Kumiko — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

My husband and I went to Kumiko last night, Saturday, February 15, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. For the restaurant's review, when you walk in, we sat on the right hand side, against the wall, second table away from the bar.

This was, hands down, the worst service experience I think I have ever had in Chicago (where I am from). We 100% went to this place knowing that it's the cocktail part of Kikko. However, when we spoke to someone on the phone earlier in the day, she explained that Kumiko has a separate food menu whereby you can also do your own omakase. When we sat down, the server came over to us and immediately began speaking to us in a condescending manner that was, off-the-bat, off putting. The way he explained what we were able to eat there was extremely aggressive to the point where I felt I had to interrupt him to explain that we have been all over the world to omakase restaurants, including Jiro, to give him the idea that we didn't appreciate the arrogant tone. He proceeded to make inappropriate comments to us like, "You can have drinks, but not too many, because my goal is to not lose our liquor license."

When he walked away, I still felt as though he did not explain what Kumiko's omakase menu entailed. Therefore, my husband and I decided to just order whatever individual items we wanted from the menu. The server came back over to our table, and at the same time, the man to my husband's left waved the server over to his table as well. Considering the server approached our table first, the man to my husband's left waited patiently (very nice) to be taken care of next. My husband asked the server if he was ready to which he responded yes, so he, therefore, started listing off numerous items for our order. About 4 items in, the server literally put his open palm hand up to my husband's face and said, "Hold on." He walked around my husband's back to the man to my husband's left and goes, "What can I get for you? Would you like to order a drink?" He actually stopped my husband in the middle of his order to take someone else's order that he deemed to be more important. We were disgusted and shocked that that just happened. When this server returned, I told him nevermind, and we just wanted our two drinks we ordered. My husband and I immediately decided that we wanted to get the hell out of there, drink our drinks, and go get food at a more reputable spot in West Loop (to which we did). When the server asked us, again, if we still wanted to place a food order, I told him no and that we were going to eat somewhere else. He asked us where, and then proceeded to tell us how to get there.

I actually have no idea how someone like this could be working at a place that is supposed to be associated with a Michelin rating. My husband and I are not frugal when it comes to eating out and eating good food. We were well aware that ordering off that menu was going to be a few hundred dollars, and we were fine with it until we were completed disrespected like nothing we have ever seen before. I actually felt like this was a Julia Roberts moment because we walked out and spent our money at another well known sushi spot in West Loop. My point of this review is not to get anything comped as we will never step foot in this place ever again. I just hope that this review brings attention to whatever management team Kumiko has so that they can take appropriate actions to make sure this never happens to anyone again. I have told this story about the server's hand in my husband's face numerous times since last night, and everyone's mouths drop when they hear about it.

To the management, if you want to speak further, please contact...

My friend and I were so excited to finally try Kumiko. We went in on a Friday evening with no reservation. We were prepared to go somewhere else if there wasn’t any availability, but the hostess sat us down at the bar within 10 minutes.

She asked if we planned on only drinks, and we informed her that we’d also like to eat dinner.

The drinks were good. The food took a while to come and OMG, this isn’t regular food. The portion sizes are for toddlers or gnomes, but certainly not for regular people (even though the pricing would suggest it is a regular portion). We ordered about 5 things.

We were disappointed at the portion size, but we just shrugged it off and enjoyed ourselves. The food was meh 🫤 (see below for more details).

We were there for a little over an hour and every 3 minutes during that hour while our food was present (that’s NOT an exaggeration) someone would ask to clear our plates that we were obviously still eating from! We were annoyed at this because we had so little food already, we were like, “PLEASE…leave the food!” Or, give it back, in a few cases.

We were silly. We thought we could go in, sit at the bar, relax and enjoy our food and drinks … but NO!

What no one told us when we sat down (or we would have gone somewhere else) is that they give you a STRICT HOUR at the bar to eat/drink and then you MUST GO! So apparently the reason people were trying to take our plates every few minutes and circling us like vultures is because they were trying very VERY hard to rush us out. We were oblivious to this, and so after about an hour the manager came over to dress us down about our oblivious lingering.

In an extremely passive-aggressive tone the manager informed us that, “your server has been doing EVERYTHING she POSSIBLY can to accommodate you. These seats have a strict 1hr time limit, and you’ve exceeded that hour.” We were floored. We came in to drink, eat , and enjoy … but apparently, at Kumiko, enjoyment is a no-no.

Her interruption completely ruined our experience there. The people sitting next to us even commented, “Wow! That was really harsh and unnecessary!”

FOOD: Scallops (the most $$) were small and cheap grade D scallops about the size of your pinky fingernail! The dish had too much umami and not enough bite so it felt like I was eating a wet bland tongue that had a previously rough night. Gross. The caviar on top is totally wasted in this dish because the overall bland flavor just washed the caviar right out. Whoever the chef is needs to go back to culinary school and learn about flavor balance. The dish was something like $38 for about the equivalent of one and a half regular sized scallops. Totally not worth it. And in very poor taste.

The fried chicken was good because fried chicken is generally good—difficult to mess up. It was also greasy and not my preferred food to fill up on. But it was certainly the most hearty of the dishes.

The mackerel was (again) too umami and not good flavor balance. It’s served lightly seared, so basically raw, in umami dashi (broth). And that’s the sum of the dish. It was underwhelming to say the least, and lacked anything that pulled the dish together in an interesting or memorable way. Very boring.

The pickles were great, and I know because I make the same pickles at home. Lol

The entire bill with 4 drinks and 5 items came out to $300. For that, we were “allowed” to sit at the bar for an hour, constantly disturbed by servers, who I affectionately call Kumiko Vultures, now.

The staff is not only rude, but passive aggressive in their behavior, ESPECIALLY the manager. If you decide to go, enjoy a drink then get food...

Kumiko was, without question or hesitation, one of the best dining experiences I've ever had. I knew coming into it that it was going to be a very high quality establishment with quality drinks and food, but oh my STARS was it above and beyond in every capacity.

Before we even sat down, we were offered cold tea, and sipped it as other guests were checked in. When we sat down, an immaculately set table was adorned with a scented towel, a delicate centerpiece and a soft tealight to illuminate our meal.

The menu was compact and to the point, brief explanations of all the drinks, even going above and beyond to the point of describing the flavor profiles of each of the beverages. While I don't drink alcohol, that was not an issue! Kumiko had a dedicated spirit free section of drinks, not "cocktail minus booze" arrangements, but a full-fledged selection of sweet, bitter, tart, and floral arrangements for us to delight in.

We decided to get the sashimi selection and the nori honey cashews, along with the fields of green and umeboshi swizzle.

The sashimi selection was beautifully presented, with a delectable selection of fish, as well as pickled ginger, a composite tartare of the three kinds of fish we got, as well as a side of a delightfully herbaceous sauce to go with it all.

The tartare was my favorite, being incredibly well arranged and seasoned with a splash of some kind of infused oil, as well as these little granules of sour/tart that I simply could not get enough of!

The drinks were subtle, but absolutely DELIGHTFUL. With bits of tart and a tad of umami, the swizzle was an excellent pairing with the sashimi and tartare, and the fields of green was refreshing and earthy, a perfect pairing with the nori cashews.

Our server even overheard me musing about the texture of the tartare that came with the sashimi selection, and the chef sent out a finger lime to show how it had such succulent little beads of flavor!

After the first "course" we ordered two sandwiches, one tonkatsu and one gyū katsu.

Both were absolutely DIVINE, the pork on the tonkatsu being perfectly seasoned, the tonkatsu sauce giving an amazing depth of umami but also lending a bit of sweetness to it, though that may have been the residual from the butter on the bread. Additionally, the wagyū on the gyū katsu was an absolute unequivocal stunner, perfectly cooked and tender, practically melting in your mouth with how marbled the beef was.

For the final round of drinks, we got the Lucid Dreamer and the Remedy, which were both of the fan favorites among the two of us.

The remedy was a delicately sweet drink, but not a sugary or overbearing kind of sweet. It had inklings of bitterness, but nothing that could take away from the center of the ensemble. The Lucid Dreamer was equally impressive, floral and light, with bits of herb that likely came from the "crown" of herbs in the glass.

While an experience like Kumiko will inevitably come with an equally impressive check, I would say without question that it is worth every penny. I found that going later at night only added to the intimacy of the dining room, the tealights giving a sense of wonder to your meal.

Absolutely stunning, I will be...