Bizen Gourmet Japanese Cuisine & Sushi Bar

I have been eating at Bizen sporadically over the years and about 4 times in the last few months. There are very few places I would trust to serve me raw fish and Bizen is high on the list. The sushi and sashimi here are absolutely fantastic. The reason that they are often out of items on the menu is that they only serve food that is 100% fresh. The menu is extensive and there are a myriad of wonderful choices so if your first choice is not available at the time you are there choose something else! The décor is quirky, could use an update. The service has always been fine when I’ve been there. The waitstaff is very pleasant and knowledgable and if the owner is there he is always happy to chat. But the real reason to go to Bizen is the delicious sushi, sashimi, soups, appetizers, tempura. I want to go someday for the tea ceremony and prix fixe menu. And if you have allergies, are gluten free or vegetarian they are extremely accommodating.

Nice looking restaurant. Fun to sit in a tatami room. Food was presented beautifully but taste didn’t match the presentation. Expected more since place was recommended by several locals but food was nothing fabulous. High priced and not worth it.

Not terrible but not worth the very high prices they charge for the mediocre food they serve. And you have to wait and wait (how long does it take to prepare a bowl of ramen or udon?) And they squeeze you in as tight as possible. And the service is doltish. I left feeling taken advantage of. And that makes me never want to return.

«Bizen — A cultural experience»
You walk into the entryway and there is calligraphy to your left. It is Japanese-​style calligraphy, but the poems are written in English. They are all about flowers and death. You suppose that they want you to contemplate your own mortality before you enter the restaurant. Perhaps it makes the food taste better.
The waitress greets you. She is a blonde woman in a kimono. Is it cultural appropriation even if she works at a Japanese restaurant? She brings you to a table, but tells you that you must take off your shoes before you sit down. You notice that the sushi chef is also white. The waitress hands you a menu. She speaks so slowly that every interaction with her is painful and seems never-​ending.
You consider the menu. You wanted sushi, but all you can afford is a rice bowl. You order the tempura rice bowl. Brown rice, please.
You have now drank 6 cups of water because you have been waiting for your food for so long and have to go to the restroom. Should you put your shoes back on? Or leave them off? You feel anger at conforming to this cultural standard that has been enforced on you by a white woman in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. You angrily put your shoes back on to walk to the restroom.
Not long after you return, the food arrives.
«Do you have hot sauce?»
«No, only locally sourced organic vegan spicy mayonnaise.» At this point you have truly grown to hate this establishment.
The food is mediocre, but filling. The vegan mayonnaise is actually pretty good. However, when the check arrives you begin to question your life choices as you realize you have paid $ 13 for a fucking rice bowl.
TL;DR
Weird-​ass atmosphere
Prices are outrageous
The rice bowl was a ⁵⁄₁₀

Second visit to Bizen, and both times I went it wasn’t crowded, so maybe that’s why we had a good experience. The food was fresh, delicious, creative and beautifully prepared. Daughter had the Yo Yo Ma Ma roll which, while pricey, was quite large and she loved it. I had the Silence of the Yams roll. Just delicious! Try to hit it during a less busy period for best results!

Decent Japanese food. Their sushi rice is not very authentic. Just tastes like rice that was cooked in a rice cooker with a little too much rice… Very sticky and stuck together. However, their salmon roe makes up for it.
The eel is good, though not the best I have had. Their crab tempura is vey good and has very large portions, so worth the price. The duck teriyaki was good, but They don’t have steak teriyaki which is my favorite.
Their green tea is authentic matcha green tea. Tastes like matcha rather than more diluted green tea from a tea bag, though it is $ 3 for about ¾ cup.

Sigh. I should have trusted more of the Unilocal reviews. It was a Saturday night and very busy so we were seated in the basement. Can’t complain about the service as our waiter was fairly attentive, but it still felt like a basement with fluorescent lights — not the atmosphere I was hoping for. My daughter and I both ordered the tempura which was cold (probably would have been very good if it was hot) The best part of the meal was the side salad that came along with the dinner — it was excellent.

They were closed for break between lunch and dinner however a family walked in right before me for take out and they allowed me to do the same. I ordered simple rolls, two spicy tuna and one spicy squid. Told it would take 5 minutes and it took about 15. It was served in a take out box with plenty of spicy mayo and soy sauce and extra chopsticks. The seaweed tasted fine, the rice tasted old and the squid was extremely hard. The tuna was fresh. The spicy mayo was not to my liking because it almost tasted like it had relish in it. since it was put into the roll as well, it ruined my ability to enjoy the rolls however it was subpar from any sushi standard. I had eaten here previously a year ago on one occasion and got the more complicated rolls, and I remember being satisfied. May be chalk this experience up to timing and take out not being a top priority when prepping for dinner.

Nota bene: if they are busy, be prepared to wait 30 mins or longer for your meal. I’ve waited as long as 45 minutes to be served some sushi and sashimi on busy evenings.
I’ve been going to Bizen since they first opened, 15 or more years ago. In all the years I’ve been going, the food has been consistently delicious and well-​prepared and the service has consistently ranged from barely adequate to comically dreadful. If Unilocal allowed me to be more specific, I would give them 5 stars for their food and 1.5 stars for their service. Years ago, I learned that when making a reservation, I should always ask for the name of the person I spoke with on the phone. I learned that lesson after showing up after having made a reservation and having the hostess tell me that there was no reservation under my name. I have friends who had the same thing happen to them and as a result they have never gone back. Once about 3 years ago, I went there with a date and got one of their private rooms – located off to the side and far from the main dining area – for an intimate dinner for two. We were seated and then we sat and waited and waited. and waited. No water, no menus, nothing. After about 20 minutes, I got out my cellphone and called the restaurant and asked if they could send a server back to us. It was actually pretty funny but is sadly typical of how badly managed the service is here.
A very recent Bizen experience prompted me to write this review. It was a Saturday and the place was packed. Our server, a brunette with a silver stud in her nose, came to our table and, without a smile or any other greeting simply said, «we are very busy tonight». This was already plain to anyone with eyes and it was, I thought, a rather odd way to greet a customer. We were given menus. When she returned a few minutes later, I requested a couple of items from one of the 3 menus we had been given. She told me that the choices I had requested were not available at that time. I pointed out that at the top of that menu page, it clearly reads «This menu available from June 1^st to July 31^st from Wed thru Sunday only” – and a Saturday in July falls squarely within those days/​dates. Rather than apologize she curtly said, «Tell it to the owner» and motioned toward the sushi bar. Apparently it hadn’t occurred to her that she ought to have mentioned the fact that those choices weren’t actually available beforehand since she clearly knew when she handed us the menus. This would have saved everyone time and aggravation. I suppressed a strong urge to say, «If you don’t like your job, perhaps you should find another one». We took another few minutes to find options that we could actually order and ordered them. It took over 20 minutes and our food arrived. As usual, it was delicious and skillfully prepared. However, it is an inescapable fact that a major aspect of the experience of dining-​out is receiving courteous and solicitous service; preferably from a server with a pleasant and helpful demeanor, not a surly and sullen one.
I will continue eating at Bizen but I have long resigned myself to focusing on the wonderful food and grinning and bearing the service.

Bizen was recommended by the Gifted Child toy store. This place is a pleasant surprise in the Berkshires. We were there for lunch. Average about $ 23 per person. It’s not NYC sushi, but you can do worse.
After just returning from Tokyo 2 months ago, I wasn’t ready to have sushi stateside. We all ordered bento boxes that came with sushi. It tasted like NYC sushi, not high end, but what you would expect at a local NY sushi restaurant.
Next time we’re in the area, I’d head back. We were in town with friends from Houston.

I am only giving one star because it is required for the post.
Worst dining experience I have ever had start to finish. We were hoping for a Japanese sushi bar which is… well…what the sign advertises. The menu choices were not what you’d expect from a typical sushi bar. At this point we decided to roll with it (ha) and ordered what was essentially a sampler of a few different items. It came w/​sashimi, a grilled chicken, rice, salad, a California roll, and a few other things. 45 MINUTES LATER it arrived.
The chicken was an overcooked chicken breast w/​no flavor. We were annoyed but carried on. Sampled the California roll… not much you can mess up there you would assume. I bit right into a piece of crab shell the size of a dime. Still not sure if I chipped my tooth or not. At this point we were pretty furious and the raw chunk of tempura batter on the plate fueled our fire. When we told our waiter about our qualms with the dish, the «chef» came out and basically said the crab was real crab so, yeah, shell might show up… hmm. He then offered a new roll, to which we responded «NO thank you» so he offered a whopping $ 8 off our bill. Obviously we were still unsatisfied – the meal was priced at $ 65 DOLLARS.
After talking to two other employees (no manager was ever identified to us at any point) we managed to squeeze an extra 20% off out bill. We would’ve refused to pay but I was hangry and I didn’t want my husband to go to jail. To recap: you’ll wait forever for shitty food and you can expect not an ounce of customer service. So yeah, AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

So irritated with Bizen! Made a reservation only to show up to a long line, after 15min we a finally spoke to staff and they said 45 minute wait, this was WITH a reservation. We left. Come on Bizen! What kind of treatment to your customers is that?!
If you say you have reservations, then reserve tables!!!

I have been eating at this restaurant since it opened. Idk exactly when that was but I think at least since 1992 — if it was open then. Tonight wasn’t my first absurd wait but it may be my last.
We had a reservation for 6:30 seven ppl. They seated us about 6:40. We did not receive main courses until 8:40. This is at a dinner with my 86 year old grandmother. They sent us an extra roll by accident and charged us for it.
Excellent food as ever but if you’re going to charge real restaurant prices you need to provide professional service. Not sure if/​when I’ll be back.

Super expencive for what it is. Decent sushi but WAY too expencive. We were a group of 4 on a fairly busy night but for some reason they only had one sushi chef so we waited for quite a while. The food didn’t blow us away. Having been to many, many sushi places we were not impressed. Don’t waste your money. It wasn’t worth it.

I am from the Albany, NY area and have travelled the hour and 20 min it takes me to get to this place many times. It is my favorite Japanese Restaurant within an hour and half drive from Albany. It is an interesting place as it has the little tea rooms you can eat in away from every one else. Have never actually eaten inside of them, as I believe you need to order from a pre fix menu when you are in them. I always eat out in the restaurant or in the bar section.
They have very good fresh sushi. They even offer a variety of cooked and vegetarian sushi if you or anyone in your party does not like the idea of raw fish. I personally enjoy the raw fish, but if you have someone that does not, I suggest the «silence of the yams» roll.
They also have a good selection of appetizers, and a nice whisky selection. Recently went with a group of 7 and the bill was about $ 300, but we ordered a good bottle of sake, 7 appetizers, and 7 entrée’s. (2 of us actually ordered 2 specialty rolls as entrée’s)
This place is always one of my favorites and is worth the ride. Make reservations on Friday and Saturday nights.

I was a little hesitate to come after reading those bad reviews but I am glad I did. Was here for lunch, ordered sashimi lunch box, and was very happy for what I got for $ 20. Sashimi and Sushi are fresh and meaty, very generous amount of food. Salad was fresh with tasty green dressing. I got really full from the box, didn’t have room for dessert. Not sure how dinners are in here, but lunch is great! Recommended.

For a small town in MA, this sushi place does exceptional business. The standard Japanese options are available as well as specialty roles. The prices are reasonable and adequate sevice. The establishment could be cleaner and we have visited a few times and noticed this issue.

Prior to attending a sold-​out performance at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, we made reservations for dinner at Bizen. We had been hearing rave reviews about Bizen for several years and also heard that it was very expensive.
We arrived at our reservation time and were promptly seated in the Small Plates Bar area. The seating is VERY close. You may mistake this area as having a sushi bar, but in fact it is a traditional bar where some grilling and toaster-​oven prep is done.
The size of the menu is huge! Even if you plan on simply having sushi, the total number of different fish offerings seem almost impossible to maintain. We started with a flask of cold Rihaku Tokku sake ($ 25) to share. It was a very nice, crisp sake.
I had read someone had really enjoyed the Berserkshire Roll ($ 10) so I thought I’d try it. Yes, many of the sushi combinations have tongue-​in-​cheek names. I didn’t find this roll to be anything special and would not order it again — I don’t even remember what was in it. My wife ordered one of the special scallop dishes on the small plates menu and was told that they didn’t have it, but our waitress recommend the Scallop Katsu ($ 21). Again, nothing special, not a memorable dish.
I can speak well for the Uni ($ 5.50). It was fresh and flavorful. I also very much enjoyed the Duck Asparagus Maki ($ 8) and would definitely order it again. The Shrimp Shu Mai ($ 6.75) were good, but no better than what can be found elsewhere.
By the time we were finishing our meal the place was full and walk-​ins were being turned away. Interestingly, a couple of local regulars sitting across from us at the bar were talking and one commented that it had been a long time since this restaurant had seen this many customers.
While I didn’t find the food prices to be outrageous, I would say that too many of the things we tried were not up to the level of the reputation that has preceded Bizen. I doubt that we will Bi-​zen there any time soon.

I was SO disappointed by my meal here. I have been wanting to try this place for a while since it’s only one of 2 Japanese restaurants in Great Barrington. I saw some please reviews on Unilocal and some not so pleased reviews, but I decided that I wanted to try for myself.
I should start off by saying that I am by no means a sushi connoisseur– heck I don’t even really eat raw fish, but the sushi was barely passable. The California roll ($ 9, crazy huh!) had no flavor, instead of the imitation crab normally found in California rolls, it had king crab in it which would kind of explain why it was so expensive. Still, everything was just off about this roll, how do you mess up a California roll??? I also had the Valentine *something* roll, which contained Coconut shrimp, mango and some other stuff, basically a fancier version of a shrimp tempura roll which was ok, I don’t think there was mango in there though because I didn’t see it or taste it.
The BF ordered the Sushi dinner, which he was also disappointed with. He said the salmon tasted off, luckily he didn’t get sick from it.
Service was a bit slow and absent minded. I’m normally not a big stickler for service though so no additional stars off for that. The low rating is based solely on the food.
$ 108 down the drain, complete waste of time and money. Just completely not worth it.
I feel like the people who rated this restaurant well would implode with delight if they ever went to a decent sushi restaurant in NYC. But since this is small town USA, maybe they don’t know better?

For lunch in GB, this place makes me smile. The chef’s salad, piled high with organic greens, tempeh, seitan, tofu, cucumbers, hijiki and peppers makes me a willing rabbit… a rabbit that can use chopsticks, but a rabbit nonetheless.
As for dinner, I’m not a fan of the bright lighting, so I go elsewhere. (Yup, I’m that much of an ambiance snob.) However, for lunch, with natural lighting flooding the front robata grill room, I’m a willing patron of Bizen.