If you want something fancy with top notch sushi, yeah, this isn't the place for you. If you want very very solid japanese food and a nice ambiance to chill with friends? Go for it. I love the salmon lover's roll, karaage (nice and bite sized with a delightful white sauce with a kick), and their takoyaki. The takoyaki I admit is not spherical and a little overpriced, but it's a great treat when you want a mini splurge. ^_^ By ordering ahead of time for pick up, there is only a 15 min wait when it's not peak hours and everything is nicely packaged to go. read more

Not amazing, but a step up from Miyake. I came for lunch and got a bento box, which tasted good, although not as great as the bento box lunch specials you can get at the Korean restaurants in town which are cheaper and have more flavor in the meat. You still get a crowd of sake bombers, even in the middle of the day on a weekend, but I guess that's what happens when there's nothing to do in Ithaca. It makes the place loud but it's not that disruptive. Service is pretty good here. Waiters are pretty attentive so I didn't have to do anything to catch their attention. I guess when they don't have to cater to several groups of kids doing sake bombs they can actually cater to other customers. read more

Ahhh Plum Tree: the decent sushi restaurant that people seem to continue to frequent, though for mysterious reasons. The sushi here is good (especially the dragon roll) ill give it that, so if you are craving sushi and go to Cornell, it's a no brainer. But...the dishes are just at that awkward price point where you can't really love the place. Cut 2$ off the price of every dish: bam! The place would be swamped and would begin to have ardent groupies (like CTB). Otherwise, there's nothing special about PT. read more

Pretty high prices but I guess normal for collegetown. Pretty good quality sushi, possibly best in ithaca read more

Plum Tree Restaurant - 007 roll (I like this even as someone who usually doesn't like americaned Japanese food) and two hamachi pieces - Japanese Near Me - Ithaca, New York

My favorite sushi place in Ithaca. It is located in Collegetown, the sushi is tasty, it is reasonably priced, and the staff is very nice. Also, they have awesome Miso soup. read more

Good- sake bombing, rice dishes Stay away- sushi Sushi in Ithaca is not good. I have stopped trying to eat it here altogether. Plum Tree is a fun place to go with friends for a night of sake bombing and a plate of fried rice, but not much else. read more

The delivery was fast. Liked the dragon roll. But some items like spicy chicken teriyaki are overpriced.

Not much to say. This place is mediocre at most lol but I didn't expect much from around here.

This may be some of the best sushi you can get in Upstate New York. With that said, its still Upstate New York sushi. I mean, where does the fish come from? Besides this minor point, I love their salad with its ginger dressing. I also recommend the Ura, Volcano, Supersonic, and David Special rolls. For lunch, the bento boxes, particularly the vegetable teriyaki, are yummy and cheap. read more

food: 3 stars value: 1 star for dinner (better for lunch though) service: 3 stars I have gone here several times, usually because a friend suggests it. On my most recent visit the prices were as follows: specialty rolls are $8 - $15, simple rolls are $5 - $8, a plate of teriyaki is $13 - $20, a plate of tempura is $14 - $20, bento boxes are $19 - $23, and sushi specials are $19 - $30. Lunch bento box specials are actually a fairly good deal at $9 - $18. In my opinion dinner is way overpriced here. One specialty roll and an entree and you could be paying as much as $50 per person without alcohol (after tax and tip). The quality while decent doesn't justify the prices. It is similar quality to the sushi at Wegmans or any other place in town. For lunch though a bento box is quite filling and for not much over $10 you can leave relatively satisfied. For cheaper Japanese food I like Cafe Pacific or CT Bento Cafe. For better quality I prefer Myake's. This place isn't horrible but every time I go I feel either poor or hungry. read more

I keep going here because I love sushi and this is the closest place to my house. The sushi is mediocre at best, the servers are sometimes rude, and the prices are high relative to the quality of food... The only reason this place is in business is that there is no good sushi alternative nearby. read more

I'm still a little confused by my experience at Plum Tree. The wait staff seemed confused. We were asked for our drink order 4 times by 4 different people. They refused to make a simple salad substitution. The food was okay, maybe we would have enjoyed ourselves more if we were having the sushi. All the other patrons in the restaurant seemed to be having a fine time. read more

I ordered the chicken teriyaki rice bowl and the Alaska roll the Alaska roll was funny tasting the rice was not fresh and the role was really small for the price. The rice for had very little sauce in the sauce was flavorless and the chicken was dry. I would not order from this restaurant again. read more

I ordered a tonkotsu ramen and it was pitiful. It was just regular ramen noodles in broth w/ 3 slices of fish cake, half a boiled egg, and some small pieces of ginger. I was expecting there to be slices of pork, which is pretty common in tonkotsu ramen, but there was no protein. $9 for the ramen is a rip-off. read more

Popped in here for a quick lunch. Got the bento lunch special which everyone in the restaurant also seemed to be having. Had the chicken teriyaki bento box. The chicken was disappointing as it wasn't grilled and seemed to just be strips of chicken heated in the sauce. Everything else including the salad, California roll, and gyoza were standard. Decent amount of food but felt the price was only okay for the quality. Not sure why their bento boxes are so popular. read more

Horrible restaurant. The food is bad. I order an udon which is recommended by a waiter. The soup tastes like tap water. I can bear the food but the waiter is horrible. He chased my friends for tips after we walk out the restaurant and he said he will add the tips to our signed receipt. What kind of restaurant does that? I will never go to this restaurant again and I urge everyone not to go there and ruin your day. read more

Third time is NOT the charm. I ate at Plum Tree a grand total of three times. I was trying to see if I was visiting on a bad day or what... but now I am pretty sure that this place is barely mediocre. First, the food isn't that fresh, EVEN for upstate NY. I mean, I know that pretty much all sashimi has been frozen at some point in its transportation to the restaurant, but I don't want to feel the limpness of the defrosted sushi, to taste the fishiness, or maybe even worse, not taste anything at all! Sometimes the sushi is warm-ish AND absolutely flavorless. Ew. And do not get the Unagi. Bad choice: overly sweet, another issue with freshness, and when I asked for sushi rice, I just got normal rice. Second, I had a bad experience with the staff in general. I went in, aside from getting food those three times, to solicit donations for the Cornell Law School public interest fundraiser. I asked to speak to the manager, and this guy was like "I'm sort of the manager, what's up?" Okay, sort-of-manager. I gave him the spiel, give him a form, and he was nice about it, so I said I'd be back Friday to collect the form/donations. I go back Friday, and the SAME guy comes out and says "oh, uh, I don't know about that. Let me get the manager." Some OTHER guy comes out, I give HIM the spiel and ask if HE has the form. He goes back, confers with the sort-of-manager, and says "Sorry, we're not interested." Why make me come back, then? Contrast this experience to other places (see: Subway) where the manager had a bunch of donations for us pinned up on a billboard days before I came back and all the employees knew about it. Plum tree staff is internally organized and inconsiderate of potential (and current) patrons. Bad sign. Specifically, though, I've also had one super nice server, so maybe the quality of service is kind of hit or miss...? But then, I don't like that lack of consistency either. Even though we're in Ithaca, I think there are better alternatives. Look down the street for better food and more consistent service. read more

Maybe I need to readjust me expectations for eating Sushi since I'm in Ithaca. I paid about $25 for a dragon roll (soft shell crab) and a rainbow roll, an assortment of seafoods. It was pretty good, just not worth $25 on a student budget. I'd try some other place... read more

Have tried Bento box with beef and kalbi. I have to say the sauce for Kalbi is too heavy flavored and makes me drink a lot of water. The price of the lunch Bento box is reasonable while in the evening the prices almost doubles with more food inside. The squid tastes good, also the beef roll with asparagus. read more

It just wasn't the best sushi I have had. It was sub-par at best. Very disappointing.

It's a good place to get fast Japanese food between classes. Lunch boxes are good, cheap and quick. I wouldn't suggest the salmon sashimi since the quality varies a lot each time I visited there. It does not worth the price. read more

I'm not sure why so many negative reviews, but I guess it's prob because I only order specific dishes that I know they are good at making whenever I go to plum tree, so I barely have any bad experience. Their special rolls are good. I like their sushi for 2, buta kimuchi and takoyaki, andddd ofc there mochi green tea ice cream. Agree that it is a pricey place, but they do have decent food as far as I know. Just don't go here in a big group, it'll take a long time for the food to come out. read more

I have been here and ordered from here a few times. Each time I try different things hoping that it will be better. Today was the last straw. I went in with my friends and we ordered their Yaki-udon, something I thought was hard to mess up on. Turns out it can be messed up. The noodles were over cooked and mushy and the flavor was worse than that of a frozen meal. Our server also was not attentive and never came to ask if our food was okay. It seems like the staff avoids talking to customers. I am very disappointed with this establishment and will not be back. read more

terrible food, generic menu, and prices that are not student friendly! Chicken katsu is overcooked and over battered. The actual chicken was pounded thinly, in addition to being over fried, which resulted in an extremely dry piece of stale and bland meat. I also don't think the chicken was very fresh to begin with. There is just no standard in the quality of the food. read more

As a lover of Japanese food and an undergrad at Cornell for the past four years, I have eaten at Plum Tree a lot, probably over fifty times. Not because it is an amazing restaurant, but out of desperation as it is by far the best in the Cornell area that one can get to without a car. Plum Tree has OK food. It certainly hits the spot for any who are clamoring for yummy Japanese or Asian food such as katsu chicken, takoyaki, sashimi, etc. One thing to note is that they have something called a Salmon Don which is a plate of only salmon sashimi (10 pieces) but it doesn't seem to be listed on the main menu, only menus through Ithaca to Go and such. You can also switch out your salad for a miso soup if you want for free which is really nice. However, none of the food is spectacular; most of the rolls are rather overpriced for the amount and quality you get, the fish isn't fresh and on some days you may get large slices, other days the portions may be very small. Also they overcharge, but everywhere in Ithaca does this. They do their best at hosting large parties, and do seem to have a good system down pat for hosting large parties. However, their waiters appear to have frequently struggled getting orders for large parties correct, or even parties as little as 4 people...I can remember several times off the top of my head my waiter has brought the wrong thing, and even suggested that I ordered something else. That said, this usually all gets corrected as the manager is a wonderful lady who does try to do best by her customers. For all the dissing I have just done of this restaurant, it is a good place to take your family or hang out with your friends. But do not expect anything close to the quality of food you'd get in California or NYC for the price you will pay. read more

i like this place a lot. no complaints from their service to the location to the interior design. the food quality is sufficient to warrant this 5-star rating, in light of ithaca's terrible competition situation. read more

Their food is okay, the servers quiet but polite and nice. Sushi is okay but a little pricey, and sometimes it's a hit or miss. Their lunch bento boxes, however, are a steal, and quite yummy, so I come here every week for lunch! can't beat a full meal for only 9$. Probably the only place to get sushi in Collegetown. read more

Good restaurant. The edamame was cold and could have been saltier but the sushi and sashimi were delicious. Service could Be a but more attentive, but overall good experience. read more

Service was a bit slow, the Coke that I ordered tasted old, and the sushi was just so so.

Sushi was excellent, as was everything else, but definitely overpriced-more akin to NYC pricing (or even a little higher) rather than upstate NY pricing. read more

Loved this place - full of people, mostly Asian so it must be good, right? But really, it was. Three of us enjoyed fantastic lunch fare - beautifully presented and affordable. Staff was a bit confusing - we had several taking care of us and when it came time for check one came to say they'd bring a check, then another came to get the credit card, then the other didn't know where the card was, but it sorted itself out quickly, no problems. read more

Avoid this place at all cost... Fish is seriously not fresh. The bento box is vile. I had a chicken bento and all the Tempura were soggy as shit. Asian Cuisine's lunch bento is about a million times better than what I had at Plumtree. Lastly, they force a tip on you. If you they gave shitty service, why do I have to pay close to 20% tips, ridiculous. read more

We ordered beef yakisoba, takoyaki, and the 007 roll. The beef yakisoba was really good as I've been told (wasn't my food). The 007 rolls were really good, but the fish felt a little... squishy? Maybe it was because they deep fried. The takoyaki was good, however... I wish they would put the mayo on the balls a little bit better. Not in globs. Usually it's layed on the balls thinly. Also, it needed a bit more... I think they should try adding seaweed and give a spicy sauce option to counter the mayo. Takoyaki is a Japanese street food worth trying but mayo can easily kill any food. read more

As a rule, food in Ithaca is woefully disappointing and yes, as many have noted, overpriced. I think Plum Tree is one of the only places where you can get a decent meal for commensurate value. The sushi rolls are simple, but fresh and well-prepared. My husband and I like to go there for a light meal; we typically share 2-3 rolls. $15 for dinner for two? Where else does this happen in Ithaca? read more

Horrible!!!!!! Been there twice.. First time had sushi.. it did not taste good. Still for some god forsaken reason, we thought of giving it a second chance. BIG mistake. The miso ramen noodles had a nauseating smell and tasted yuck! The chicken teriyaki was terrible. Made my stomach ache. read more

I brought family here just after graduation week thinking it is slow will be best experience ever and family will love the place.. I couldn't be more wrong. Where would i even begin.... we walked in and seated right away, so far it was great... Nice music, that was changed from soft rock to piano.. strange, but okay. Over the piano music, we started hearing strange noises, and learned when my father went to the facilities (which were really clean, little bit of a bleachy smell to them, but cleaned really well) that a chef was watching something on his phone... ew. When he got back, he said the other sushi person was in a corner on the floor watching his phone too... double ew. We made our order, kitchen food after hearing about that, ate and left. even our waiter was on his phone off and on during our dine in time, and there was only like four or five tables. I have been going here off and on for my cornell years and i guess the owner must have sold because i haven't seen them there much at all lately. If that is true, i don't know who the new owners are, but they need to get the staff in order or something. Hopefully they will be better with the new year when i come back, if so i'll give a better rating but without improvement i wont come back. read more

I've been here so many times-it is my go to place when I have withdrawal for Ramen. The employees think that I am a regular because they refer to me as "my friend". But one thing I must add- two years ago, they served these great Japanese rice crackers. They do not do this anymore. What happened to those crackers?! Disclaimer: I'm Japanese, so I am comparing to my grandma's cooking. Food: B Some dishes are good, some are not so good. Good Miso Ramen- its delicious and it doesn't take like its instant. And its pretty cheap at $8.99 Oyako-don: It is a chicken and egg dish, served on top of rice. It tastes exactly like authentic oyako-don. It is very filling, because there is a generous amount of egg and chicken. Please try this here! OK kara-ika (Spicy squid, app): It was really good the first time I tried it because the squid was cut up into small portions. But the second time, the squid was really large and therefore the spiciness did not seep into it well. It also seemed like the appetizer got smaller the second time I went, even though my two trips were only spaced about a month apart. yaki Bento: the food in the bento is really good, but it is VERY expensive ($20+). If you want to try the bento boxes, order during lunch because its substantially cheaper ($13) tonkotsu ramen: it tastes ok, but nothing was added to the ramen. Usually there is some fish sausage, pickled vegetables, seaweed, etc, on top of ramen. But there was nothing added!! You just get noodles in some soup. Yaki-soba: does not taste anything like actual yakisoba. It comes in a hot stone plate which is nice, but the flavoring is pretty bland. If you've never tried yakisoba before, please try it somewhere else before you eat it here. Hwe Dup Bap: My boyfriend gets this religiously. The first couple of times he was in love with it, but the last time we got it, the sashimi tasted like it was defrosted. I know Ithaca is pretty devoid of fresh fish, but it tasted kind of off. Plus, they didn't add much rice and there was a lot of lettuce. Not Good kurobuta: kuro buta means black pig in Japanese, but it just tasted like an italian sausage from Wegmans. Do not order! ika-shoga: the squid tastes like its frozen. The shoga (ginger) is not added well. read more

Ok, the food is typical Ithaca Sushi, probably in the 70th percentile. Ithaca is not on the ocean and therefore is not a sushi hotbed. However, I like this place. I have been here a few times both with a couple people and with a large group. The service is great! I was there with a large group (no reservation) last weekend and we ordered a round of sake bombs so they brought us a ton of beers and a giant pitcher of sake, which was great. The food came out quickly, they got everyone's order right, they were very understanding about splitting the bill over a million credit cards, and they really just made it an enjoyable night. I can't speak to the food, beyond the sushi, but the sushi was ithaca good. read more

Well, for Ithaca, this place is pretty decent, though definitely a bit overpriced for what it is, especially at dinner. They have a mix of Japanese and Korean. The sushi is always decent, the rolls I've tried are pretty standard, the Kalbi is far and away the most impressive thing on their menu (especially having tried it at another Ithaca venue where it was awful!) The bento boxes are reasonable, but the dumplings in there are pretty gross. read more

High quality Japanese cuisine. The variety of the menu is good and the prices are reasonable. The ambiance is also good and appropriate for groups. The staff are fairly friendly. In general, I have never had a bad experience at Plum Tree. read more