Sushi By Scratch Restaurants: Seattle — Restaurant in Seattle

I really went back and forth on this review, but folks should understand what they're getting into and make their own decisions.

Omakase is $165 a person, but realize that you're asked to arrive 15 minutes early for drinks and during this slightly chaotic period, the host will ask you a question about truffle and caviar; I fully own this as a personal mistake in not questioning it further, but if you answer yes to liking caviar/truffle, they'll be adding a $105 charge person for truffle and caviar being added to some of the sushi. I didn't realize until I paid the bill. Again, this was a mistake on my part for not realizing, but it should be made clear to guests - I firmly subscribe to the concept of transparency and being open about costs.

After everything, and with one cocktail and three mocktails, our total was $850.00 for two people.

Good things: This is self-written as new wave sushi, and it was definitely unusual and different from the usual omakase that's offered in more traditional restaurants. Quality of most of the fish was decent for the night and the preparation styles were fun; the chef in front of us was really kind and was excited when we were excited The chefs obviously knew what they were doing (which will also lead to another point below) Drinks were delicious, and the bartender was very knowledgeable and loved wine, sake, and alcohol.

Not-so-good things: some of the creative new ways of using ingredients or methods worked (I'm looking at you, dried cherry blossom powder and dry-aged fish!). Others (such as the use of different kinds of salt, melted bone marrow, multiple courses with the aburi method) did not always win. Alcohol consumption is a key part of the money making part of this, and I get that, but our experience was impacted by the bartender continually pushing drinks when it was clear two of the couples of our ten group was getting progressively drunker and louder. At one point, the bartender drinks a glass of wine with the drunk couple he'd been talking to during our two hours. the bartender, loud enough for our side of the seating area to listen to, complains to the same couple about the negative reviews on google and how the negative reviews were people who 'had an agenda and felt that [Sushi by Scratch] were appropriative'. I took a look to see what he meant; most of the negative reviews were about restaurant itself, the quality of the fish, pricing, etc. One single review was about the concept and it was obviously an outlier. I understand not liking the negative reviews. I don't understand complaining about it to other guests. the same bartender (I'm not sure why he chose to be so vocal for our group lol) was explaining to the room in general that Sushi by Scratch Seattle could not make it's own menu, that it was controlled by an executive team, who did not really visit Seattle. He vocalized that the chefs were obviously a little bored with making the same menu over and over. Caveat: I actually thought this was really funny because, of course chefs would be bored with the same basic menu, but rarely do restaurants like this vocalize it so clearly to guests lol. the truffles and caviar were not worth the additional pricing based on how they were used and presentation. As I hadn't realized I'd paid extra for the caviar and truffle, I requested no truffle on my uni (as I felt that it would detract from the uni). The chef seemed surprised at my request, which in retrospect, I now understand.

Most in-depth review I've left because most of the time, I don't feel like anything I could add would be new. However, knowing that for many, this might be a special dinner that was saved for, etc., wanted to provide full information so that folks can make their own decision.

As a personal opinion, I do prefer the omakase at other...

If you know your sushi and have had omakase at other local restaurants eg Sushi Kashiba, Takai etc, this is a SOLID SKIP. If you have had omakase in bigger cities or Japan...this is likely not for you.

If you haven't had omakase before...maybe worth a try.

This Michelin star branch ain't Michelin starred.

You have to ring a Ring doorbell to enter the location, after you find the nondescript door. And be greeted by someone that doesn't know how to smile that regurgitates a memorized script. He will serve you a cold palate cleaner which takes like a brew of many left over sakes, and herbs mixed with some yuzu.

After the last group of people arrive, this individual will tell you what will happen in the next room where the omasake takes place.

Dial forward, you go to the next room....you sit at assigned seats.On the wall there is a list containing the items that will be served in the 17 course meal. Of the items, I was a bit surprised to see wagyu beef and bone marrow since I had come for a sushi omasake. And that tuna was on the list several times based on the different cuts including the cheapest part of the fish Akamai; also the Tessin and the Otoro. Also on the list was escolar, which is outlawed in Japan in 1977 due to giving people digestion issues.

General overview about the food: fish portions were small. My petite female friend went home hungry and had a ramen. food fell apart. you eat with hands which is rather awkward. fish was fresh. sushi rice was spot on. seasoning was too light and sometimes not the best choice for the seafood. For example for the ama ebi (sweet shrimp), the shrimp has a sweetness to it, but they way they seasoned it killed the sweetness and the freshness of the shrimp - it tasted like chinese fermented tofu. warm sake brew at the end of menu and the desert bite was nice. food on sweet side; if you are diabetic or have sugar issues - say something. nice to add texture to food with crunchy toppings. minus for including skin on black sea bream nigari that wasn't torched - extremely chewy - was a buzz kill had to spit it out (granted politely) on the wet hand towel that I had been wiping my hands after each course. they like torching the food...

Having had bone marrow before multiple times...bone marrow was weird here, a chunk laid like a piece of fish on sushi rice with little seasoning. And said bone marrow wasn't warm. If you unseasoned cold bone marrow before....you get the drift. Mark missed here, it should have been warmer and more seasoned to marry the bone marrow to the rice.

They wipe the serving plates and cutting board with the same towel...at some point I wondered if it was sanitary....same towel and all.

I was underwhelmed by the food. For 2 people the bill was $460, which included a 20% service charge. It's a pretty sweet job for those working there regurgitating scripts. I think service could have been better, but given the automatic 20% service charge...who cares right?

In sum, I had expectations given its mothership was Michelin rated. 82% of the food missed marks - of the 17 items (inclusive of dessert), I would say that 3 received full marks...the others nope; have had much better omasake and cuts of fish at other local places. There wasn't anything I tried were I was like "omg" this is so good.... Service was above average.

Would I go back, NO. Perhaps my expectations were too high.

Chairs were also uncomfortable; perhaps this was an dark design pattern to influence folks to not sit around after food service was completed. The place was a bit too dark, I guess they were trying to be...

We were here for the 9:30 pm seating on Oct 6.

This restaurant is a franchise from a California Michelin One Star sushi bar, so we throught to give it a try. Unfortunately, other than carrying the fame of Michelin, this new restaurant in Seattle is nothing.

Service and Employee Attitude:

It was not easy to find this restaurant. We followed the address and was walking around the block trying to locate the restaurant, as there was not visible sign outside for us to tell where is the entrance. Until we found a gentleman who dressed like a sushi chef walked into this dark door with no street number and clear signate (photo uploaded and hopefully it will show)

I then opened the door and stepped in, there were a person standing behind a bar and another one sitting at the bar. As the person at the bar standing up to greet me. I told him how hard it was for us to find this place. This guy just attacked back saying there is a sign and showed me the small badge size small sign beside the door (also showing in the photo). Then he went on bragging about how this setting make them private and exclusive. I then said “maybe having more instruction in your confirmation email would help”. He then threw back that “We had our address sent in the confirmaiton”. EXCUSE ME? How is sending an address good when the street number is missing?

At this point my excitement of trying this new restaurant is already no where to find. We could have walked away at this point. However, we have deposit held by them and they do charge almost a full price cancellation, so we had to get through this.

My bad feeling about the night was just about to be proved right.

Food:

The whole tasting menu is fulfilled with mostly very basic ingredients that you could easily find in any “non-omakase” sushi restaurants. (Hamachi, Toro, Scallop, Shima Ahi, Madai, Spot Prawn, Salmon and so on, full menu showing in the photo uploaded)

They are not traditional Edomae sushi type of Omakase. Multiple items were seasoned with sugar if not too much sugar that did not supplement the taste of fish.

About half or more of the items were Aburi! Torching some fresh ingredient sure gives it a unique taste, but it does not work on everything. The spot prawn torched tonight just become gooey and even a bit bitter, also with a burnt prawn shell smell.

Surprise keeps coming! We had multiple fish scales found in our sushi! Can you believe it? I have never had the issue in any other sushi restaurant! (Photos uploaded)

Other than these highlights above, other items are just mediocre plain taste. Although, I liked the geoduck and unagi that tasted pretty good.

Finale:

When we are leaving the tasting room, we were presented with a bill automatically including a 20% service charge, which is standard practice for Omakase service. However, with he service/ attitude we received and the food quality, I did not feel like to be imposed by the 20% service charge and they did remove it for us.

Conclusion:

It does not necessarily make you an Omakase sushi restaurant when you just over price the sushi ($165 per person with no drinks or a la carte), have small seatings and serve sushi piece by piece. Omakase is based on the pride of sushi chef and the high level trust customers give to the chef. Our experience with Sushi by Scratch Seattle just proved that they failed to meet any of standard of Omakase. It was a complete disappointment from start to the end.

Although they waived our service fee, we felt like the need to let people who might be interested in this restaurant know that this one they probably...