Kemuri

Absolutely fantastic!!! The restaurant itself has 2 separate areas — a sushi bar/​more restaurant-​like side (on the left as you walk in) and then if you go around the sushi bar to the right there is a more lounge-​like section with a fireplace and traditional bar. Overall the space has a really trendy and fun vibe.
The sushi was PHENOMENAL. I got the Crazy Monkey roll, which was delicious and the presentation was super fun (see video). My mom got the hibachi rice with chicken, which was also extremely good.
Happy hour was 4:30 — 6:30 on weekdays and included $ 5 glasses of house wine (red/​white) and $ 5 house rolls.
Definitely check this place out, you won’t regret it!

I’ve only been here once, but it was a wonderful experience. The restaurant is a high-​end sushi place. The food is pricey but so worth the cost. The interior is romantic and lovely. Each table had its own candle and the bar was super cool. I had 3 wood grilled appetizers and my husband had an entre. They were all delicious. We also had plum sake, which was really good. The waitress asked if we were there for a special occasion and we told her that it was our 1 year wedding anniversary. She then surprised us with a free dessert! It was also delicious. We will most definitely be returning.

Although the sushi pieces were a little large for my taste, all of the fish I ate was fresh, buttery and delicious. I sat at the bar, where everyone was given a creative amuse bouche. Mine was white tuna wrapped around green onion and cucumber with jalapeño and cilantro with a light citrus sauce — amazing! The salmon sashimi slices were enormous for the price and nicely presented in a martini glass. I also enjoyed the coconut nagori sake and the cappuccino cup dessert, which was a coffee flavored cross between crème brûlée and tiramisu in a little, glass jar. Although I have eaten at better sushi restaurants in New York and Los Angeles, the attentive service, décor and quality of the fish earn this restaurant five stars for Little Rock. Definitely try the white tuna appetizer!

Excellent does not even begin to properly describe the experience at Kemuri. Service by Laura at the bar for dinner was worthy of a Michelin star. Nigiri was absolutely superb and melted in your mouth. The surf and turf Maki was a total explosion of flavors which satisfied every known emotion of my being.

Hands down, best sushi in Little Rock. Honestly, I’ve had sushi all over the country and this place ranks top 5. if not best I’ve ever had. which is weird being so far inland.
We and my buddy had 4 rolls between us and dominated all 4 with nothing but praise for the ‘standardized’ rolls off the menu. We were still craving more so decided to leave it in the server, Montayes hands, and Chef Haider (he is the guy smiling in the picture).
Not only were we blown away with the rolls but the chef asked me what I liked. I told him spicy and I love fruit. He managed to concoct a roll that was literally the best roll I have ever had. It was exactly what I wanted and more.
No joke if you are craving sushi, and you go anywhere else but here, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
Ask for Montaye as your server or find the tables he is serving. His suggestions are on point and he is beyond helpful with helping guide you through the menu to help you find what you’d really enjoy as well as suggest things that he thinks you may like. Truly embodies the ‘server’ role and takes care of you.
Again, go here. You will not be disappointed. In fact, I can guarantee you’ll leave and be planning your next trip back.
Last but not least, mollie pours a mean bottle of wine

The ambiance is elegant and modern with a beautiful fish tank, candle light, & sushi bar. Our server was very accommodating and the chef actually made us a special crawfish sushi sample which was amazing. We ordered a vast variety of sushi and all of which was delicious. It’s a little on the pricier side but to be honest, I’d rather spend a little more for the quality of sushi they offer. There’s nothing like anything else in Little Rock that even touches this place. We will definitely be back.

Ate here with colleagues while in town and it was sooooo good! Great seafood, wonderful service, and very cool vibe. My favorite was the black pepper tuna (I can’t remember if that was the correct name or not). It had radish rolled inside and something else delicious.
I would definitely try this place again next time I’m back in town.

Food was over the top. Great flavor and fresh. Chefs a little on the shy side but put on great presentation. Definitely would go back to try other offerings. Décor very trendy. Great place for a romantic dinner or entertaining customers. I look forward to my next visit.

Visited this place in August during a research trip to the Clinton library. I needed some sushi and this place was listed on Unilocal pretty high, so I went and got lost on the way. But the sushi was awesome, seriously the best sushi I’ve had in a while and live 1.5 hours from New Orleans. The waiters were helpful and patient both nights I went and the chefs are definitely talented. If I get back to Little Rock, I am definitely going again. (I went again my last night in Little Rock.)

If you love sushi and great service, this is the place to visit when in little… I’ve been three times and never have I had a bad experience… I will certainly be back in the future.

So, this is going to sound a bit strange… but I love Kemuri’s brunch. I know, I know, this is a sushi restaurant, but their brunch was really impressive.
And, they offered an option of a mimosa or bloody mary bar – both were great!
Check it out

Top notch Asian cuisine! Definitely the best place in the city. Superior service in a sophisticated urban restaurant. No other place like this in the city. You need to experience it once.

I’ve been trying to rock this brunch for weeks, ever since we saw a sign across the street for it — and we finally made it!
Right off that bat, the interior space is beautiful, absolutely beautiful. There’s a glowing (yes, glowing) bar at the door, nicely rounded for sitting, grabbing some cocktails or hot sake, and watching the magical art the is sushi making. Then, setting off the middle of the room nicely, is a giant aquarium full of fish. If you’re coming here with kids, expect that to be a big hit/​attention getting and make them that much happier ;)
But, I’m here to talk about the brunch.
Brunch at a sushi place? Who wants sushi for brunch? Let me assure you, there are a number of non-​sushi options specifically for brunch. We tried three of them, the «Eggs your way,» (which was a fairly classic eggs with toast/​bacon/​grilled potatoes), the «Green Tea Pancakes,» (awesome! Juicy, tender pancakes topped with blueberries and super-​soft whipped cream, a light syrup, those grilled potatoes and a fruit salad), and the Frittata (an egg loaf, every so slightly crispy on the outside and perfectly steaming on the inside, with the same delicious sides as the pancakes — except with grilled pineapple in the potatoes).
Everything we tried was amazing. A-​mazing, most of it was classic breakfast/​brunch fare, but with an exotic twist in flavor that fit in perfectly and really made the meal.
Did I mention the drinks? Any brunch worth their salt has Mimosas and Blood Marys. The folks at Kemuri fall in the mid/​high price range (at $ 4/​drink when we came in), BUT — they have a full custom drink bar. So, they bring you your mason jar with vodka (bloody mary) or flute with champagne (mimosa), and you get to choose what/​how much of everything you get. Who doesn’t want a spice-​mango mimosa with a dash of blackberry purée?
This was also fun, because it was a chance to see how generous their servings of vokda/​champagne are before the other stuff is added, and I’m pleased to say they don’t skimp ;)
The prices in general are not bad, especially considering how good the food is and how awesome the space. We were looking at around $ 10 — $ 12 a plate, which is reasonable. And that’s with generous portions.
In closing, the service we had was way above par. Folks were friendly, informative, helpful and kind. I showed up with a crossword puzzle, and one of the servers brought me a pen without me even having to ask!
Very glad I finally made it, and I’ll be back: D

Food wise: 5/​5, the robota was delicious and if you get 4 of those between you and someone else… You will be content!
Service: 0/​5, the night wasn’t busy and we were seated then waited 20 minutes to get asked if we would like water. Our server seemed confused and would say contradicting statements about what was and was not available on the menu. We were served food twice before (third time is the charm) it was actually our meal. We also had an allergen at our table and told our server specifically to not include it… And of course it was all over our plate and hidden in the sushi. We had our food partially redone but I had already eaten a bit and couldn’t eat more because my throat began to react.
Overall I would give this place a ¹⁄₅ but my boyfriend said to be nice– but no amount of good food can fix poor service.

Wonderful meal and excellent service. For the quality of food, also very reasonably priced. Nice sake selection too!

Awesome addition to the little rock seafood lineup. Fantastic food, service and atmosphere.

Hands down — one of the best sushi restaurants in LR. Server was a bit slow, but food was exquisite. Everything was incredibly fresh. Just moved here from NY and very impressed with this spot.

FAVORITE sushi spot in Little Rock! The sushi chefs are friendly and eager to answer any questions. The restaurant is a nice date night or girl night venue. THE Drinks are also delicious. My favorite roll is the crazy monkey. Tip: sit at the sushi bar and you get a free sushi appetizer! They rotate which roll they make but it’s a great way to try new rolls.
The robata and hibachi is super yummy as well. I eat everything on the menu.
The customer service is wonderful which makes dining a pleasure. The manager remade my sushi because my server mangled it when placing it in the the to go box. TRY KEMURI TODAY!
If you go in the weekend make a reservation.

You know what? I don’t get it, I really don’t. I saw all the hype and decided to make a go with dinner at Kemuri. It was a pretty sorry showing, I’m sad to say. Our server was great but that’s about the only thing positive about our experience.
First off, there was only one other table seated at the restaurant and we got sat right next to them. Then a third group arrived and yep, into the same clump. Uhhh well, I sure do love listening to everybody else’s conversations when I’m trying to have a nice dinner out. This isn’t a chain restaurant with a giant seating area and assigned waiter sections so I don’t understand why they couldn’t space us out better.
Maybe I made a terrible, horrible mistake in ordering sushi but I have been done better by Kroger. The rice was excessive, still strangely warm and gummy, without sushi rice texture or flavor. The scallop nigiri tasted off in a «oh no stop eating» way, like the poor little scallops had been sitting around way too long. The Crazy Monkey roll is inexplicably risky to the server and once he started up his sad, lame little finger-​risking fire show all I could do was apologize profusely for ordering it.
We also had some Rotaba vegetables and they were ok, although I also feel that $ 6 for what is essentially 2 stalks of strangely peppery asparagus is robbery.
Overall it was just horrible food, and I really wanted to believe all the glowing reviews… we won’t be back.

I hate writing negative reviews, so when I feel tepid about a restaurant I typically don’t write one at all. However, my experience at Kemuri was negative enough that… here I am. I wanted very badly to like Kemuri: I was excited to try it, the ambiance and décor is elegant yet relaxed, and everyone working that we encountered was friendly and pleasant. However, the food is just not up to snuff.
The crispy calamari had a soft (not crispy!), under-​seasoned cake-​y breading that was not enjoyable. Even with the dipping sauce (and some additional soy sauce) it was badly in need of flavor and salt. Ironically the squid itself was well cooked, which is typically the easiest part of the dish to mess up.
We ordered several robata (charcoal grilled) dishes that varied in quality. The scallops had good flavor but were far overcooked (if you’re going, try them — maybe they’ll be cooked right). The eggplant was inedibly salty. I enjoy pungent, strong, extremely salty flavors, so if I can’t eat it, I can’t imagine who could. The asparagus was good, as was the pork loin.
Every single sauce and marinade we had here was much too sweet, from the calamari dipping sauce to the robabta marinades. And the cocktails were mediocre (also overly sweet).
The quality of the fish in the nigiri and sashimi was decent, especially for a landlocked state, but the most egregious thing about this dinner was the hatchet job that had been performed on our tuna and salmon sashimi. There are certain techniques and cuts of fish used in sushi making, and whatever happened here not only bears no resemblance to what sushi is supposed to be, but was so unattractive that even if this restaurant had invented sushi, I would think something had gone wrong. Pieces were uneven (both in thickness and shape) and the edges were ragged. I did a better job of cutting it in half with my chopsticks than the chef did cutting the pieces with a professional grade knife. Though nigiri and sashimi are my preferred sushi form, I would recommend getting rolls here, to hide the botched knife-​work.
As mentioned previously, the staff were friendly. However, more training is needed because they were a bit bumbling and borderline incompetent. We were sitting at the sushi bar and our waitress could *not* figure out how to set down dishes without making a huge ordeal out of it. This sounds really nitpicky, but I’m not a high maintenance diner — it just reached comical proportions by the end of the meal! She also took our plate away while it still had two large pieces of salmon sashimi on it. She made it all the way to the kitchen before realizing her mistake and brought the plate back with the salmon. Health code wise that doesn’t bother me (I’ll eat off the floor), but that’s not exactly a fine dining experience. Most upscale restaurants would replace the dish with a new one.
In all, if you’ve read this far, I’m not saying don’t go here. I can imagine many couples (and other demographics) who are less particular about their sushi and have a different palate than mine having a perfectly lovely meal here. If you’re a food lover or are at all cost-​conscious, I think there are MUCH better meals to be had in Little Rock for this price. This was by far our most disappointing meal in Little Rock so far (not quite the worst meal, but the worst ratio of cost: quality and expectations: experience). I don’t mind an expensive dinner, but since my budget is not unlimited, I want to make sure it’s an experience commensurate with cost.