at the same time another table called out that the soups were theirs. When our main entrees were delivered, AGAIN the server set them down on a different table and described the sushi rolls. Sounded just like our order, I thought. As the server was walking away, the other table decided they didn't order those rolls, so again I raised my hand that the order was ours. My husband and I waited tables for years. This kind of thing shouldn't happen. Number the tables, put it on the ticket, and train the staff on how to navigate the front of the house. The rolls were tasty, although the large plate they were served on looked as though there should have been something in the middle. It's still a new restaurant and I hope they can work out these kinks. We'll give it...