Kakushi Izakaya — Restaurant in Newark

Stumbled upon this while looking for izakayas in the area. Got to enjoy it after gymming with my partner. The store itself is narrow with seating that's mostly for pairs.

The service was friendly and attentive. We got a chazuke, chirashi bowl, hot sake, and a sushi roll.

Chazuke - I would not recommend getting this. There is way too much rice and very little fish. The tea is poured by the server, and you can't add anymore. It just became mostly rice with a bit of tea and barely any fish and toppings. I would not consider a substantial meal, but it could be a nice supplement to your other foods if you just wanted more rice and something warm.

Chirashi - I love looking at how different places make their bowls. I wanted a variety of fish, and the presentation and selection here did not disappoint. I usually don't finish a whole bowl all to myself because there's so much stuff. I enjoyed the salmon and tamago. All the fish felt soft and tender. The flower is a nice touch!

I can't speak much on the sushi roll since it was my partner's but he really enjoyed it.

I didn't get to try their skewers and they seemed a bit pricey (as izakayas can be) but I would come back based on this...

Service is lacking big time. The waitress never came back to check in on my table once we got our food. No "how's everything tasting?" Or "Do you need anything else?" As someone that's worked in the restaurant industry, that's literally one of the first few things you're taught when serving smh. If you don't check in NOT EVEN ONE SINGLE TIME on your table, be ready for them to feel like they are being ignored. I wanted to get more of an item but my server never came back so I wasn't able to get what I needed. The baked sushi was good and so was the chicken karaage. For some odd reason our entrees came out first and the karaage came out last? I had a ramen and honestly it was mediocre to me, not much flavor unless you add spices. Nothing really special about it. The vibe of the restaurant is nice and all but the chairs were lowkey uncomfortable. Only time the server smiled at my table was when she dropped off the check but not once did she...

Extremely overpriced, mediocre flavor. Felt ripped off and definitely never coming back.

We ordered the short ribs, bacon-wrapped scallops, unagi don, and shrimp sashimi to go. The short ribs were $18.99 for a portion that wouldn't even cover half a plate, was mostly bone, and was difficult to chew. My mom gave up trying to eat them after two pieces. The scallops were the smallest scallops I have ever seen, it was supposed to be four per skewer but it looks like they cut one scallop into four pieces and skewered that, for $7.99. The shrimp sashimi was literally four flat shrimp for $10.99. The unagi don was the only dish that was halfway decent in flavor, but still, for $18.99, it was not enough food for one person.

Miserable dinner experience. I thought we were going to have leftovers, instead we were both still hungry. Photos below show two tiny dishes that were $18.99 each - and they didn't...