Daruma Japanese Restaurant

Our favorite Japanese place in Bergen county. The roll selection is great. They have a lot of really delicious options you don’t see in other Japanese restaurants like sweet heat and lobster meets shrimp. Lobster dynamite appetizer is delicious. It’s BYOB and the service is always friendly and nicely paced.

The food was delicious and satisfied with the service. Sushi was fresh and we enjoyed the Japanese seats.

I’ve tried this place a few times, mostly because of our friends who live near it. The food is ok, not spectacular or memorable. Dozens of rolls on the menu, but many of them taste almost identical. Sashimi and sushi prices also not the freshest or especially tasty, so as I said before average.
The problem is the lack of basic understanding of service, and it’s been a consistently poor experience. First reservations, we had a reservation for specific time and when we walked at the time we were supposed to be there, the couple who walked in just before us was seated without a reservation. We had one and were told to wait. After 15 minutes we left. There was no attempt on the part of the owner or the wait staff to even apologize for this and maybe offer us an appetizer on the house. In many restaurants when you have a reservation it is customary to hold a table for 15 minutes and then give it up. In this case we were on time and it made no difference.
Another time, we were completely ignored by a waiter. They were serving the tables but the tatami tables were ignored for over 10 minutes. No offer of water, menus or to open our bottle of wine. I physically had to get up from the table and grab a different waiter to bring us water and menus.
I will not be coming back. There are plenty of places around with better quality sushi and better service. Go to Akai lounge (not byob) or Tani Asian grill. Once we left Daruma we had a great sushi dinner there and it’s less than two minute walk. The occasional inadequate service is forgivable and happens in a lot of restaurants, but when the experience is consistently poor and the food is average and has many competing venues, why bother?

It’s good place to eat. Try the steak you won’t regret had a tempura good portion enuf said GO EAT!

Absolutely love the food and service at Daruma! You can also choose to take off your shoes and try their traditional seating. Recommend getting the shrimp dynamite and spicy tuna pizza as appetizer! All of the soups and sushi are amazing as well!

My family eats here frequently due to the delicious food and friendly staff. The meat is great quality unlike other Japanese restaurants in the area that I have experienced. I definitely recommend visiting Daruma.

big fan of this sushi for take out. Employees are very nice, they let you create almost any roll you want, add stuff to your rolls, so they’re very easy going. Gets packed on weekends and I don’t really like their seating so I order take out mostly but the food is good so I can’t complain about the quality!

I’ve ordered from here once and the food was seriously lacking. I ordered the crispy rice and spicy tuna, which was oversauced and undercrisped. The rice itself was flavorless and watery. I was looking for a place in Englewood that serves my favorite Momoya dish for ages, so this was disappointing. My friend ordered a salmon roll, which was flavorless and mushy. I always hear good things about this place, so maybe they were just having a bad day.

Daruma is easily one of the best sushi restaurants in Bergen. The atmosphere is elegant and relaxing and they won big points with me for their sunken, in-​floor, traditional seating option. The waitstaff come across as friendly, efficient, and professional. I’ve run into a lackluster hostess or two during previous visits, but the waiter/​waitress is most important anyways (well, aside from the chefs, of course).
Prices are on par w/​what’s expected for sushi in the area. Daruma’s ingredients are fresh… sushi should never taste fishy and it never does at Daruma. Their cuts are generous and I’m most impressed by the speciality rolls.
Increasingly I’m seeing sushi places come up w/​rolls where all emphasis is on outrageous ingredients and perceived creativity. The end result, sadly, is often something that doesn’t taste good. I don’t want my raw fish combined with various fruits, essence of Fritos, and lightly drizzled maple syrup reduction. Save that for a couple of five year olds raiding their parent’s pantry without supervision.
I’m interested in smart combination of the right ingredients to achieve a flavor combination that goes above and beyond my expectation. Here are the rolls I had last night and they were absolutely spot on:
Yama
crunchy, masago, avocado, basil, jalepeno, topped yellowtail, red onion & yuzu jalepeno sauce
Dreams Come True
crunchy spicy white tuna avocado roll topped w. tuna, salmon, thin sliced lemon, cilantro, tobiko & yuzu miso dressing
Check out Daruma for an all around good experience.

The sushi rolls here are beautiful and i love that you can sit on the floor. Its like a dream. The hibachi is great and the workers are relatively nice. There are a good amount of Japanese restaurants within a two block span of here, so you know it has some rivalry and being that it can go against such high competition, you know its good.
I’d definitely come back here and hope to try the «Life’s a dream» roll next time
P.S make sure you make reservations on busy nights like Saturday night, it will definitely fill up!

Fantastic Japanese restaurant. The service is amazing. You have to try the lobster dynamite, uni, and the fried ice cream for the dessert. The uni is super fresh and creamy. No need for any wasabi or soy sauce.

Daruma roll, spicy tuna avocado boat, soft shell crab tempura, age tofu, lobster filo wrap
Very friendly service

One of those last minute decisions on what to eat. Decided to stop in for some sushi — ordered the Rising Star, Lobster Rolls and California Rolls, sad to say, it was nothing special.
The Rising Star consisted of Salmon and Tuna, which was bluh; the lobster rolls tasted like imitation lobster meat –hard, and tasteless, which probably explains why they added mango to it.
The safest rolls on the plate were the California.
Not much more to elaborate on food wise. They do offer free parking in their private lot, and the service was average. Considering we were the only two people inside, on a Tuesday at 1:45pm (within the lunch time frame) — I should have took a hint.

I came here for my birthday, it was really good food sushi. The look and feel of the restaurant is genuine Japanese. I had to take off my shoes at the tables on the side. A bit pricey but this place was worth it. I loved the lighting and mood. Great for intimate gatherings and close friends.

I’ve been to this place twice, and both times I left making a mental note to not bother coming back. To be fair, the restaurant has a nice and welcoming ambience. They even have a section with semi-​tatami seating should you wish to go for the «Japanese» experience. My friends and I chatted away comfortably as our friendly server refilled our teas. The food, however, was nothing to be excited about.
For appetizers, we ordered the Roti Canai (btw, accurately pronounced as ro-​tee CHA-​nai. Malaysian), and Szechwan dumplings (Chinese). Both dishes were mediocre and obviously defrosted from a bag. I’m sure Trader Joe’s could do just as well or even better.
For the entrée, I got the ramen in spicy broth topped with soft shell crab. Sounds delicious, right? I could not be more disappointed with this dish. The noodles lack texture and the soup tasted flat. With the same price, I’d rather wait in line for quality ramen like Ippudo and the like. My friend’s sushi and sashimi platter was also nothing to shout about.
In my opinion, this place is what I’d consider «Jack of all trades, master of none». If you want actual Japanese food, I’d suggest you get it somewhere else.

Daruma is a very hip and cool restaurant. This is a great place that I eat at a lot of the time. One of the great things about it is that it delivers fast and the food still tastes good.
Daruma is not for everyone, If you do not like Japanese food, this is clearly not the place for you. Also, If you do not like unique dining displays, this is also not the place for you. But if what i just said intrigued you, continue reading. Daruma’s hip Ambiance, is one of the things that I love most about Daruma, besides of course, that their food is delicious. I love eating their Gyozas and Shumai. Their Maki rolls are delightful and I love their Sushi, Particularly the Uni and the Trinity California roll. I ordered the Shrimp tempura for delivery once and it came home a big soggy.
All in all, It has great food, and whenever I have a craving for Japanese, I have Daruma’s phone number on speed dial.

Just finished dinning at this place and cannot wait to write something.
Every town has a pian lao wai Japanese setup. This is the one in Englewood. This is absolutely nothing of an authentic Japanese restaurant. Calling a bunch of raw food wrapped in rice a maki does not make this place authentic.
Ok. Service. Well there is none. Our server has been running. But we don’t feel being taken care of. But he didn’t make serious mistakes either. So it’s almost nonexistent.
Food. Those are some of the most ugly looking makies I have ever had. They look like made with play doh by a 3yo kid. The mango slices which are supposed to be part of the roll just are left randomly around the roll like it’s just suffered from a magnitude 8 earthquake. Check out my photos you will know I’m not lying.
The toasted eel is not toasty, not even lukewarm. For the price of $ 4/​piece, I expect some consistency of the serving size. One of the 3 pcs I order is just as large as the rest two combined. How do I not feel that I got ripped off on the other two? Again, check the photo.
The taste of soft shell crab appetizer is ok. But the rest of the dinner just leave us more unsatisfied then before stepping in. Bottom line… There is no bottom line.

I always meant to check this place out. I used to go to Akai because friends worked there and there seemed to be a rivalry bc they’re so close.
Interior is nice. The floor seating is cute and something you don’t see often. Good place for a date. It’s not the best sushi I would say but it wasn’t bad either. We got some sort of combo for two which had sushi, sashimi and some rolls. I had two pieces of uni. It was ok, nothing memorable. It was a cute spot for a date with the floor seating but I don’t think I’ll be back for the food. I’m too picky of a sushi eater.

This was my first time going to a Japanese restaurant with BYOB. A few of us went, for dinner, on a cold rainy day and the interior of the restaurant was warm and relaxing. My boyfriend and I ordered the rainbow roll, crunchy spicy salmon, tuna, and the california — all very delicious.
I’ve read a few comments below me saying that the sushi rolls are a lot smaller compared to other sushi restaurants, but I honestly don’t see the difference. It’s a very cute date spot and I would definitely recommend it to others

This is a review on delivery only.
It took close to 1.5 hours. We called twice and got not apology or explanation.
The food was decent and maybe would’ve tastes better if it didn’t take so long. The sushi rolls came with a little too much rice and not enough wasabi. With four rolls only one container had some wasabi. The ginger was however fresh and delicious. The crunchy white tuna was delicious but the white dragon was incredibly fishy. The uni was really good! Probably will never order delivery again but would be willing to try eating at the restaurant.