Address: | 6 E 32nd St, New York, NY 10016, USA |
Phone: | +1 212-725-1333 |
Site: | ichiumi.com |
Rating: | 3.8 |
Working: | 11:45AM–11PM 11:45AM–11PM 11:45AM–11PM 11:45AM–11PM 11:45AM–11PM 11:45AM–11PM 11:45AM–11PM |
FO
Foodlover Girl
IchiUmi is a “Japanese Sushi and Seafood Buffet” located in Korean Town. I have been to IchiUmi once, several years ago, and I was not impressed. But, my hubby got curious when he heard what they claimed to be, an all-you-can-eat sushi and seafood. Anyways, we had a reservation for right around the time they open on one weekend. But yet, they took a few minutes to figure out where to sit us. The space is pretty impressive when it comes to its size. They take up almost the entire block in its depth, making the whole restaurant to have huge space. Not very common for NYC. As I mentioned, this place is located in Korean Town, so even though they claim to serve “Japanese” food at their buffet, don’t expect anything really Japanese to be served here. Now, let’s move on to the sushi section. They call it “Japanese Sushi” but there is nothing Japanese about it. I was disappointed with their sushi when I first visit this restaurant, but I think the quality went down even further… The sushi was very small, not very well stocked, other than cheap kind. From what I saw, they make some Salmon and Tuna nigiri sushi, but not often. And when they come out, it disappears within seconds. So, you are more likely to get one of those other white fish sushi. They list 37 kinds of nigiri sushi on their menu, but yet, you will get to see maybe five or six kinds. The rolls had strange flavoring with spices on them, making them all taste the same. And they were really bad. I mean, REALLY bad. I saw a family sitting next table (Asian family) asked their waitress to take the plate full of sushi, I guess they were not edible to them at all. When we went back to the buffet table, we didn’t really see much of option. Why? Well, most of the buffet was for what they call “Shabu Shabu” section. Now, anyone who knows or had shabu shabu would know that what they are offering is NOT shabu shabu, but a hot pot. I guess since they are supposed to be offering “Japanese” food, and many Japanese name sounds more fancy and expensive, they decided to go with shabu shabu? Anyways, the options for hot pot was pretty good. They had lots of fresh-looking veggies, and I mean a lot! Probably the best stocked item on this buffet table (LOL). They had veggies, seafood, and one kind of beef and one kind of pork. Regardless of the quality or taste, hot pot is a fun dish to have with friends and family. The service was cold, not rude, but definitely not friendly. It was not easy to grab out waitress, so we had to grab whoever was nearby when we needed something. The food quality was not good, in my opinion. For them to be advertising their establishment as “Japanese Sushi” and seafood buffet, they should have better quality sushi that are edible, and more offerings, true to their menu indicated on their website. Read my full review of this restaurant and food on my food blog, foodlovergirl.
RI
Richard Chen
Superb menu as always. Ive eaten here annually on average since its opening 10+yrs ago & have loved it ever since, for menu, service, location, quality, value, and now its impressively fresh shabu shabu service (included). Service for a buffet is typically minimal, but the very courteous, gracious hosts make for a warm welcome. They confirm Groupon deals upon arrival & seat quickly, typical wait is 5-10mins due to their giant seating capacity. Waiters are plentiful and despite busyness, they deliver on all requests. Busboys are plentiful and quick to remove unwanted plates, etc. since they pile up quickly with such a large seating size. The food continues to be par excellence. Ive over a dozen times never gotten ill which is always a risk with sushi/sashimi buffets. Their price point allows all proper and necessary attention to sanitation. Hot entrees are many and satisfy even non-sushi/sashimi eaters. Theres a hot live grilling area with wagyu beef, their pork belly, veggies, and other meats grilled for you upon demand and ongoing. The new shabu shabu section has giant fresh veggies, oversized Top Neck clams and mussels and other shellfish, and loads of thin sliced meats for selecting and personal at-table cooking. Finally, the almighty and classic sushi/sashimi section. Of particular note is the sashimi salad and tomato/cucumber salad whose textures and flavors (spicy and onion for the former, tangy for the latter) are unexpected yet perfect tones for those dishes. Eggplant salads balsamic vinegar add and asparagus fresh butter adds are other creative dishes amongst their many others. Therere way too many other sections and areas to note, but quickly, desserts includes speciality cookies, pastries, and 3 flavors of pre-scooped ice cream (no mess or cleansiness wories). Soups are 2-4 depending on time and Asian-centric, as expected, theyre reliably good. Therere the usual Western items like garlic bread, fried rice, burgers, etc. for those who must. Theres infrequently minded alcohol service with on tap beers and a half bars assortment. Kids support is great with their thoughtfully seating kids on corners where space is more (with or without strollers, important) and coat racks and spacious clean bathrooms and an upstairs seating area for large groups (common given its location 1 block from Penn Station and the center of midtown). Waiters, hosts, and busboys are all gracious to kids which we appreciate greatly. Overall, IchiUmi continues to dominate the local sushi buffet scene with excellence which I feel sorry non-area folks cant experience. Note theyve a related and similarly named but separate club/bar operation downstairs.
ME
Melanie Tam
So I just realized the previous review I wrote was actually for the bar downstairs. This time around, I got to try the sushi buffet and it was very meh. 6 of us came in for a Mothers Day lunch buffet (with a reservation) and as everyone was asking/waiting for a table, they told everyone that they would be serving a dinner menu, therefore charging a dinner price. Its a little shady IMO that they sprung this price last minute. But since the woman who gave birth to me wanted to eat here, it was definitely worth paying the extra dollars to make her happy. Everything LOOKED good but not everything was fresh. I didnt really have any sushi rolls because that is the number one rookie mistake at a sushi buffet - to fill up on all that rice. So I had a few pieces of sushi and that was it for the carbs. Next, I moved onto the sashimi. They have these plates that have any combo of 3 different things - 2 pieces of salmon, 2 pieces of white tuna, 2 pieces of tuna, and 2 pieces of uni. I didnt mind getting this but every plate had uni on it. Im okay with uni. I dont love it. But the uni here was just bad. I felt bad wasting the uni so I asked the guy cutting if I could just have fish. He was nice and gave me a bunch of pieces of sashimi, but when my mom went and asked, it was some lady and she said no. She wasnt missing out on much though because only some of the tuna slices were fresh. It didnt taste bad but it tasted off, and the color looked weird. Onto the raw clams and the oysters. The clams were alright. The oysters werent good. They were HUGE - probably double the size of raw oysters you would normally get at a restaurant. And not in a good way. Seems like they were previously frozen. As for the cooked food, I stayed away from most of it. Everything looked like something you would get from Panda Express. The highlights of the meal was probably the crepe station (made to order) and the ice cream. So that isnt saying much. I think next time, I"ll just stick to the bar.