Sea Shai Korean Japanese Sushi Restaurant — Restaurant in Nutley

Update on 4/30/2021 (Friday evening): Today, my wife and I were disappointed with both the service and quality of food that was provided to us. I understand that it can be busy on a Friday evening. However, our food took a long time to be served. The sushi was good, but it literally took at least 25 minutes to wait for our teriyaki beef rice bowl to be served, and when it did, the rice was hard and cold.

We understand that the waiter and the other staff members are stressed out. This is why my wife and I waited patiently. However, we recieved an attitude from the waitress when we requested the rice to be warmed up again for us (which we suggested since neither the waiter or waitress knew what to do; we should have gotten a complete new meal instead).

The waiter could have served us better too (at least he did not give us an attitude). When our food came back, the rice was still not good and the beef became cold. Again, I do not understand the lack of service and quality of food today. Yes, they are busy, but why make us wait for so long for mediocre service and food? My wife and I would have preferred for them to have asked us to come back another day when they were not so busy.

Now, after the long waiting and mediocre teriyaki beef rice bowl that both my wife and I ate, we still waited a long time for our check. After getting our check, we still were charged for the full price of the teriyaki beef rice bowls. I was expecting that the restaurant manager would have at least reduced the price for the bows by half. Yet, not only we were not offered any mochi tonight (even though every other time when everything was perfect they always offered free mochi to us), but we paid for the full price for what I could only describe as mediocre at best.

My wife and I are regular customers. We have gone to this restaurant several times over the last few months. My first review from three months ago was highly positive and I still believe that this place can be five stars again. My wife and I will give it another chance. However, at the moment, due to our high expectation of this restaurant, my wife and I are quite disappointed.

Three stars is the best I can give it for now.

First review from 3 months ago: Today in the early evening, I called the restaurant to reserve a table for My wife and I. Moreover, since we never been to this restaurant before, I have also ask questions pertaining to the menu and its prices from the person who picked up the phone. The gentleman was patient and kind over the phone (which gave me a good vibe of the place).

Once we got there, parking was not too difficult to find (the location does not have any parking; so make sure to have enough time to find parking because this may be harder during the weekend). Nonetheless, the gentleman who greet us was the same person over the phone call. He was even nicer and more patient in person. In addition, he was very attentive (in a proper way, and not in a way that makes you feel rushed). Additionally, the waitress was nice towards us too.

Also, I enjoy the way that the gentleman recommended us things, and provided us with hand sanitizer when I requested for one. The waitress even provided us our very own hand sanitizer too while we ate our food. At the end, after requesting for the check, the waitress presented us with dessert that the chef made for us on the house. That just made us love the place even more. We felt like they treated us as if we were regular customers, even though it was our first time.

Honesty, the service and quality of food was excellent. The sushi was delicious, the Korean barbecue ribs were perfect, the rice was good, and the service was wonderful. Overall, a 5/5. We will definitely...

I will NEVER go back to this place and encourage any person of color to steer clear of it as well. The woman who greets people and takes orders behind the counter is extremely rude. Mind you, I’ve been ordering from here for years and she’s always been nasty to me but I ignored it because it’s close and convenient and I don’t have to interact with her for long when picking up food.

Last week, I walked into an empty restaurant, walked up to the host stand and took a menu. She comes out of the back and as she’s walking over to the kiosk, another man comes in. She looks past me standing there, ignores me completely and says to him “picking up?” He looks at me, APOLOGIZES TO ME, then steps in front of me and proceeds to have her help him with his takeout order. Mind you, she hasn’t even cracked her rude lips to greet me, although I’ve been there several times and she knows I’m a paying customer waiting to be served. I’m standing there processing the fact that she basically encouraged someone to cut in front of me and he knew it was not right which is why HE APOLOGIZED but cut me anyway.

First come, come first served. I knew what I wanted and she could have took my order. It would have taken her the same time to take my order as it would have to check him out, but she made the decision to ignore me standing there first.

I was extremely offended so I didn’t say anything, I took the menu and put it back where I got it. As I’m walking to the door, I guess I turned into a dollar sign walking out the door and THEN she calls out to me “Would you like to place an order?” At this point, I ignored her and continued out the door.

I understand racism and colorism is deeply embedded in the Asian culture. I’m not suggesting that all Asian people subscribe to this trash ideology, but I am saying that her treating me like I’m invisible while helping someone she sees, values, and prioritizes, speaks volumes.

If that nasty lady is reading this, I hope you felt powerful in that moment, successfully letting me know I’m not seen or valued in your restaurant. To that, I say thank you for making that clear, so I can share with your potential clients that don’t fit the mold you “prefer”, to steer clear of your nasty attitude and bigoted...

Disappointing. To start off, my husband and I really liked this place. It had great deals and the food was good. I had ordered for take out and dine in various times. The last time I ordered from here, which was about a month ago, my husband went to pick up our order. He said that one of the ladies working that night was very rude to him for no reason. She even snatched the bag from him when he asked for an extra spicy mayo (which we were going to pay for). My husband said that the kitchen staff and even a customer that was waiting for his order all noticed, with the other customer even telling my husband that the lady was being very nasty. We still brought the food home and ate it but it was not enjoyable. However, because we do not blame the entire restaurant on one perso’s actions, I decided to call a couple of days later to speak with the manager about the incident. Not wanting to get anything out of it, just as a comment as the manager should know. They said they would get back to me so we could speak and I left my information, but no one ever got back to me. Very disappointed because we enjoyed this restaurant. Although we don’t plan on returning ever again, please know that there is no excuse to treat someone badly like that. Whatever problems one is having should be left at home or perhaps take a break and breathe for a moment. Hopefully this doesn’t continue to happen to...