Shumi Japanese Cuisine — Restaurant in Ridgewood

Disappointed for the price,

I ordered the 110 dollar lunch omakase set offered here. Ill start with the pros;

Service was fantastic my water cup was always full The meal is large and will fill you up so bring an appetite. not all omakases serve this much food and this is a great touch. some of the pieces were fantastic like the eel and foie gras plate were highlights.

The Cons Felt more like a prefix then a traditional omakase. the chef is not picking out the best fish and making the best sushi. its more like the chef made a menu that does not change and that is what you get. They made the sushi away from the counter and i did not even see where they were making the set of sushi that was offered. seeing the chef and team make your sushi is normally part of the experience of an omakase. the head chef was right in front of me cutting fish so if i wanted I could ask the chef questions. but the guy making my sushi I did not see. this is not really a huge deal as i feel the food should talk for itself and bring you on a journey but my next issue is really the big one. The quality of the fish was not consistent. As i said above some pieces were quite good and worthy of being in this set, but when you pay top dollar you expect consistency and too many pieces were not any better then what you get at a sushi buffet. this is a massive issue. They offer you a lot of food which is nice but it is disappointing that they do not end the meal with a dessert dish. I have been to Japan and I have had expensive meals there and they ended it with desserts dishes so there is nothing non-traditional about having one.

If i paid 50 dollars for this meal I would not be disappointed. When you pay a lot of money you expect more from your meal. The majority of the fish served is average and not better then what I get at a sushi buffet and to me this is a deal breaker. They need to do a better job buying fish and be more picky with what they serve people. I would recommend people travel elsewhere for an omakase. A place like Sugarfish in manhattan has consistently higher quality fish at half the price this place is and is a much...

We came to Shumi for our annual anniversary omakase. To say that the food was out of this world is to say nothing.

They started us with a soup with cooked tuna sushi roll. It was new to us and interesting. The bowl was bursting with umami.

Chawanmushi — Japanese egg custard came next. Tender smooth and smoky it was hiding mushrooms and a fish cake.

Then there was a sushi platter — different ways with tuna, salmon and yellowtail.

Scallop and fish tempura arrived next. I didn’t catch the name of the fish mentioned by our server.

Another sushi platter: tamago on one end and smoked eel on the other, with three rolls based on monkfish liver topped with octopus and tuna, wrapped in incredibly flavorful nori.

The experience was rounded up with ramen that had a really nice corn flavor base.

With all the amazing food here’s the thing though. We left the place with a strange feeling. It was not our first omakase experience. Maybe some experts can correct me and point were I am wrong.

Severe expressions on chefs’ faces who were avoiding any eye contact — we sat at the bar — contributed some sort of tension. We were never asked about food allergies or aversions — we have none and are very adventurous but still, it's omakase. We did not see or got to talk to the chef preparing our food — explanations given by servers were not always clear. And the final straw was ramen placed in front of us with the words something to the extent of “this is your last one,” which with stern faces in the background sounded like “time for you to get out.” We have never heard this at omakase before.

Dining at this level is no longer about food alone, it's about the whole experience. But staying positive, we laughed it off and focused on the memories of the most...

Omakase, a Japanese term that translates to "I'll leave it up to the chef," is meant to be a showcase of seasonal specialties. Yet in many Japanese restaurants, I've found that no matter when I revisit and order their omakase, the dishes, from appetizers to sushi and sashimi, all remain the same. Thankfully, this was not the case at Shumi. Here, the chefs truly strive to create edible masterpieces.

I had the pleasure of enjoying innovative appetizers along with nigiri that simply melted in my mouth. Shumi’s omakase was once priced at $150 per person, but in a thoughtful move to accommodate their customers, they adjusted it to $95 per person without compromising the quality of their fish. I will note that the pieces are smaller, but they still deliver the freshest taste.

The staff is exceptionally gracious, dedicated to ensuring a wonderful dining experience. They are quick to replenish your tea or fill your glass as soon as it's half empty. I did, however, find the restaurant a bit chilly, and the music was a little too loud, making it difficult to hear the staff as they described each type of fish.

For those who followed Master Chef Kunihiko "Ike" Aikasa from the original Shumi in Somerville, he sold that business before opening this new location in Ridgewood, which has been open since 2017. Here, he has partnered with owner David Seo. The aesthetic of the new restaurant remains clean and bright.

In a competitive town like Ridgewood, where locals expect restaurants to bring their A-game, Shumi has obviously stood the test of time. I wish them many more years of excellence.

Service: 5/5 Ambiance: 4/5 Cleanliness: 4.5/5 Food: 5/5 Overall: I'd give it 4.5 stars, but I rounded it...