Zuma New York

All 3 stars go to the food at Zuma. Why did I remove 2 stars??? It was my friend’s birthday, 4 of us all got there together and early. We were seated right away, orders taken, alcohol ordered. Fast forward to the end of our fabulous meal… and a manager comes to our table to tell us that we are more than welcome to continue drinking upstairs in their lounge as they need our table for another reservation. What we heard «thanks for dropping $ 500+ on dinner with us but get the fuck out.» It all makes so much sense now why our tasting menu food came out in rapid speed, multiple dishes at once. I used to work for a celebrity chef owned restaurant and we NEVER asked anyone to ever get up from their table so that we can seat the next round of guests. We would adjust what we had available and shift tables around but we’d never ever inconvenience someone to move… especially after spending so much money. It ruins the entire experience for them because that will be the last thing they remember. Horrible restaurant operations.
Now it’s all coming back to me… Zuma in Miami told me when I MADE the reservation that we had a 2 hour window for dinner (for 8 people) because of their quick dining room turn around.
As much as I love your food, I doubt I’ll ever come back. Your dining room policy sucks and definitely put a damper to our celebrations for our friend. We’re all meeting planners in NYC and this is one restaurant that we definitely won’t be using for our corporate dinners… our guests may be kicked out before dessert is even brought out so that they can flip the room for the next group!

You can bring a date from any economic background here and impress them. Every detail of the interior is beautiful. I highly recommend getting as many different things as you can. Their signature steak tastes like it’s their signature. The calamari was the only thing I wouldn’t order again. Wasabi salad is magnificent. The wine selection is robust. The best dessert to get is their dessert boat. Take a walk to the bathroom upstairs so you can have a view of the whole place.

The food was excellent, but the service was ridiculously bad. Took close to 7 minutes to get someone’s attention to bring us water.
Menu was poorly explained opted for 2 tasting menus but they couldn’t accommodate the GF one so had California rolls and was served soy sauce! Seriously!
The waitress was not pleasant at all throughout the service. We had to complain a second time when we received two identical checks!

The food here is fantastic however the waitress serving us was a little grumpy. The waiters that brought out the food to the table were great and could tell us exactly what everything was and all the different sites of fish in the sushi platter that we had ordered. The reason for a lower rating is because they were a little over presumptive with giving us the bill after we had ordered our dessert without us asking for it. There were plenty of empty tables so it was strange as to why they were trying rush us out the door.
Also when I made the reservation the guy on the phone said the dress code was smart business casual so me and my girlfriend put on some nice cloths but when we arrived there were a load of people in the restaurant just in shorts and tshirts and this made us then feel a little over dressed.

This is your average high-​end sushi place. I was not overly impressed, but at the same point, nothing was bad. The bar upstairs is pretty cool to check out as well.

Really like this place, excellent quality of food !
Sushi is good but I think the best is the chef speciality, and also the drink with base of martini are so sweet and good!

If I could put the 10 stars, I would do it) This place is amazing, every dish is unique and extremely delicious. We tried tasting menu number 98))and were around 2 hours there. Great atmosphere, professional service very attentive and helpful. The Décor is speechless somethings I have never seen anywhere before, a specially second floor. The dessert boat has to be experienced to be believed. We come back soon and I recommend this amazing place to everyone)

Amazing food. Great service. absolutely great ambiance décor inside! Lobster tempura is too good. Shrimp and cod gyoza is brilliant. Make sure to order the spicy Edamame not the regular!

We spend over $ 500 on food, drinks, deserts, and appetizers. The food itself was great. LETS GET TO THE BAD PART.
We had reservations and the waiters have the balls to tell us to hurry up and that they’re going to move us to the bar. This is WITH reservations. I can’t believe this. I’m never coming back here again.

First off, the food was excellent! Our table shared the «Signature» omakasae and I thought it was delicious. The dishes were endless and I left stuffed. In fact I could barely finish the last couple dishes let alone desert.
Ambience was great, very hip and modern. Music is a little loud so expect to speak loudly. Hey, this is New York.
NOW, let me explain why I’m doing one star. We had reservations and then they come over and tell us to hurry up because they had a group waiting. I’m sorry, but if we’re spending this kind of money I don’t expect to hear that at all. It was completely off putting to a good meal. And for this I don’t know if I would ever come back again.

I’ve been here several times and though the food is delicious, the service gets worse and worse. Unfriendly servers with attitude up until the end of dinner and suddenly they become nicer and more helpful just before the check arrives and you’re deciding what to tip. I would not recommend this place any more.
Found out later that the person who paid had issues with the bill. Taking another star away for that.

Great ambience, good food and super nice staff. What I love most about this place is how surprisingly kid friend it is! Its hard to maintain a foodie status with a 19 month old but Zuma makes it easy.
Food wise, we loved the Seared salmon app, beef tenderloin, alaskan crab robata. The tuna tataki and yellow tail were also good but my fav was def the salmon. We also tried the spicy yellowtail roll and the freshness of their fish was consistent throughout. The only miss was the tempura which I felt needed a bit more flavor and perhaps the dipping sauce could be a tad saltier. Otherwise it was a great meal. Yes prices are high but consistent with this type of quality and ambience. I can’t wait to go back and try some more of their inventive dishes
The restaurant reminds me of Nobu but in their heyday with more variety in flavors and options.
For you parents out there — we had a 6:30pm Thursday night reservation (thats when you have to eat if you had a kid) and was running about 20 min late and they did not even blink an eye. The hostesses fawned over my child. I had to change him before we sat down and I was surprised to see a changing table in the bathroom! The hostess waited patiently outside for what was certainly way too long and she happily walked us to the table where they had a high chair ready. Then another hostess came by and asked if my son would like a coloring book with crayons! I was blown away — what high end restaurant does this now?! Kudos to you Zuma!
Service was quick (which is important with an impatient 19 month old) and everyone was super accommodative! I rarely have time to Unilocal now but felt their service really deserved a shout out.

If I could give this place more than 5 stars I would.
First I would like to address the 3 stars and less reviewers, many stated «good atmosphere, good food. service etc etc» then why give it 3 stars? Another reviewer gave the place 1 star and clearly stated the place was fantastic but he ran into a another difficult customer that the restaurant could not control. Well, did not know restaurant owners and servicers were the law force. Anyways, I hope these negative reviews that do not make sense do not deter you from coming to this magnificent restaurant.
Anyways, lets begin with the atmosphere, the restaurant décor is delicately placed, that gives you a modern, Japanese, feel to it. The upstairs is much nicer than downstairs in my opinion so if you can get a seat upstairs, try for that. Perfect for dates, a night out with your friends.
Moving on to food. We had the following off of the menu:
Food:
— yaki taraba gani: king crab with ponzu lime butter
— kinoko no kama meshi: rice hotpot with wild mushrooms and japanese vegetables.
— Pork belly and beef skewers
— suzuki no ozashimi: seabass sashimi with yuzu, salmon roe and truffle oil
— maguro no tataki: sliced seared tuna with chili daikon and ponzu sauce
— a dish of sashimi with assorted fish
— Watercress salad
My opinion about each dish. The king crab was a small entrée, so if you are planning to get full off of it, do not plan on it. It is more of an appetizer. An amazing dish that is full of flavors and not too heavy. The rice hotpot, was to die for, a 50 dollar dish that might deter some people but I would suggest to definitely get it. A mix of flavors that you will not get elsewhere. The pork belly skewers literally melted in my mouth, beef and pork were both marinated beautifully. The seabass and sashimi. The salmon roe mixed with the sashimi, you would expect a really fishy, or sea taste to it but nope, just the exact opposite. The tataki was seared perfectly and the daikon and ponzo sauce together was the perfect sour, sweet taste in your mouth. The dish of sashimi with assorted fish. You knew that each of the fish was made fresh. My least favorite was the water cress salad, it had a really strong wasabi taste in each bite which made it difficult to eat. I can be biased though since I do not like wasabi.
Drinks:
Both non-​alcoholic — dont remember the exact names but see my pictures for better reference.
— Strawberry
–Green Tea matcha, mint
Both drinks were very refreshing but I preferred the strawberry drink more. light and refreshing as the green tea match was a bit more sour.
Lastly, there was the dessert. Assorted rare asian fruits with a bit of your regular fruits. A yellow, mango dessert which had a mix of sour and sweet was perfect for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the lava cake with the vanilla ice cream was perfect. The sorbet was the perfect sweetness.
It was the perfect night.

Zuma is a great place to come with friends, bring clients or even just grab a few drinks at the bar after work. They have awesome modern design when you walk in. High ceiling, stone wall mixed with dark brown wood (mahogany?) dim lightning. Atmosphere is quite loud, but that’s how you know this place is poppin’ haha.
I had a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 red wine and also the Sojen cocktail. The Sojen cocktail has vodka, matcha powder, coconut syrup and tastes sweet but has a nice small kick. If you love matcha like I do, go ahead and try that. As for food, my party couldn’t decide on what to get. I saw some items that really caught my eye at first like the Wagyu beef 6oz steak, the pork belly, chilean sea bass… so our server recommended we try their tasting menu with their top items chosen by their chefs. We were pretty reluctant at first because of the prices, but we ended up deciding to splurge because why not. We ended up going with the premium tasting menu and without disclosing what was in there I was definitely say it was well worth it. Many of the items that had caught my eye on the menu were already included in the tasting menu. I will say that the Wagyu beef was exceptional, it was cooked to the chef’s recommendation and it was quite rare and chewy, but very tasty. The pork belly was also another item that was very memorable, it tasted amazing!
Many many amazing dishes later we were presented with the most beautiful dessert platter I have ever eaten. I’m not even joking. This thing had ice cream in the center with vanilla, mango, strawberry flavors. Spongy banana bread on one side, a sweet chocolate brownie on another, turn it around again and you have cheesecake with strawberry drizzled syrup, assorted fruits around it including lychee, watermelon, blackberry, grape, strawberry, pineapple, dragon fruit (what!), melon, kiwi, blueberry, and crème brûlée. Amazing experience, I definitely would love to come here to try one of the rooms on their second level for my birthday.

To me I’ve always never really came across amazing restaurants in midtown. It’s flooded with buffets due to the area filled with working professionals but I came here for lunch as recommended by a friend. First off, service was spectacular from start to finish and I absolutely adore the décor. High ceilings, modern feel, sushi bar was wide and open where you can see it from any angle of the restaurant. I had the fish dumplings which were divine, and a few rolls which was great because there was barely any rice (to me, the places that makes their sushi with a ton of rice is a red flag for me) I also had the chirashi which was great– they were not cheap with their fish. Overall really great Japanese spot and I will definitely be coming back. Maybe I’ll even have my birthday dinner here as I heard they serve Japanese tapas during dinner and I am the type to love a variety of different things.

Came here because of the great reviews and friends. The food is very good I would give a 5 star for that but it’s one of those restaurants that they make very cold for you to leave quickly. I hate that !!
We had the signature tasting menu (98.00) and we got 16 dishes — 4 appetizers, 4 sushi, 4 main and 4 deserts. In my opinion a lot food for 2 ppl and they don’t explain that well what you are getting it.
Overall is was very nice. The staff is very friendly. We were here for my wife’s birthday and they gave us a special desert. Thank you for that!

Went to Zuma on Tuesday night for a friends birthday and it was excellent! I loved the vibe of the restaurant as soon as I walked in and the décor was beautiful. The downstairs had an older/​more relaxed feel and upstairs was a more happening bar area/​lounge.
We went upstairs for a drink first and then tried to get seated in the lounge area. We had a reservation, but it apparently was for downstairs and all of the lounge area was already reserved. We decided to sit in the bar area at a table and it ended up being fine/​better off that we sat upstairs.
My friend and I decided to share a bunch of different dishes. Our waitress had let us know that’s usually how most people order at Zuma and it just comes out whenever it is ready. There isn’t a way to request a certain dish to come first. We first had an order of edamame for the table and then ordered to share:
–Ebi no tempura: AKA Rock Shimp Tempura was one of my favorite things we shared. I loved how the spicy mayo sauce came on the side as a dipping sauce. Most places I’ve been actually has the sauce already on the shrimp, but I liked having the option.
–Gindara to ebi no gyoza: Shrimp and cod dumplings were EXCELLENT! I think the best thing we had. So delicious.
–Gyu to shishito no kushi yaki: Beef skewers were really tasty! Cooked perfectly, but the peppers were a little bit too spicy for me.
–Pirikara maguro maki: this spicy tuna roll was just OK. I thought everything else we ordered was significantly better.
–Kinoko no kama meshi: this is a rice hotpot similar to risotto with mushrooms. My friends mom had this and we just tasted some, but it was AMAZING. Good to know for next time.
–Zuma Special Chocolate: This chocolate cake is really the reason why we came to zuma and it didn’t fail our expectations. The best thing we had a Zuma and I would come back just for the cake.
Overall had a great experience at Zuma. Even though it’s on the pricier side, it’s a nicer place to grab a drink or go for a special dinner.

When I was in HK over the summer, I really wanted to try Zuma. But with time constraints, I missed out so I was so happy to see that there was a location in the city!
My party of two booked a table for 12:15pm on a Friday for lunch. We were brought to the second floor dining room, which is a lot more quite than the main floor. The décor is modern and just so stunning. It is comparable to the high end Asian restaurants such as Hakkasan, Buddakhan, and Megu. There were only two tables when we sat down, but after a half hour the lunch rush began. There is also a large bar and a lounge area on the second floor in addition to the dining tables. The seating was a bit close because we could hear the conversations of the two parties next to us. But I guess space is valuable in Midtown!
We both participated in the Restaurant Week menu.
Salad: There’s a nice Asian twist added with a fried lotus root.
Miso Soup: Standard. Unbearably salty. There is no way you can finish this small cup without downing two glasses of water.
Appetizer:
— Chicken yakitori: The chicken was moist and seasoned well, but I thought it was missing a kick.
— Seared salmon shiso: My immediate reaction was that the portion was tiny. It was like a scrap sliver of fish. But the taste was good and fish was fresh. I just wish I could have had a larger portion to taste the fish better.
Main:
— Chirashi don: The absolute best part of the meal! The tuna, salmon and yellow tail were so fresh! The portion was small but enough with the set menu. This is a must try!
— Seared beef: Tiny. Not memorable.
Dessert:
— Yuzu cheesecake: The cheesecake had a slight yuzu flavor which was too overbearing. It tasted fresh and wasn’t too heavy. I would come here again just for this!
— Chawan mushi (passion fruit custard with mango): There are three layers to this custard like dessert with mango slices throughout. Light and fresh tasting. Must get!

I think the Ambience and Quality/​Creativity of the food deserve close to 5 stars. I did come for a private party, so I did not PAY for this meal, so I can’t comment on the value although I suspect that it costs a pretty penny. Another issue that allowed me to downgrade this place to 4 stars was the service. Things came out at odd times because they were backed up. We had about 10 courses, and we waited for 30 minutes between course 3 and 4! That’s a really long time without any explanation until someone asked. They also didn’t space out the dishes in an even way on the table so it required people glancing anxiously at the dishes that were quickly disappearing.
1. Tomato and eggplant salad with ginger and scallion dressing: An absolutely simple but delicious mix of fresh large-​leaf greens with seasoned organic tomatoes. Loved it.
2. Prawn and black cod dumplings: One of my favorites of the evening. I didn’t know what was in here initially, but really could taste the prawns, which was uniquely flavored.
3. Spicy fried squid with green chili and lime: This was not that good. Pretty standard calamari, a little overcooked and over-​fried.
4. Salmon slice rolled: I think this was what it is. Very very fresh and good with the sauces and seasoning.
5. Tuna sushi: Also very fresh and good. Nothing special though.
6. Rock shrimp tempura: Small but well-​fried.
7. Assorted veggies tempura: Loved this. In some ways the diversity in veggies make it an interesting assortment of textures.
8. Spicy lobster miso soup: I thought it was just really really good miso soup with a distinct seafood flavor. But now I know that it has lobster (flavor) in it. Nice!
9. Sweet potatoes: Baked and with drizzled ponzu sauce, slightly fried, this is another one of my favorite dishes of the night. Keeping the skin on the potato made a huge different.
10. Barley miso corn fed chicken oven roasted on cedar wood: This is very interesting! The chicken is juicy, but there was something else on the outside that I can’t quite place that made it unique. Hard to describe.
11. Rice hotpot with wild mushrooms and Japanese vegetables: So good! They make it in front of the table, then distribute the rice in small bowls. The mushroom flavor permeates the dish. Really great.
12. Dessert tray: This had a peach pudding, tiramisu, cheesecake, sorbets, crème brulee, and chocolate molten cake. It’s not even on the menu that I can see, but this was the highlight. It’s a beautiful display (see photos). Everything was amazing, especially the peach pudding, tiramisu, and chocolate cake. The least impressive was the cheesecake.
The architecture of this place is great. The first floor is huge. But the second floor is also amazing. Very clean and modern. The hallway to the bathroom is trippy with a mirror at one end. The bathrooms themselves… check them out. :-)
Save some $$$ and enjoy!

The service was great! And the food was good. The prices are a little steep for what it is though. The dj was great. He played great music and it really went with the vibe of the restaurant. I would complain that the tables are too close to one another. I hate when i can hear someone else’s conversation. Especially when im shouting over the loud music. Definitely a good place i just dont know if its worthy enough to make you keep on going back!
The passion fruit drink was delicious. Also i really enjoyed the prawn and black cod gyozas.

Seit 3 Monaten geöffnet
Sehr witzige Einrichtung
Das Essen wie in allen Zuma’s gut und genau so gehobene Preise.
Es war total voll und /​aber gute Atmosphäre.
Bei Weißwein kann es passieren, dass es plötzlich lieblich wird, obwohl man den Wein kennt (anders produziert für USA?)
Treppen

Very bad experience there! Me and my friends won’t be there again. The staff at the front desk is so rude and without experience. Very disappointing for a grand opening.