KUMI Japanese Restaurant + Bar — Restaurant in Paradise

I couldn’t be more disappointed with the total experience at Kumi this time. I’ve been here for multiple business meetings. Only, one time was great. This time (dec 30th) I took my son here for his birthday and the Maroon 5 concert to follow just after. I made reservations for 5:00 PM right when they opened. We were seated at 5:10. Our meals including appetizers dinner and dessert we’re finished within 30 minutes. Our server was the same experience as we would have at red Robin or IHOP.... get you in and get you out as fast as you can. He wanted to take our drink order and our dinner order and appetizer order at the exact same time. He was rushing around and in a hurry and wanted to give us our check before he even offered to ask if we were interested in a dessert. I actually had to ask him, do you have a dessert menu? Then he pulled it out of his back pocket and said here you go let me know if there’s anything you’d like. Not once did he ever come by to ask how our meal was. I ordered my steak ( I am not a sushi fan.. so I ordered the steak which comes sliced with mushrooms on top) I ordered it medium and it came out overly well done. Not once did anyone come by to ask how anything was or how the steak was served. I have a feeling that they knew it was completely served in the wrong way. Also I had excused myself to the restroom and when I had to come back, the steak was sitting there. In a fine dining restaurant such as this markets itself, you do not serve a meal to the person when they are not sitting there. No server or manager came by to see If we were happy with anything how the meal was? But I ate the steak because I knew we had to go to the concert and my son’s sushi was already served and I didn’t want to wait any longer. But it still would’ve been nice to be asked how it was. My son ordered four different platters of sushi. When it was delivered to the table it was not said what each individual sushi was. Not only does a normal sushi restaurant say What is on the table, but at a fine dining experience they should point out what is what when it is delivered. They did not do that then I had a question for a different server later on, ( since ours didn’t come by) ... is his next entrée coming out after? He said yes it is. What they brought next I have no idea what it was! It was very fishy and disgusting and not what my son had ordered. I feel that they didn’t care because I thought he was a child. He is 12 years old and has been eating high-grade sushi and sushimi since he was four years old. I sent that last sushi back and later the server says -hey I got my manager to take that off your bill is that OK? Omg- if I were at any other place that might be an acceptable thing to say. Shocking. He also said “ yourrrrrrrr verrry welcome after we thanked him for things. Again- ihop or Red Robin. I paid over $20O for what should have been a nice dining experience. Not worth 50. So disappointing. I believe his name was Brandon. I didn’t want to make a scene in front of my child, but on any other circumstances... it would have been bad. Bad like the service we got. I may not be someone who dines here weekly, but I do own a home here, and my husband’s family live in Summerlin. I come here four times a year for work. Very...

Totally Unacceptable in 2025 – Management, Take Note

I visited Kumi at Mandalay Bay Resort for the first time on August 12, 2025, between 6:45-7:30 PM, and my experience was nothing short of appalling. In more than 20 years of vacationing in Las Vegas, I have never been treated with such blatant rudeness and disregard.

The bartender in question - a brunette Asian woman with heavy makeup, medium-to-short stature - was shockingly unprofessional. She had no name tag and never introduced herself. When I approached the bar, she was conversing with three male patrons who were still flipping through their menus. I waited politely until they went back to reading before asking if I could have two glasses of water.

While I was preparing to pay, she abruptly barked, “Yes?! What do you want?!” in an unnecessarily sharp and hostile tone. I calmly repeated my request, only to be met with an equally condescending response: “I’ll take care of that after I’m done with them,” before she crossed her arms and turned back to simply stare at the same three men - who were still reading their menus. There was no active service happening for them; she was simply ignoring me. There were also no other clients anywhere around that part of the bar.

It would have taken less than 30 seconds to serve my order, yet she chose to delay intentionally, creating an uncomfortable and humiliating standoff. The three men, appearing unkempt and poorly dressed for professionals, gave me unpleasant, dismissive looks as if my presence was an intrusion. None of them spoke, and the bartender made no effort to serve me in the meantime.

The result was one of the most uncomfortable, disrespectful encounters I’ve ever had in any Las Vegas establishment. Her tone, body language, and attitude were hostile and completely unacceptable for a venue operating under the Mandalay Bay name. This interaction ruined my afternoon and left me feeling humiliated over what should have been a quick, simple purchase of two glasses of water - something I was fully prepared to pay for immediately to avoid inconveniencing her any further.

Whether this was an isolated case of an irate bartender or indicative of a broader cultural problem in Kumi’s service standards, the fact remains: this was my first and certainly my last visit. Mandalay Bay and Kumi have lost not only my business but the business of the four other people in my party. I can only hope management takes incidents like this seriously, because service like this is totally unacceptable in 2025.

Mandalay Bay’s management should be deeply concerned that this type of conduct is occurring under their name. If this behavior is tolerated - or worse, became a commonplace practice - it reflects a breakdown in training, supervision, and basic service standards. All this for two glasses of water I was ready to pay for immediately. Kumi has lost not only my business but that of my entire party. This was not just bad service - it was a complete failure in hospitality.

Future customers - be warned: if this is the level of service Kumi finds acceptable, prepare yourself for a rude, dismissive experience that can ruin your evening before it even begins. If this is their...

Altogether a decent, but highly overrated experience that left me conflicted. I had their Pork Belly Bao Buns, Chicken Katsu Sando, and Yakisoba with Chicken. The soba was great, but the other food was pretty disappointing.

Since I just went to 8 East at the Circa, I can say that the pork belly bao at 8 East was much better. The fresh pickled veggies were better, with a more noticeable pickled "zing" to them. The chopped pork belly was properly marinated and glazed, as opposed to Kumi's very juicy, but very plain single slab of pork belly. Kumi used hoison sauce, and it tasted fine, but felt like a shortcut from making a proper bao marinade. 8 East also had the superior bun; Kumi's were drier, being lightly browned and grilled, but it lacked that slight tack and sheen that's such a part of a bao bun. Kumi's bao was fine, but left a lot to be desired.

As for the most expensive katsu sando I've ever had: it was easily the most disappointing. Since a katsu sando is a really simple item, the quality and execution is everything. This got a lot wrong, in my opinion. Get a katsu sando from any izakaya or Japanese shop that sells them, and its construction is basically the same: two thick slices of untoasted shokupan bread, thin sliced cabbage, some tonkatsu sauce, and the katsu, or pork or chicken breaded cutlet. The idea is, thick pillowy soft bread, crunchy fresh cabbage and crispy juicy katsu. Kumi's katsu sando missed on every mark here. The bread was definitely not untoasted shokupan, but toasted slices of what felt and tasted like a generic whitebread. The cabbage was steamed in the sandwich, and the katsu wasn't even a little crispy, in spite of apparently having been made fresh. I will grant that the chicken katsu was very tender and properly pounded flat, but also was dry. The "black garlic tonkatsu sauce" tasted fine, but it didn't taste particularly of black garlic either. You could've told me it was the Bulldog brand right from the store. It's a passable sandwich generally, but a terrible katsu sando, and even worse at a premium price point for such a fundamentally simple and humble item.

The yakisoba, on the other hand, knocked it out. The noodles and the sauce were excellent, the carrots and pickled red ginger added sweetness and brightness, and the variety of grilled mushrooms gave great bites of deep flavor. The asparagus was something new for me in yakisoba, but worked great. It's a dish where you're meant to toss in whatever you have and grill it, and Kumi did it in a more gourmet way that I appreciated. I only wish their other dishes had lived up to that.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the vibe of place. I was really drawn in by the charm of its lounge. Service was all very friendly and helpful. But it would be difficult for me to recommend this place to someone looking for a refined take on casual...