UMI by Vikram Garg — Restaurant in Honolulu

The world food tour duo trekked over to Umi in the Halepuna Waikiki (FKA The Parc) from the International Marketplace as Kalakaua Avenue was closed for a pre 4th of July celebration. Umi is an intimate space with bare tables and austere décor. We last sampled food from Chef Garg when he was at TBD in the Lotus Hotel. We enjoyed his food so we were eager to see what he has wrought at Umi. Nathan was our server for the evening.

It’s still BYOB ($12/glass service charge) so I brought a bottle of 2014 Le Corton (Bouchard Pere & Fils), a somewhat light and smooth Burgundy with notes of red fruit, earth and a hint of smoke. It was a solid, but not outstanding Burgundy.

We started with Tsar Nicoulai Golden Osetra caviar. Instead of the usual accoutrements, it was served with a burdock cream with an onsen egg and finger lime. We first tasted the caviar alone, then dollops atop the burdock cream mixture. The egg and cream with caviar was “to die for” … just sublime!

Next we had the Kampachi … Little cubes of fish mixed with jicama, topped with sprigs of fennel and a charred Shishito pepper. There was a light vinaigrette dressing that complemented the raw fish. A ceviche came to mind … excellent! This was followed by Beef Tartare, served with thin slices of crostini. The beef was finely chopped and mixed with mustard, diced cornichons and something else like mayonnaise. The cornichons and mustard overpowered the beef. To me, it tasted like deviled ham. This is not being derogatory because I love deviled ham, but that’s not what I expected.

For mains, we ordered the Ribeye and the Scallops. The steak was Koji-aged, which uses a rice mixture as a marinade to tenderize and season the meat. It was served with an okra tempura, white rice and a soy-pepper sauce. My scallop dish was an interesting mélange of flavors … perfectly seared scallops served over a kabocha puree with a foie gras gyoza. The gyoza was fabulous … I wanted a plate of these pockets of goodness instead of the scallops. Later, Nathan said I could have asked for gyoza instead of the scallops … next time!

We ended our meal with a dish of brown butter ice cream for my tablemate and a French Press of a Maui coffee for me. She loved the ice cream and I enjoyed my coffee though I wished for a stronger brew. The Maui coffee is good but I prefer dark roasts.

Final thoughts: We enjoyed our time at Umi. Service was unhurried but attentive and the food, with one exception, was excellent. Nathan said the chef took the tartare off our bill … unnecessary, but appreciated. Later, Chef Garg stopped by to speak with us. We loved seeing him again and it’s so nice to see the executive chef out in the dining room to speak with his...

Where do I even begin? My experience at Umi by Vikram Garg was terrible. I wish I could rate this place zero stars, but unfortunately, I had to give it one because of our “helper” Juliette, who was actually great. However, that’s the only positive part of this night.

To start, the owner's wife came out and said she was our server for the evening. She was nice, but you could tell she was more of a manager than an actual server. In reality, it was Juliette who served us, which was confusing from the get-go. The restaurant seems set up for either a tasting or à la carte menu, which we were fine with. I ordered the caviar (an expensive side), which was the only thing that was actually delicious. The scallops were the other item we tried, and while they weren’t bad, they were off-balance with a high acidity level.

The wait, however, was absolutely ridiculous. After waiting for over an hour and twenty minutes for our second course, we asked for our tab. Another 15 minutes passed before the owner’s wife came to apologize.

She didn’t offer to take care of the tab, cover our drinks, or even offer a reasonable solution. Instead, she promised to buy us dinner the next time we visited (which, given that we’re not locals in Hawaii, was laughable). The least she could have done was take care of our meal or drinks that evening, but no—just empty promises. She also mentioned they have another 14-year lease on the business and that, hopefully, next time we visit, they can afford to have more help. Very interesting thing to say to a customer, and it’s probably the reason they didn’t take care of the tab.

By the time we gave up and decided to leave, we were still hungry. We had already spent $240 and were starving, so we ended up going to another restaurant. For our 10-year anniversary, this was a complete disaster. Oh, and the abalone was so overcooked it was inedible. I’ve had abalone before, and this was nowhere near the quality I expected.

Do yourself a favor and skip this place. The experience was terrible, and I won’t be back. Not worth it, especially...

UMI is more than a restaurant it is a dining experience and a culinary journey from one of the best chefs I have ever tasted food. From the moment we walked in, we were welcomed. My wife and I have eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world from Michelin starred Chefs (Test Kitchen in Capetown, Avec in Chicago, Belcant by Jose Avilles in Portugal, Minibar by Jose Andres in DC, and many other James Beard restaurants in the US) UMI is as good as any of those.

Below are the dishes we ordered: -Arugula salad with tempura onion (I always start with simple dishes because I’m the hands of a great chef it will be beautiful and this met that standard) -Popcorn soup (a perfect mix of sweet and savory, my wife wanted to pick the bowl) -Foie gras dumplings (maybe the best dish I have ever had anywhere. The take on foie was bold and dangerous but the chef made it special) -Tuna Crudo (this was a perfect blend of citrus and umami with a perfect crunch from the accompanied squid ink cracker) -lobster main course (I’ve never quite had lobster like this. A generous portion of sweet, delicious lobster is served in a remarkable, creamy lobster bisque that made every bite an lobster celebration) -shrimp and scallops (another beautiful finale cooked exceptionally and accompanied by a mash of potato with brown butter sauce that paired perfectly with the shellfish) -Dessert (we ordered them all - because you only live once - they were all exceptional but our fav was a mango “popsicle”

Service was exceptional. I want to call out the front of the house host/manager as well as the chef. Front of house was amazing taking time to chat with us and ensuring our experience was special. The chef was equally kind and generous with his time. He spent time with us (and every other table). He explained his culinary approach and explained his vision behind dishes.

Our trip to Oahu would have been lacking if we missed UMI, do yourself a favor and make time for this truly remarkable...