Papa Umi — Restaurant in Koblenz

The Papa Umi is an extraordinary place - and you would expect this kind of concept in one of the capital cities of the world, but not in Koblenz and Neuwied. We discovered this gem a few years ago when they initially opened in Neuwied - in a - you would not believe it - former McDonald's ;-)

Let me say this very frankly: the sushi is delicious - if you compare it to the sushi places in the area. The presentation is immaculate, or better: impressive. Every larger plate is a piece of art - and if you take someone who loves sushi and has never been, they will be genuinely impressed.

In all honesty: It does wear a bit off if you go again and again - and it's a bit of a show they present there. So if you compared the sushi to the Nobu or other places that stand for real sushi excellence, it would not stand up. Then, of course, it does not have Nobu prices ;-) It's far from any AYCE place and possibly more expensive than any other sushi place in the area - but the experience is definitely worth it.

I just randomly checked some comments, the good, the bad, the ugly: I have been sure a dozen or more times, and the quality and service were consistent. It definitely is not the best sushi I ever had, but I always had a good time - and even more so when I took people who have never been.

The alternative is the Ichiban - a more traditional un-trendy place.

Why five stars then? Now, if you are curious enough about my "rating scheme," here's "the moment of truth. I am a music photographer who travels the world with the worlds greatest musical talents (Michael Jackson, AC/DC, Rolling Stones or Rammstein, to name a few) for almost 40 years. When being asked "where do you live," I tended to ask "in hotels." At my peak, I "shot" 250 shows a year. Will say: been there, saw and tasted it, and a lot, as I may say and much to the dismay of my doctor who is in my back to lose a few pounds. Quite a few, as I may add, which is why my wife and I walk ten thousand steps per day, where- and whenever we can - and explore a lot of new exciting places - places you may oversee when just driving by.

While I love to share my experience with others, I am sometimes shocked by how people use their "power of the word" to down-rate amazing places. Mostly they do because of minor incidents (in my all time favorite​ restaurant Le Petit Four on Sunset Plaza the owner was even called a racist as he refused to toast the (free) bread in his packed restaurant - they simply do not offer toasted bread, as no French​ place does, as I may add). Or I just read "Chicken piccata so over-salted I hope the dog enjoys the leftovers tomorrow, I brought home most of the dish." Did they speak to their service? How could the restaurant learn that something was wrong when patrons even have their leftovers​ boxed to take home? As a dog owner,​ I want to take the writer and shake him or her really bad and say "you give over-salted food to your dog? Anyone with a bit of brain understands this is a horrible idea...​ I hope you agree.

So If I had a say on this portal, I would offer to see the ratings of my friends. So I would see what the ratings were by like-minded people. Sadly, I have no say. I try not to compare apples with oranges. A place like this does not compare to "The Ritz." At first,​ I assume that a restaurant is clean, they do not greet you with a gun - and they deliver whatever they promise. I do not give stars for things that are expected. In my rating scheme, three or more stars are awarded if they exceeded my expectation. Four, if I am sure I will come back. To achieve five stars, I must be willing to take a detour of thirty minutes or more to go again. As I went back again and again and it is, in fact, a 30 min detour over any place next to my German home, it must be five stars.

Again, thank you for...

I had a very disappointing experience at Papa Umi in Koblenz. From the moment we arrived, it was clear that the service and hygiene standards were far below expectations. • I asked for an English menu and was told the prices in it were incorrect — only the German menu had the actual prices. That alone felt unprofessional. • I asked to charge my phone and handed it to the waiter. As he walked away, he said “5 euros for charging,” and it wasn’t clear if he was joking or serious. We retrieved the phone just a few minutes later because it made us uncomfortable. • The restroom was dirty: standing water in the sink, a broken towel dispenser, and no hook in the stall to hang a bag or coat. • We ordered a large soup and clearly said we wanted to share it. They agreed, but when it came, it was in a single bowl. We politely asked for it to be divided, but the waitress refused, saying, “Do it yourself.” • The soup was bland, lacked salt and spices, and was overloaded with noodles but only had 6 small pieces of chicken. • We asked for the sticky table to be cleaned, and were told it’s sticky because of disinfectant used during COVID, and cleaning it wouldn’t help. Seriously? • Later, we ordered drinks and two sushi rolls: the California and the UMI Big Roll. The California roll came, but the UMI Big Roll never did. When we asked, the waitress insisted we didn’t order it — even though she had repeated the full order out loud earlier. She checked their system, and it wasn’t there. We didn’t want to reorder because it was already too late.

This experience was chaotic, unprofessional, and just unpleasant. Poor hygiene, poor service, bad food. I don’t recommend this place and won’t be...

We had a lunch today with our family and the food was very tasty but the level of the service was not just on level of the good restaurant but frankly speaking ugly and unrespectable. The main waitress was talking to us in such a not polite manner,she didn't want to listen to anything we wanted to explain and her sentence was all the time:Client is a not a king. They have provided to us one of the dishes we didn't order,after noticing this we have updated the waitress and asked to provide us the dish we have ordered. At the end they asked us to pay also for the dish we didn't order and she started to cry on us and did wish to listen. To my mind the restaurant that is positioning itself to be one of the best in the city, must provide the service on the same level and unfortunately we didn't receive this today. Have to mention that it left a bad taste of the meal and spoiled our holiday mood and family time together. Not recommend this place if you wish to receive a good service and enjoy your family...