Whoa! Whole new level of terrible.
My original review was going to be tame, but that was before I got to Marsh to get milk  for desert and realized that I left my debit card at this place!
As soon as I realized it wasn't in my possession, I called the restaurant to ask if they had found it. The host, whose name was supposedly Alex, asked where I was seated, and he immediately replied that he had checked, and that it wasn't there. My obvious question was, simply, how did you check? You were on your tethered phone, "Alex".
After I pegged this question, he told me that he did check, utilizing a particular expletive beginning with an F, which we won't use here, because we aren't COMPLETELY unprofessional. He then ended our conversation before I knew we were finished.
Assuming the line was dead, my friends and I drove back to the restaurant, greeted by an immediately aggressive host, who continued to insist that he had checked for my card. The girl who had served us when he did not, asked if she could help. Anything being an improvement, I told her I may have left my card. She said, let me check, and then she actually must have because she came back with my card! Voila! Even the chef looked at Alex like, WT actual F?, after we found it.
After we found the card, Alex continued to use hostile language with us, and insist that he had checked, which certainly wasn't the issue anymore as much as his profanity. Needless to say, they did nothing to try to make up for our service, but at least my card was recovered.
I recorded the whole scene when we went back to the restaurant on my iPhone's voice memos, and would attach it... actually, I may throw this up on SoundCloud real quick and put up a link. One sec. Here's the link:
<a href="/redir?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fwgriner%2Fsushi-bar-service&s=635fcbc4927585a4c706c8ad39348ab55e4fe31620b56f081781e6e09a51af62" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://soundcloud.com/w…</a>
I'll post my original review that just talks about how bad their sushi is below:
Don't subject yourself to this terrible service, terrible atmosphere, and terrible sushi, unless you're into that. Brought my hot tea out ice cold, had to approach the waiter every time we wanted to tell him something, we were scolded for asking about the poorly advertised karaoke machine, and it took them forty minutes to bring out four rolls, which were terrible.
We only came here because Ami's was too busy. Ami's has bigger rolls, cheaper prices, better servers, fresher fish, nicer atmosphere... But idc how long their line is, I'm never coming back here!
5 stars?! Are you people nuts?! I came here for lunch on a thurs, they should have had they're fresh stuff just in, ready for the weekend. I had the spicy salmon, Hoosier roll, and the hamachi sashimi. The Hoosier roll was fine, the fresh avocado probably helped improve the overall quality of the roll. The spicy salmon was not very good, a few pieces of salmon escaped the roll and when I ate them solo it was very evident it was not fresh and pretty fishy actually. Lastly, the hamachi, that's not even close to sashimi grade, it was grey and opaque. It's supposed to whitish pink, somewhat translucent. I was walking through Kroger last week and the sushi chef asked me if I wanted to try something he just made, it was light years above and beyond what this place is putting out. Asuka had pretty respectable sushi too. I'm really tempted to give this place a 1...
Review Source:I've had sushi all over the states: Vegas, North Carolina, Florida, the Gulf Coast, Chicago... and still this place is number 2 next to a little place in Mississippi right on the beach.
They've got great food! The tempura is nice and crunchy. The seaweed tastes fresh and so does the seafood. My favorites: The birthday... it's got a little bit of everything and is light on the sauces... eel, crab, shrimp tempura and spicy shrimp, avocado. It's scrumptious. I'm also a fan of the Hollywood roll. Spicy shrimp topped with eel and tempura flakes and drowned in japanese mayo and eel sauce.SO tasty.
The service can be a little slow sometimes and it can be hard to understand the waitresses sometimes (they are from korea) but otherwise a nice little gem of a place.
I avoided this place for years because of how trashy it looks from the outside. Â Once I was convinced to go in I was amazed at how good their food is. Â The tempura is excellent as is the sushi. Â The Udon soup is served in a cauldron that keeps it hot and is a good size, always with leftovers for later. Â The only thing that sucks is the kind of slow service and their sodas taste off, no matter which ones I've had or when I try them they always taste over carbonated or something.
Review Source:I might possibly be the most picky sushi eater. And picky sushi eaters should always be weary of seedy looking restaurants (this place looked like a brothel or abandoned wild west chuck-e-cheese from the outside). But the inside was actually very nice. Good/bad start- I made it in the door with only half of my thumb nail chewed off. It reassured me about everything when I saw the colorful sushi bar with lots of occupied tables in the dining room. And so here it begins, the good first, then the not-so-good.
First off, thumbs up for having seaweed salads! Sounds ick, but is actually refreshingly different from the stereotypical iceberg lettuce sopped in ginger dressing salad. It is something I always look forward to when going out for sushi. Another thumbs up for the price of everything. I spent a little over $15 for dinner, and I was damn hawngry. Also, the service was good, prompt and helpful and I didn't feel overdressed wearing a tie (birthday dinner btw).
Now to the picky part. This was a birthday dinner party of about 15-17 people and we were piled into a private room. Obviously, it was our fault for having too many people BUT, the room was equipped with a tiny, and by dictionary definition probably smaller, pendant lamp that our iphones out-lit (we tested this). It was so dark and awkward that everybody was only able to talk to the people next to them which got boring. Solution? We turned on the excessive flat screen tv which only made the room nauseating and even more boring because attentions were stolen by entertainment tonight on E!
Next pick, being vegetarian- its hard to find flavorful tasty food at most restaurants. And trying to save a couple of dollars, I ordered 3 different rolls. Being safe- cucumber roll. Small splurge- tempura asparagus roll. Tried and true favorite- avocado roll. My advice- splurge on the tempura rolls, they might be a dollar or two more, but they have sooo much more flavor than the regular rolls. It was an unmemorable disappointment that even the wasabi infused soy-sauce I concocted couldn't make up for flavor.
Another thing, the drink menu is non-existent. Aside from the few weekday liquor specials (it was saturday night, btw) there was no evidence of soda or even great Asian beers. It turned out alright though- the complimentary waters all come with complimentary lemons.
Ok so after picking this place apart, I realized that it wasn't all that horrible. Rather, it just solidified the fact that an hour and fifteen minute drive to a certain Indianapolis pan-Asian restaurant doesn't sound ridiculous. Also, next time I get an invite to dinner here, I might be *cough* sick with the flu.
Definitely the best sushi in Bloomington, and one of the best sushi places in Indiana. One of my favorite restaurants, because the service is usually pretty terrible (hence only four stars). However, I can ignore the service because the food is so good. I also like that it is usually quiet, and there are recessed booths and dim lighting. Makes for a pleasant dining experience... as long as you are patient.
Review Source:I'm sorry, but I can't give this place a good rating just because it might be the best that Bloomington has to offer.
The whole point of eating sushi is to have quality, fresh fish. I understand that we're in Indiana, and I'm from the heart of Chicago so I might be a bit spoiled, but based on previous reviews I was hoping for decent quality. Or I guess a miracle.
The place earned an extra star for a warm, comfy little vibe and some flavorful hot soups.
Okay, the way I see it is you have to look at this in reference to the rest of Indiana, and as a girl from smalltown Indiana I have tasted several sushis all over the state and they all suck except for, like, one in Columbus. So with that in mind: this is really good. We're in a landlocked state for goodness sake--we can't really expect freshly-caught-tuna-from-Lake-Michigan. ...As far as I'm aware, anyway.
My roommate and I get this food about once every few weeks because we're naught but poor college students, but we love the Dynamite Roll and the Sun Roll, and the white tuna nigiri is fantabulous. We've also been trying out things recently, and I particularly like the sweet potato maki, the cucumber maki. On top of that, I HIGHLY suggest their side salad -- the dressing they put on it is different from the ginger dressing I've had in most other sushi restaurants, and I could seriously drink that stuff. It's sweet and tangy all in one. The banana tempura ice cream is also pretty good.
The service is almost always mediocre at best, though they have come to recognize me and my roommate and so thus treat us very well in comparison to others I've noticed. It takes forever to get your sushi but, honestly, I kind of expect that from a sushi place -- if my sushi takes two minutes to get out to me, THEN I'm worried. If it takes forever, I feel like more care has been put into it. I'm not sure if it has or anything, but it makes me feel like it has and that's really what matters in the long run. I'm not a gourmand, and I really don't think 99% of college students are either. The staff might not be the best, but they are honest -- like when I was trying Sake, the girl told me that it came in tiny bottles and I thanked her for that...but wanted a tiny bottle anyway.
The owner is absolutely adorable and friendly, too, so I suggest talking to him for a bit if you can. Also, I've heard people complaining about them writing tips on to carryout orders and all I have to say is that for sushi bars a large chunk of the tip often goes to the people who prepare the sushi -- not the servers -- so um, don't be a jerk and actually give a tip to the people who made your food! These people almost always make below minimum wage and have to hope tips make up the difference! Yo, cooks REPRESENT.
BY FAR THE BEST SUSHI EVER!!! Â Oh my dear goodness!!! Â This place spoiled me so much, it was the first real sushi place I went to, and I had no idea how bad sushi could be after. Â I cannot find sushi this good in DC, its sad. Â I can't wait to come back, visit and pig out on $50 worth of sushi in btown again! Â Sooo good, I'm pretty sure my ex and I's lowest bill was 80, always wayyy overordered, but to me its worth it for good sushi. Â YUM (don't mind the fact that it looks random, its near nothing but a highway and a few shops across the street and doesn't look like anything special, but it really, really is)
Review Source:Seemed very good for the price- I went with a party of 4 hungry guys, and even after going back for a second round the bill was still under $60.
Freshness was a bit of an issue, and I didn't try any sashimi, but I was pleasantly surprised for a sushi restaurant in the Heartland. I would go back again.
Someone mentioned this as a Korean owned bar, but I know Andy (the owner), and he is from Hong Kong. Just so the information is correct. He's also a very nice guy.
Five stars for some of the most consistent and expert sushi I've had in the Midwest. I did the rounds at one point and found Sushi Bar to be the most inviting and the best value. (It's midwest sushi, the freshness doesn't change all that much, sadly.)
Bruce, the main sushi chef, has over 13 years of experience, and is amazing, and super nice. The junior chef has never really impressed me, and probably leads to a lot of their less than stellar reviews.
Favorites: Chirashi, Unaju, Spicy Shrimp, great vegetarian selection, Tiger Eye/Snowball rolls.
There isn't much sweet deal sushi in Bloomington, but Sushi Bar makes some good, not breaking the wallet, sushi. Sure, the service is slow, the interior is boring, and looks super shady, but the private rooms are nice for sake bombing, and the place does host a nice private function. The tiger roll is good and always pleases. So while. no, the fish isn't flown in from Japan daily, and they may not have the most exciting rolls, it's a good spot, you'll always go home happy, and unlike most places Bumblef*ck, Indiana, it's consistent.
Sushi Bar: Wub
A good vegetarian roll selection Bloomington. Not as good as Japonais for vegetarian sushi. The private rooms are pretty cool if you have a group of people.
I had my birthday there with a group of friends. If you have at least 5 people with you on your birthday your meal is free up to 15 or 20.
Good all around sushi.