Ume — Restaurant in Houston

To preface, I have been here before on a night that was not a holiday and had a great experience. Came here for a Valentine’s Day dinner and had a reservation for 9:30pm, which was perfect because we had other plans at midnight. To start, we show up right on time, use the valet, and walk into the venue. Immediately we're shocked by the sheer amount of people inside this place. We go up to the hostess and she mentions that we’re checked in, but they’re running a “little behind,” so we can spend some time in their cocktail bar area while we wait. When I said sheer amount of people, think about one of the bars in midtown during peak hours. We waited over 20 mins for a bartender to even acknowledge us, so while we waited, we chatted up other people. The general consensus was that they were running an ENTIRE HOUR LATE, not a “little behind.” On guy in the bar area said he had a reservation for 8:30 and by this time, it was nearly 10pm. Needless to say, it was roughly 11pm until we actually got seated for our 9:30 reservation. When we were escorted to the table by the hostess, the first thing I noticed was that the tables were packed together like sardines, unlike the first time I was here, where the tables had ample space between them. Tables were so close that I could easily eavesdrop on the table next to us (who were also fed up by the wait time). So now we’re seated, 90 mins after our reservation time, and feel rushed because we have another obligation at midnight (which we did not make btw). This whole night was mismanaged by Ume - from the obvious overbooking to packing the tables together super close where I could practically taste my neighbor’s food. Honestly it’s a disgusting show of greed and lack of consideration for your patrons. Like I mentioned, I’ve been here on a normal night, so I know what baseline is for this place - this was not it. People want to have an enjoyable experience on Valentine’s Day, not wait 90 mins in a crowded bar area, then go eat in an even more crowded dining area. The food was good, but let’s be honest - there are plenty of other overpriced sushi spots in this area to get good sushi. I can’t justify supporting this level of inconsideration again. (And yes, some restaurants utilize similar practices to maximize revenue on special occasions, but not to...

Ume Sushi has a beautiful space with intricate woodwork and a cozy atmosphere, but our experience had some highs and lows. We went for Friday date night and found street parking nearby, though valet is available. The restaurant was busy at first but emptied out halfway through our meal. We were seated right away without a reservation, which was nice.

Service was friendly, but it was slow. Our server oddly blamed the wait on the Rodeo--even though the restaurant was half-empty at that point. The table was small, making it hard to fit everything. At one point, the server put my menu on the floor leaning against my chair, which was strange.

For drinks, I had the Tequila Old Fashioned ($14)--boozy, but I like tequila, so it worked. We tried a variety of dishes:

+Chutoro Hasu ($19) - Medium fatty tuna with fried lotus chip and yuzu kosho aioli.

+Salmon/Tuna Avocado Ball ($9) - With truffle mousse and gold flake.

+Hamachi Serrano Roll ($17) - Spicy yellowtail, cucumber, cilantro, topped with hamachi, masago, and serrano.

+MF Box Roll ($23) - Lobster tempura with Japanese mayo, scallions, and eel sauce.

+Grilled Wagyu Shortrib Stuffed Shishito ($20)

+Kinoko Skewer ($4) - With scallion butter.

+Negitoro Nigiri ($8 each) - Fatty tuna, soy, scallions, wrapped in seaweed.

+Sake Nigiri ($6 each) - Fresh salmon with nikiri, truffle aioli, pepper, and micro celery.

The food was good, but not outstanding. I was hoping for something more memorable, but we actually left a little hungry and had to grab dessert elsewhere. Ume Sushi is solid, and I'd like to try more menu items. With so many great Japanese spots in Houston, I wouldn't necessarily go out of my...

As someone who was in the Industry for eight years and Have family members that own restaurants, My New Year’s Eve experience here was absolutely awful. I will never be returning. It took 42 minutes to get a bottle of sake… Which does not require the skills of a craft cocktail or even having to make a drink.. It’s a bottle that you twist open.. 42 minutes I asked the manager and he lied to my face. It’s New Year’s Eve. You guys offer reservations if someone walked out tell me the truth, but don’t lie to me and say you just got slammed… we were there to pay good money to tip our waitress well. Our waitress didn’t come back for almost an hour. The people I was with got their appetizer. I never did. I had to leave an Uber home before I got my food after an hour and a half because it was New Year’s Eve and we had plans and that was an hour and a half after I ordered, it was embarrassing because it was my idea to go there. I brought people with me and I had to leave them at the restaurant: if you are going to be short staffed you should probably tell the people walking in and not have your manager lie. Then the people I was with said that it was their second and third time there where the service was Just like this, we will not be back anybody in Houston. I will not recommend it ruined my New Years Dinner, one thing I’ve learned...