"0"^^ . "We had an excellent meal at Kumi. Super expensive, so I have a suggestion for you to spend less than we did and still have a great meal.\n\nWe had a large party of 11, so our main server, Greg, suggested the omakase menu, which means you leave it up to the server/kitchen to bring you what they think is best and then they charge you for what you eat. We had people in our group who don't eat sushi, shellfish, spicy food, etc., etc., so Greg said they could accommodate that. What ended up happening is that we had about 12 dishes come for the table, in multiples of 2 or 3 plates, and then an additional 5-6 dishes come for individuals with special preferences. With drinks, this added up to a little more than $200/person (dinner/drinks/tip). Wow! Thankfully, this was on the company dime, but still, that seems crazy.\n\nIf you don't want to spend $200/person, I would suggest you eat here and still do an omakase menu, but restrict the server to a number of dishes you think you would have gotten if you were ordering on your own. If I had to do it again, I would still order for the table, so everyone could sample different dishes, but for eleven people, I would ask the server to bring a combination of 5 cool/warm plates (2-3 orders each for the table) and 3 entrees (2-3 orders for the table and have them cut up the chicken/lamb chops/beef for sharing). After that, if people were still hungry, I would order more.\n\nBetter yet, if you have a large party and you have someone who can put together a menu, you can plan the menu in advance so you end up with the equivalent of 3 dishes per person in terms of cost and have the right spread of food that will accommodate your party's particular tastes. I do so below as an example of what I would do.\n\nThe service was attentive and excellent. I've noticed other reviewers complain about service. I'm not sure if our service was good, partly because we let the kitchen/Greg pick what they brought to the table. It may be another argument for doing the omakase menu.\n\nHere's what Greg ended up sending to the table, and you will see it was an exercise in excess:\n\nCrispy rice with seared tuna and screaming O sauce: this is EXCELLENT. I would recommend ordering this. If people don't like sauce, tell them not to pour it over the tuna. The sauce is great, creamy and a little spicy.\n\nYellowtail serrano in yuzu sauce. Another excellent dish. I would order this again.\n\nSeared abalone in onion ginger sauce. Not a favorite for the table. I would not order this again.\n\nSeaweed salad. I love seaweed, but people didn't really eat this at all.\n\nRock shrimp tempura. Very good.\n\nMiso black cod. Very good. \n\nSalmon. Good, but if I picked between the cod and salmon, I would get the cod.\n\nToban filet with mushrooms. This was popular at the table. We love beef!\n \nSashimi tray. This was very good, but by the time it came, we were sashimi-ed/seafood-ed out. It was a waste on top of the seared tuna, yellowtail serrano, and seared abalone mentioned above.\n\nLobster with butter. People loved this.\n\nFor the people who didn't like what was coming to the table ...\n\n1got Colorado lamb chop -- Delicious and perfectly cooked. People who were on her end of the table ate off her plate, as she shared.\n\n1 got the chicken -- Delicious. The skin was particularly crispy.\n\n1 got a cucumber salad -- crisp and light, mushroom roll -- perfectly executed, eggplant -- this is awesomely flavorful and worth ordering, veggie tempura -- looked good, but I didn't try it.\n\nIf I had to do it over again, I would plan out the menu myself in advance for this large a party and tell them what we wanted. In our case, for a crowd that prefers meat to fish and based on what I now know from our expansive dinner, I would do the following for our party of 11:\n\nCOLD DISHES\n\nCrispy rice with seared tuna and screaming O sauce (3 orders)\n\nYellowtail serrano in yuzu sauce (2 orders)\n\nHouse salad or cucumber salad (2 orders) -- just to have some veggies\n\nPop rocks roll (2 orders) -- I've read this on other reviews and would like to try it.\n\nPork belly roll (2 orders) -- I've read this on other reviews and would like to try it.\n\nWARM PLATES\n\nRock shrimp tempura (2 orders)\n\nVeggie tempura (1 order -- for the non-shellfish eater in the group)\n\nCrispy calamari (3 orders)\n\nKimchi edamame (2 orders)\n\nGyooza (3 orders)\n\nJapanese eggplant (3 orders)\n\nLobster with butter (3 orders) \n\nENTREES \n\nSeared beef with mushrooms (2 orders)\n\nJidori Chicken (2 orders)\n\nColorado Lamb Chop (2 orders)\n\nWith this type of ordering, it adds up to about 3 dishes per person -- still pricey but manageable.\n\nFor drinks, I think beer and sake are best with Japanese food. We got two bottles of the Dragon Slayer sake, which was excellent."^^ . "1"^^ . . "2"^^ . "4"^^ . . "2014-03-20T00:00:00"^^ . .