Daruma

I use to be a big time fan of this place for years. I recently came back here after a few years of not being back and wow. This place changed so much but not for the better. The menu is weird. Ribs on a menu with sushi? I came with a party of 8 and 4 of our party had to alter there orders because they ran out of items. The waiter had to come back 4 different times to tell us something else was out of stock. I could understand if there were a lot of customers here and the items were all used up. This was not the case. It ls a Friday night and we were the only ones here so what gives? On top of that they got a few of our orders wrong when the food was brought out. This was a big disappointment and i don’t think ill be back again. R.I.P daruma. P. s the ice cream tempura desert was the shining star tonight.

We tried this place last month and were pleasantly surprised! The menu is on the small side, but everything we ordered was great. The sushi rolls were good, but the fusion dishes won me over. The braided pork ravioli and the tacos were amazing. Highly recommended.

Service was great — never had a need go unserviced.
On the other hand, the sushi was absolutely atrocious. Four rolls, rolled by what seemed to be the skill level of a nine year old. Massive amounts of rice (not even sushi rice — cost cutting at its worst), minimal fish. Fish was warm (never experienced that before, made me question if I could potentially get sick eating it). Opened up the rolls and discovered the fish was a mash up of smaller pieces — either the chef has no idea how to properly cut fish and s/​he refused to waste it, or they purposely bought premade tartar and molded it.
No Korean food choices (lunch). I really wanted to like this place, but they really need to step up their game. Especially, since Rutherford has so many other restaurants to choose from.

I just went again, Friday night, more people, less weird and the food is frikkin delicious!

Well damn, I don’t know what happened to this place but I think the grand openings, and grand re-​openings, and re-​grand re-​openings did something funky. The atmosphere? Really nice. Everything seemed brand-​spanking new and swanky, but it didn’t scream «Asian» to us. It felt like an Italian restaurant. The food? Just okay.
The menu was small and weird (the menu was literally small, size-​wise). Not only were several of the items on it weird for an Asian place (braised short rib pasta?) but most of their sushi options are not listed on the menu. The manager (owner?) read off the rolls to us while we scanned the menu. Why would there be 10 additional rolls? We lost track of what she was saying about 6 rolls in. It would have been helpful to know the contents in each of the rolls (i.e — list them on the menu or on a side menu). I made the mistake of ordering my rolls with brown rice, much to the chagrin of my girls. The brown rice was on the hard and crunchy side. So much for trying to go the healthy route. Oooh they laced into me for that!
Service was polite, but we felt that the prices were a little high. The total was $ 84 for 8 rolls (basic ones), 3 sushi pieces, and edamame. It was only us and one other couple dining in there that night. We felt like we needed to be quiet, but hushed tones flew out the window once our wine started flowing (BYOB).
The identity of Daruma confused us. It may confuse you also.

We live down the block, but haven’t eaten here in over two years because the food was expensive and mediocre. When I saw a «Grand Opening!» sign a few weeks ago, we decided to give it another try.
Now, this place is much more of a fusion Japanese-​American restaurant with a hint of Korean and a nice sushi menu. Their cooked food is better than their sushi, and we enjoyed our dinner. Service was spotty, we were one of only four tables on a Saturday night but still had trouble getting a hold of our server a lot.
Overall, a nice experience, and we will be back.

Sushi was good but not cheap. Atmosphere was far more upscale than your typical sushi joint, like a very nice Italian restaurant had vacated the premises and a sushi restaurant moved in. (And was eerily quiet.) But it took about 45 minutes from ordering to receiving food, and this was with maybe four other tables in the restaurant.
We came expecting Korean food, thanks to Unilocal’s «Korean» label. Be aware that the Korean selection is bibimbap and a couple of other dishes, not a full Korean menu.

My husband and I had a enjoyable first time visit. It was a Saturday night at 930pm and we were the only ones in the entire resturant. The atmosphere is very nice. Everything is updated and clean with light music in the background. The food was ok. I had the vegetable tempura roll and the coconut shrimp roll. The seaweed wrap was a little bit hard to chew through but the rest of the rolls tasted pretty good. Our service was good. The waiter was very attentive and approuched out table a few times to ask of we needed anything. We would def go back.

Okay so I really love their food but their service is just horrible. I have discontinued eating there because it takes forever to get your food. I normally do take out but today was the final straw. I called for take out and the person who answer the phone sighed (like as if I was inconveniencing him by wanting to order food from their restaurant) and said «is it a big order? How much did you want because we are really busy.» Honestly, who does that? I believe a more appropriate response would be to have taken the order and mentioned that «the pickup time would be around an hour because they were busy». I’ve been a loyal customer for a long time to them. They made me feel like my order wasn’t even worth their time BEFORE they even took my order. I told them «I’m sorry for inconveniencing you by trying to order from your establishment» and hung up. I’m really disappointed because I really like their food and I’m pretty sure that is the only reason this place is still open because lord knows it’s not due to their exemplary service!

I was really hoping the reviews would be wrong about this place. The reviews i read basically said great sushi, bad service. I had the opposite experience. They renovated this place and the atmosphere is really cozy and cute. They have music playing in the background. Our waiter was great. He gave us the space we needed, and came to our table when necessary. He was very helpful, and sweet. For apps, we got edamame which was ehhhh– not great. The seaweed salad was pretty decent. We split 3 rolls– buffalo tuna, salmon skin roll, and a third one in which i forget the name. The salmon skin was kinda greasy and a bit off. The rolls fell apart kinda easily too. I enjoyed the buffalo tuna. I do feel like it was more rice than fish though. If this place went back to having great sushi, it could have somehthing going b/​c the atmosphere is definitely the best out of all the sushi places in town.
BYob and street parking !

This place is a shame. Good food, large menu with lots of fun rolls, nice atmosphere, seating for larger parties with the expansion they added on, and BYOB.
HOWEVER, the service is horrendous. Please put aside 3 hrs of your life for a party of 4. When there’s no one else in the restaurant. Absolutely no rhyme or reason behind this. Polite servers, but totally flustered.
If they would just read their Unilocal reviews, maybe they can realize the overall consensus for their 2.5 star rating is the horrible service.
I wish they would fix the issue, because I’d hate to see them close. Lots of potential.

So I had my daughter’s birthday dinner there with a group of 9 of us. We were the first ones to arrive in the restaurant. The waiter was the only person there… all night! No background music so the ambience was lacking although the décor was nice. The waiter would come to the table to take our order but was running away from us before the ordering was even complete. I understand they were short staffed and he needed to take care of the entire restaurant himself but the service was horrendous! Our reservation was for 6:30 and we did not get our meal until 8:30! Thank God we had ordered salad and apps! My daughter had another engagement with her friends and had to leave before the cake even came out after being there for 2 ½ hours!
You ruined the whole night and the food was ok but I have had better!

If you haven’t been here recently. Come back!!! The atmosphere has totally changed! The waiter on staff now is amazing, courteous, attentive and personable. I have been here only a few times when he’s working and he remembered my drink order (which is only a diet coke) Service is back to being speedy and delicious as usual. I recommend this place to everyone and if you haven’t been in a while go back!!!

Food was ok. I’ve had better food. I didn’t like the fact that the servers were standing nearby our table the whole time. There are parking off street. I don’t know if I will go back.

I came for lunch on a Tuesday, this restaurant is pretty clean and has a slightly upscale décor and atmosphere. The pricing on the lunch specials was fair and they had some daily specials that were only $ 6.
I decided to try two of the $ 6 lunch specials: the sweet and sour chicken and the ramen. The chicken was crispy, light and fluffy and had some bell pepper and onion slices on top. It came with a side of white rice and was overall very tasty.
The ramen was good, but if I had to guess I think it’s a brand I’m familiar with at the Korean grocery store called Neoguri. It had egg and some other toppings which was nice but I was really hoping for something more homemade.
Overall I would recommend, service was very fast and the food was great for the value.

Came here on a Monday night — barely anyone was in the restaurant. We ordered a bunch of different rolls. I enjoyed the Spicy Tuna wrapped in Cucumber the most. I also enjoyed the presentation. I’ve had better sushi and the service was not that great, so I have to give this place only 3 stars.

I’ve been coming here for years. I usually get the sashimi bento box. The fish is fresh which is all that’s necessary. Sometimes I wish for more variety on the menu.
They remodeled the interior, and it’s way too big now and kind of drafty. It went from a cozy Japanese place where you could be a little casual to a more upscale location, and it seems a little ‘cold’ and generic now. Do they still have a sushi bar? I don’t even know. All I remember is gold-​hued lighting and black leather. I feel like I should be eating fusion tapas and drinking cocktails there. It’s a weird disconnect.
I haven’t had problems with the service. On my last visit there, a couple with misbehaving children got an extra item on the bill. They were incredibly rude to the waitress about it and demanded an apology after she found her mistake. A discerning reader will see a few things wrong there: misbehaving children, a mistaken order, rude diners. The tone and clientele of this restaurant has definitely changed since the renovation. I don’t know if I’ll go back when there are other options for sushi and ethnic food in Rutherford.

Decent food, but the service wasn’t very friendly –
$ 10.95 for the lunch special: Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box (8 pieces Cali Roll, Whitemeat Chicken, Salad, Rice, Miso Soup)
I’d go here more for cooked meals, rather than sushi though.

It was time for a trip to Rutherford, NJ. Close to the home of my Super Bowl Champion NY Giants. That has nothing to do with this review. I just like to type Super Bowl Champion NY Giants. It has a nice ring to it don’t you think? No? Ok. Moving on.
We knew we would be eating dinner out because I was coming around dinnertime. The question was where? Sushi was suggested and since I don’t eat it that much (I love sushi, but it is more of a treat for me) that suggestion was completely fine with me. This was actually the second place we went to as the first place had a wait that was over an hour. Too hungry to wait an hour. Way too hungry. Next time. This was a good second choice though.
Apparently most places in Rutherford are BYOB. We did BYOB. Beer being that second B. Maki and beer. Two great tastes that taste great together.
Started out with some Edamame ($ 4.50) and Gyoza ($ 4.95). Both very good. Nothing earth shatteringly incredible about either, but how can anyone f up edamame? The gyoza (pork and veggie dumplings) had a nice crunch to them and were a good size. Six come in a portion of which one friend and I split.
Onto the main reason we came. Maki. The same friend and I ended up getting 5 different rolls. Enough to kill a small horse if it was allergic to fish. Eel and Avocado Roll ($ 5.95), Spicy Tuna Roll ($ 6.25), Spicy Red Snapper Crunch Roll 9 $ 6.50), Sweet Tako Roll (Octopus, cucumber and rice vinegar dressing topped with tempura flakes, $ 6.50) and Seared Scallop Roll ($ 10.50). I honestly can’t believe I actually remembered all the rolls we ordered. The platter came out and we both started to dig in. Everything was mighty good. Fresh which is something you definitely want when you are eating raw fish.
Room for dessert? Apparently. Chocolate Tempura Ice Cream ($ 7.95). This is deep fried ice cream. Heart attack worthy. Why do I do this to myself? Probably because it is very good. Very very damn good. A palate cleanser if you will. Will you? You should.

I saw the banner hanging up out front that said $ 6 lunch specials and ½ off sushi rolls. So I convinced 10 coworkers we should try Daruma instead of Nizi this time for our usual sushi Friday lunch… [
Sorry guys, my bad. Apparently the ½ off sushi rolls is some sort of hoax, because the waitress told us there were no ½ off sushi rolls. There were about four $ 6 lunch entrees that were decent, but the rest of the menu was very expensive for what was served. One coworker ordered the $ 9 sushi lunch that was simply 5 small pieces of nigiri (no soup or salad or anything else). For $ 9 you can get a never-​ending feast of food at lunch at the nearby Nizi.
Maybe this place is a better value for dinner, but for lunch don’t bother. Also, make sure you have 2 hours to spare because the food took really long to come out, and we were the only customers there.
Upon leaving we discussed if we should stop off at White Castle because everyone was still hungry.