r/cincinnati • u/iAMgnarrshy • 1d ago
Food đđŽ Suzu
Figured since I havenât seen anyone post about it yet, Iâd share our experience after dining here on opening night.
The missus managed to snag us a reservation, and since we were out of town for the media days on Saturday and Sunday, tonight was our first opportunity to check the place out.
We kicked things off with the Tuna Crispy Rice ($16), which was an immediate standout. It came out almost as soon as we ordered it and consisted of four pieces, each about two bites. A great way to start the meal.
Next up were the Oyster Journey ($24) and Kani Salad ($14.) The oysters were excellent, with six total: three from each coast. My only complaint was that the server didnât provide any information about where the oysters were sourced or what we were eating. For a dish presented as a journey, a little explanation would have gone a long way.
The Kani Salad, on the other hand, was fantastic. Easily one of the highlights of the meal, and we practically licked the bowl clean.
For our next course, we ordered the Grilled Scallops ($30) and Hot Stone Wagyu ($28.) The scallops were probably my favorite dish of the evening. They were delicious and left me wishing weâd ordered more. The Wagyu was a bit underwhelming by comparison. We received seven thin slices to cook on the hot stone for approximately 15 seconds per side. It was a fun presentation, but ultimately, it wasnât the standout I was hoping for.
Our final savory course was the Chefâs Selection of Sashimi ($60.) Unfortunately, this was another missed opportunity from a service perspective. The sashimi arrived without any explanation of the individual pieces, and we ended up having to flag someone down to find out what fish we were eating. The food itself was enjoyable, but when youâre serving a chefâs selection, a little insight into whatâs on the plate really enhances the experience.
Finally, dessert: the Chocolate Cake ($16.) Absolutely phenomenal. This thing is going on my death row meal if I ever have one. No notes.
As far as the overall experience goes, it was pretty clear they werenât filling every table, presumably to keep the kitchen from getting overwhelmed on opening night. Honestly, I appreciate that approach. Iâd much rather see a restaurant ease into service than take on more than it can handle.
The ambiance was fantastic, and the food was excellent overall. The biggest area for improvement is the service, specifically explaining the dishes as theyâre brought to the table. When youâre ordering things like a selection of oysters or chef-selected sashimi, knowing a little about what youâre eating is part of the experience. Hopefully, thatâs something that improves as the staff settles into a rhythm.
Final rating: 8.1/10.
And apparently, we enjoyed ourselves enough to book the next available reservation, which isnât until January, lol.
For anyone wondering about the price, everything mentioned above, along with two cocktails and two glasses of wine, came to just over $300 with tip.
All things considered, we had a great experience. There are a few service-related things they can improve, but the food and ambiance were impressive enough that weâre already looking forward to going back.
If you get the opportunity to dine here, Iâd absolutely recommend giving it a shot.
Iâm certainly no food critic, so take this review for what itâs worth. Just wanted to share our experience for anyone else curious about checking the place out!
EDIT: Added in prices next to dishes.
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u/glumiclock 1d ago
I was invited to attend their media preview night and was able to try bites of their menu. As someone who has lived in Asia and goes to Japan every year, their sushi quality was on par with what Iâve had in Japan! The tuna especially was spectacular. Itâs hard to get that quality of tuna here in Cincinnati, so I definitely recommend it.
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u/LPHutz 1d ago
I saw on Instagram that they were slaughtering a bluefin tuna. That is awesome, but my question is: will they always be serving that good quality tuna? I wouldn't be surprised if the chef who butchered it was in Cincinnati just for the opening of the restaurant, never to be seen again.
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u/glumiclock 1d ago
Itâs trueâthey did! It was so fun to see. They even let some guests try cutting into the tuna too. I believe they said the tuna was over 700 pounds in weight; it was crazy!
As for if theyâll always serve tuna that good, Iâm not sure. I hope so though :/ Regardless, the non-tuna items I had were also incredible, like the salmon.
Personally, I donât believe the chef will stay at the restaurant either. They said he has many locations around the world, so I assume heâll stick around for a bit just to oversee things a bit but then head off to wherever else soon after!
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u/LPHutz 1d ago
Very cool. What other types of fish did you try?
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u/glumiclock 23h ago
They brought out a few different types of maki, like spicy yellowtail and rainbow rolls. Personally, although good, I felt like the rest of the menu items outshone the maki they offered that night. I do have to say, I think they served âsaferâ rolls for guests who might not have adventurous palates or eat sushi often!
The nigiri and sashimi were much more memorable in my mind. Other than the tuna and salmon already mentioned, I also loved the hamachi. Amazing bite! The other options were delicious too like the mackerel.
For non-sushi:
- The gyoza was great and served with a really interesting and delicious miso mustard sauce!
- There were dynamite hand rolls. I thought it would literally be a dynamite roll in hand roll form, but it was actually baked crab wrapped in soy paper. Pretty good too, just threw me off because I expected something different lol
- Sweet corn tempura was yummy and a good bite to have in between all the fish I was eating.
- The chicken yakitori was sooo tender and juicy!
- They had alcohol drink options but I opted in for their lychee sour, which was non-alcoholic. An excellent drink and just the right amount of sweetness! I ended up drinking three that night lol.
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u/_DarkWingDuck Wyoming 1d ago edited 1d ago
I thought they sourced the fish from the Ohio river?? /s
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u/LPHutz 1d ago
It is actually entirely unnecessary to be located near the ocean to serve a world class sushi in this day and age. Literally no sushi restaurant anywhere, even on the coast, serves local fish that was just caught â it is all flown in. And there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is better for the fish to be frozen to kill parasites.
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u/DatDude4211 1d ago
Getting a reservation for this place is nuts. I was following it before they announced they were opening. With a few hours of opening for reservations, the first two months were full. I waited another week, another month and half was full. We're now all the way into January for earliest available.
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u/iAMgnarrshy 1d ago
Yeah Iâm not sure how she pulled it off but I was thrilled to get in! FWIW, the GM said that their bar was open seating and it wasnât full at any point tonight so in lieu of a reservation you could give that a shot before January.
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u/No-Return8219 1d ago
Clearly they are not allowing the full dining room to be booked out as the kitchen is still refining things
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u/ndjolt02 Mt. Adams 1d ago
I was also there last night and fully agree. The meal was fantastic, ambiance is great, and we had a great time. The Yuzu Salmon was phenomenal, as well as our dessert, the Mt. Fuji Volcano. I also agree with the service point. Our server was very nice and gave us plenty of suggestions, but it would have been helpful to get some explanations of what we were eating (specifically the sushi/sashimi). Definitely would recommend whenever you can get a table.
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u/LPHutz 1d ago
Did you order any sushi?
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u/ndjolt02 Mt. Adams 23h ago
I did! It was very good. My girlfriend was impressed by it. I've been to Roji and this was probably second best in the city in my very humble opinion.
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u/Valaj369 1d ago
Great review! I saw new about it on IG. Instantly tried getting a reservation but the earliest availability was Jan 4th. I've reserved three seats but I keep checking every day to see if someone cancelled or something changed.
The best Kani salad we've had is at a place called Koi Asian Bistro in Bourbonnais, IL. Leagues better than the second best. If Suzu has a Kani salad that can equal them, I'd be very amazed!
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u/LadyInCrimson Westwood 1d ago
I won't get there till December but I'm super excited and this makes me even more excited to go.
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u/sandy6567 1d ago
this sounds like an awesome meal! Iâm definitely adding the tuna crispy rice and kani salad to my must-try list. itâs a bummer about the wagyu not being as great as expected, but the experience of cooking on the hot stone sounds fun! canât wait to check it out when I get a reservation.
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u/iAMgnarrshy 1d ago
It was an amazing meal, tons of stuff on the menu I wanted to try but had to save for next time!
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u/LPHutz 1d ago
Sounds to me like a way overhyped restaurant with good-but-not-great food, where the main focus is on marketing. It sounds like there is a notable lack of attention to detail when it comes to the food. Basically like every restaurant in Miami (where this place got started). Not telling you where the oysters were from reflects a lack of basic food sophistication. It should be a crime for a Japanese restaurant to serve underwhelming Wagyu. And it sounds like one of the best dishes was Kani salad - i.e., imitation crab meat!
I plan to go try the sushi - they have all the good types of fish on the menu, which is cool - but I don't have high hopes. Also, I love how they are clearly trying to make it artificially impossible to get a reservation.
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u/CriticalResolution86 1d ago
Yeah, it certainly doesn't sound like it's worth $300 for two people, what the fuck?
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u/iAMgnarrshy 1d ago
Iâm sure itâs different for everyone, but thatâs fairly standard in our eyes for a date night out to a nicer restaurant. $50 went to drinks and $50 covered the tip, so for the remaining $200 to cover the other 7 dishes we ordered seems more than reasonable. To each their own.
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u/CriticalResolution86 1d ago
A lot of people can't afford to eat at all, let alone so luxuriously. Just seems like a waste.
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u/mercurialmay â¨Middletown⨠12h ago
I don't think my life will ever allow me the privilege to eat this luxuriously, unfortunately
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u/Keregi 1d ago
How is this your takeaway from this post?
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u/AloneExperience7520 1d ago
That is what the review left me with as well. And OP rated it 8.1/10. That's good, not great. If they were going for Michelin level, the glaring omissions are unacceptable. Again, this reads as a good restaurant, not a great one.
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u/iAMgnarrshy 1d ago
Agreed, it was good but not great. The Wagyu was underwhelming but to be fair, the price point for it matched the quality. They may need to reduce their menu offerings to really hone in on what they want to excel at.
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u/AloneExperience7520 1d ago
If they're going for super upscale, I don't understand why they don't just go full omakase. That lets them be flexible with the menu week to week and maximize on quality with BOH staff they have.
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u/iAMgnarrshy 1d ago
They have an omakase counter that will be available in a couple of months called SuzunĂŠ. 10 spots available each evening.
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u/AloneExperience7520 8h ago
I understand that. If the prix fixe menu has that many shortcomings, then why have it? Management has stated that they're going for a Michelin experience. Based on your review, they don't have one.
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u/Mitoria 1d ago
This is a great reviewâ thanks for this! I have this on my list to eat at and Iâm very excited to hear itâs fantastic. Not excited to hear the next reservation isnât until January though đŤ