Shumi Japanese Cuisine
CHEF KUNIHIKO AIKASA
BORN AND RAISED IN FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN CHEK AIKASA'S BEEN PRACTICING JAPANESE CUISINE FOR 46 YEARS AND OWNED AND MANAGED THE FIRST SHUMI IN SOMERVILLE NJ FOR 31 YEARS SINCE OPENING IN 1986.
New York Times rating: excellent
Zagat rating: 28
Featured in NYT article
Featured in NJ.com (formerly Star Ledger) article
Featured in Verizon Fios TV
CHEF DAVID SEO
BORN IN SEOUL, KOREA AND RAISED IN NORTHERN NEW JERSEY CHEF SEO PRACTICED JAPANESE CUISINE FOR 21 YEARS. MANAGED AND CONSULTED NUMEROUS HIGH-END JAPANESE CUISINE.
SHUMI JAPANESE RIDGEWOOD WELCOMES ALL AND WILL SERVE YOU GUYS AS BEST AS WE CAN AND WILL FULFILL YOUR EXPECTATIONS.
I’m a bit disappointed with the quality of the food. We ordered omakase special, it’s $100 for lunch. The quality of the fish is so so. The size is very small, I would rather have less prices but better quality and bigger size fish.
Our favorite sushi restaurant. We are regulars there.
Good sushi. Not amazing but good sushi for the burbs. The service at this place is consistently awful. You have to stare a waiter down for ten minutes befroe they come to u...Not to mention that entree comes same time as apps...
The best sushi in this area hands down great sushi chefs great wait staff
Watching the chef making sushi so meticulously, eating it immediately, in an intimate space made this experience a evening to remember! The sushi is the best I’ve ever eaten. I doubt there are many places in the US that could even come close to Shumi in freshness.
Loved the food and experience. Chef was so skillful in handling the fish and so creative in his artistic presentation of simple yet delectable ingredients into a mouthful of flavor. Definitely recommend and will bring friends. Triple thumps up if I had the thumbs. lol. Also, The service was also perfect. Very attentive.
Everything was delicious and David, the owner, who was at the sushi counter making sushi, iwas fabulous. He was welcoming, informative, and generous. My only service pet peeve is when you have plenty of seats around the sushi bar/counter, and somebody walks in with a reservation, placing them in a corner seat away from where they can see everything and not being amenable to moving them to the center, until they really had nobody left, is a little irritating. We eventually moved to the center, but only after the one other couple that was close by and left, so all was resolved.
I recently brought some clients in from NYC for Omakase. In the past, the experience was excellent with a sometimes uneven wait staff service. This time, the service was terrible. The manager was rude to us when we arrived, barking "walk in?" repeatedly even as we explained we had a reservation. When we pointed to our name on his list, he abruptly turned & sat us. No greeting. No welcome. It was a sign of how the service would continue throughout the night. The waiters couldn't identify the sushi on the plates, what order to eat them in, or any other information. They asked us how many course we ate as they didn't know. The first course was a bizarre soup with one piece of unraveling tuna roll dropped in it. The Omakase was not memorable and average compared to previous meal there. On top of which, we became sick after the meal which was unforgivable. I spoke to the manager, Mason, asking to speak to the owner. I didn't want to leave a bad review as it can hurt a business. I never heard back. This meal cost over $500 & it was horrifying in terms of quality, experience, service and food safety. I recommend people avoid this restaurant and go two block away to Sakura, which although not as trendy looking, provides the value and authenticity that diners deserve.
Omakase $120 was amazing. So my different pieces and flavoring you wouldn’t even get in the city
Restaurant was very pretty. We got there it was not very crowded, we had a reservation and they sat us quickly. The sushi was truly outstanding. We both ordered a teriyaki box dinner. My daughters came out as a completely wrong order, she ordered shrimp teriyaki and it was meat and a much bigger order. I called them over. And we sent it back so they had to prepare her correct meal. They seemed very confused by the whole thing. Taking back and forth amongst each other, it was crazy.
I I didnt want to eat my meal, without her having hers , so mine ended up cold. The food was good but $80 for that experience it just gave me a really bad feeling. Also they have a lot of wait staff that seem to just run around and pace back and forth the whole time you are dining. . Very distracting and weird. Not relaxing. Probably not bother again.
Outrageous!!!!! Amazing. NYC/LA/Vegas quality, but in the burbs!! Omakase is the way to go.
Great food !
We did the omakase dinner
Exceptional sushi!
We are a seasoned Omakase lovers. I’m kinda mixed here, let me start by saying if your a sushi fan, you’ll be happy. If your like us, someone who appreciates every flavor and how a fish is cut, you may /may not be happy. First impressions, a lot of confusion as to who at the sushi bar is getting Omakese Regular or Special... now if your dropping 80 on omakase, you don’t want to hear “regular” how about just Omakase”” . Medium toro was super lean and fell apart at the tendons. oToro excellent, all mackerels were sub-Par. No unni in sushi regular. The other thing I didn’t like was that everybody who got regular and special have the same sequence of fish to the end meaning if I got a regular my last sushi was eel however those that got a special would have a continuation of Uni abalone etc. which should never come after being served eel. They do lotta things right they do a lot of things wrong simply because the catering to the masses. End of the day there’s a ton of very appealing dishes on the menu which we did however if you were in Omakasa enthusiast you may want to get a la carte.
Will try again and review to follow.
This is the best sushi in Bergen County so good worth the money
NY vibe with excellent service. Fresh ingredients, best sushi in the area!
A bit to rushed for my taste
The sushi here is expertly prepared and the quality and variety of fish is truly exemplary (at least compared to anywhere outside of Tokyo). We did the top level Omakase and were wonderfully sated by the end of our meal...bordering on stuffed!
My only nit, and this is pretty minor, is that the majority of the fish for sushi had been precut and was rather small. I would have preferred that the Chefs be allowed to cut the fish to order and that the size of the pieces was a bit larger. Don't get me wrong, the balance of fish to rice was spot on...just a little on the small size given the pricing here.
We liked it enough that we made our next reservation as we were leaving and just in the way of background, I have been eating sushi since 1978 and have been to Tokyo multiple times and eaten at some of the finest sushi bars there...
The decor is rather spartan and the sound track is right off of my 20-year-old daughter's playlist, but overall this is a really got spot for sushi if you live anywhere near Ridgewood and blows away everything we have here in Montclair (where for some reason there is not a single decent sushi bar).
Today we had the pleasure of seeing the owner and head chefs at the counter for Omakase. Always a welcoming atmosphere and I love that the food quality is equivalent or better than the famous and expensive NYC sushi places for like 3rd of the cost, and close to home. Always an amazing Omakase experience and will continue to visit again and again and again!!
Amazing food and a great ambiance. The only minor flaw the place has is that I believe there need to be more servers because we got through half of our meal before someone brought over the soy sauce we requested when our food first came.
Exceptional service and delicious food. I recommend the Shumi Roll.
We were seated at the sushi counter and it took more than 15 minutes to have our order taken. One of the items ordered as sushi came as sashimi but it was quickly fixed when pointed out. The fluke appetizer, while good, is usually much better. Usually the fluke melts in your mouth but this was rather chewy. My husband also thought the tako on his sashimi platter was not particularly fresh. Overall it was fine but we were disappointed because Shumi is usually quite good.
My date and I sat at the counter, and really enjoyed the ambiance of the space, and being able to see sushi being crafted in front of us. We are both people who are fairly experienced sushi lovers, and this was both of our first times being there.
We ordered the shumai to start, and I ordered a rainbow roll and my date ordered the Bluefin roll.
The sushi entrees were smaller than other places I’ve been to, but delicious and never felt that I was hungry for more.
When our bill came, we realized the shumai appetizer never came. Though my stomach was satisfied and didn’t want any more food, it was odd that we never received what we ordered, even though it appeared on our bill. For a sushi night out, prices were similar to a nice sushi place in the city, nothing abhorrently expensive.
All in all, a great dinner, very good atmosphere with a wide range of menu options. Excellent location to bars in Ridgewood for nightcaps or to keep the night going. Also excellent that we were able to BYOB and save money in that regard.
Advice to people coming here, be mindful of how much food you want (and be prepared to order more if you think a smaller sushi entree won’t be enough) and make sure to keep track of what you order in case it doesn’t arrive like my appetizer.
One of the best Chirashi bowls I’ve ever had. Great variety of fish. Not run of the mill. Will return often.
The AC was broken
Best and most innovative and unique sushi in the area. Excellent food and the atmoshphere is sophisticated and inviting.
Shuni is a ‘scene’ type restaurant! I adore great sushi but must say that although Shumi’s dishes were well-prepared, the fish as of great quality the soft crab salad dressing too spicy and there wasn’t enough crab (so I thought) in the salad. However, the crab was very tasty and our lavender green tea & dragon roll were very good!
The blue fin tuna roll was mediocre in taste, chunky & not neatly made either! I have had phenom tuna (maguro, yellow fin, etc.), at several 4 & 5 star sushi restaurants in the past and wouldn't order it again. In addition, our table for two was located in back of Shumi’s beautiful, and very crowded sushi bar (‘a scene’), which meant that servers were squeezing behind me. The restaurant’s interior is upscale, narrow with pleasing decor, however, on a summer Friday night when a party of 4 couples were seated next to us after we began eating, the noise level became unacceptable! Since reservations are taken on ‘Open Table’, etc., Shumi could put parties of 8 or more people in a different area of the restaurant perhaps! If you order the chef’s entree selections (ie.Omakasa), perhaps Shumi would be terrific for the prices being charged. I think that for the value, Shumi is overpriced!
Unbelievably delicious food!!
One of the few sushi places around that truly feels authentic and not just Americanized rolls to appeal to the kinda sushi eater. It almost felt like dinner and a show because I watched in awe as the sushi chefs elegantly prepared hundreds of pieces of sushi and sashimi. The next time I come, I truly want to try the tasting menu where the chef decides what to bring you.
Always perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Another visit to Shumi was excellent as usual. We all had the regular omakase and it was unbelievable. The fish was extremely fresh and the preparation was done by a skilled master. We can't wait to go back.
Appetizers at the better than the main course. Servers are not real well-versed in the ingredients that are pleasant and helpful. Despite stressing shellfish allergy a tempura shrimp was put on my plate but they quickly corrected the mistake. Overall food is very good I’ve been back several times
Had a great 2nd dine in experience overall. With a few minor tweaks this spot would be practically perfect! A few things as constructive feedback: service upon initial sit down could be quicker, they could cork the wine (it’s BYO) and pour the first glass at least. Same for bottled water. I wish they would install a decorative screen, as some at angles you can see into the back kitchen and not in the “cool/designed to be that way” idea. Lastly, I can appreciate keeping the staff hydrated - they work hard! But, perhaps less Starbucks drinks and clutter on the back of the sushi bar? Would be a bit more polished, and know that this place is meant to be an upscale experience. The good quality and Omakase is great, and it’s nice to have NYC level cuisine, without making the trek. Will be back :)
Wanted to love this spot but I think I'll stick to Sakura Bana. Nothing was outstanding and everything fairly overpriced.
Every time we dine at Shumi it’s outstanding!
Food is delicious, but service is not professional.
Great for a fancy night out when you want to dress up with friends! Fun vibe and the food was great
Horrible service. Servers dont know what to do. Meal came out had a plastic wrap on the roll. We had another order request but it got dropped, food did not come out. There were errors in our bill on it too. I honestly can't believe how they operate this restaurant.
By far the best Sushi/Sashimi I have ever had. The service was excellent.
I love to sit at the sushi bar and watch them create delicious works or art. The sushi is consistently fresh. The servers are attentive and friendly. Great neighborhood joint. Love that it’s byob.