Umi — Restaurant in Fort Wayne

Rude service. Dirty restaurant. Awkward atmosphere. Not recommended. Detailed review below.

This past Sunday, I visited Umi after hearing some good things about both the food and the service. It was a place on my "must-try" list of restaurants. After placing a reservation online through Yelp a week in advance(and confirming it twice), my party of four excitedly arrived for dinner. First, we are hit with an unpleasant damp scent, sort of what a mildewy basement smells like. Second, the restaurant seemed devoid of guests or vibrancy, and there was no one at the hostess stand. We wait for about ten minutes with no staff member in sight. Finally, the host appeared and indifferently asked if he could help us. I told him we had a reservation, and he interrupted me to ask if it was made online. He told us online reservations do not work anymore or something, but he mumbled something and said he could seat us anyway. (The restaurant was empty, so I would've hoped so). Our booth and entire seating area were dirty. The table was greasy with a peculiar translucent film all across it. The half-wall dividing our side from the booth parallel ours was covered in multicolored spots and grime. It was very unsightly, to say the least. Lastly, two of our menus had a big stain covering most of one page. The food was not awful, but compared to other wonderful local Japanese sushi houses with lower prices and higher quality food, Umi could not compare. The presentation of the shoyu ramen bowl was fair, though the sushi rolls were not near as neat as in other places. The final nail in the coffin for Umi was the last fifteen or so minutes. The music was abruptly turned off, so the already subpar atmosphere became worse, and one of our checks was not returned to us. Our waitress or other staff just seemed nonexistent. I had to ask for a to-go box three separate times, with the container being tossed at me once it finally came. I did not understand why the service was utterly lackluster with only ourselves and one other couple in the restaurant. For a restaurant that supposedly prides itself on being "high-class," I was appalled. I sincerely hope our entire experience was a fluke, but it would take a great deal of convincing to...

My wife and I visited Umi on an early Sunday afternoon before business had really started coming in for the day and we were excited to come here after seeing such a nice looking sushi place pop up on the south east side of town. We have not a had much time to visit restaurants in Fort Wane, but had decided to make extra time since Savor Fort Wayne was going on and we figured this would be a great way to sample a decent portion of the menu. Soup: The mushroom miso soup seemed very inauthentic with brown rice and and a strange miso base. I recommend removing the rice from this recipe as it would increase authenticity and perhaps help the flavor. Appetizers: The gyoza dumplings were one of the few good items we ordered although I was surprised that no house sauce or soy sauce was provided without us asking for it. The Spicy Eggplant was grilled almost all the through and the flavor had decent heat, but also was a little bland without other sauces. Main Course: The spicy salmon could have been excellent, but the fish itself was cooked to be a little dry. The rice and sweet yam on the side were decent. My wife's AG roll had rice that had sat way too long in the rice vinegar and was disgustingly wet and bitter. The fish in the roll seemed fresh enough, but the amount of rice vinegar could have hidden many things. Dessert: The mochi ice cream was a pleasant end to the meal being presented well and not being overly sweet. Unfortunately, both mine and my wife's stomachs had become a bit sensitive at this point in the meal.

Service: Our first waitress was excellent and seemed earnest in her recommendations, but her shift ended early in our dining experience and there was the unfortunate transition that sometimes happens while dining, but service was good overall.

Overall: The food was very disappointing. Many of the ingredients seemed to have been from the night before or simply not prepared properly. It is evident that it is hard to mess up gyoza and their mochi dessert makes for a decent dessert. That said, we...

I had an outing with my cousin yesterday and instead of going to our usual haunts we decided to try a place we've never been to before, Umi.

I'm going to be honest here, it's not as amazing as it I thought it was going to be. The portions were small, and the sushi tasted Kroger tier, not to mention the fact that the rice on 2 of the dishes was barely holding together. The unagi was exceptionally tender I will admit that but for the price, I don't think I will be going back there; especially since the wait staff was hardly in attendance it seemed.The place I generally go to called Shoccu is far superior in every way from the service to the ambience to the quality and portion of the food, if this tells you anything I paid 40 dollars for 10 subpar rolls, 2 of which were nigiri, as well as a small salad.

40 dollars.

No joke at Shoccu I can get at least 3 times that amount for the exact same price and it would be better quality for a lot less of a wait as well. It was around a 45 minute wait for 10 rolls and small salad. I'm honestly shocked at how this place is in business still. I left infuriated at the concentration camp portions and quality of the food. I would rather eat at the gas station across the street than go back there.

But you don't have to take my word for it. Go see for yourself. I'm not joking you my dog who weighs 18 pounds eats more than the portions they gave out. If you were smart you would drive the extra 15 minutes down Illinois for better service, better food and more bang for your buck. If you're trying to impress extended family, a date, or just looking to treat yourself literally go anywhere besides Umi. Like I am still shocked at how that place is in business. I went on a Thursday afternoon and had a subpar experience. It would make sense if it was a weekend night or something but seriously?

Unbelievable.

Now sorry if I'm sounding like a Karen or whatever but I'm being honest here I'm never going there again, and I'm never taking anyone there...