Umaii Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Kirkland

I hate to do this and I’m going to keep it short and sweet. Today is my birthday. Funnily enough, I am 28 years old today and I used to work at Umaii 10 years ago when I was 18 (!!!) Anyway, my mom said she called and spoke to a nice woman who said “we don’t take reservations but we are never very busy at 6pm” so my mom couldn’t make a reservation but she certainly called ahead and let them know it would be 7 people and 1 high chair. My sister and her husband and kids and myself walk in and are not greeted lol I had to greet the hostess. I’m friendly and I don’t mind giving some Grace, but I was a hostess and server at this place, and many others, so I was annoyed by the lack of effort from both girls. They were inquiring about whether or not we “called ahead” while simultaneously ensuring us that they did not take reservations. We see that half of the restaurant is empty and even tables with enough space for our party. I ask about that area and the hostess says “oh it’s taken” LOL so I state the obvious “wait, that table is reserved but you don’t take reservations?” to which she replies “yes.” Yikes. I decide to give it up and ask how long for the table that is not reserved but currently seated and she says,, with a straight face,, an HOUR AND A HALF. Lol I laughed and said ok bye. That’s insane. We were there right at 6pm, it’s porters neck not NYC, AND WE ALSO CALLED AHEAD. I’m so sad at this point. My sister and I are outside trying to figure out where we should go celebrate my birthday (LOL) and a couple of minutes later the sweetest lady poked her head out, looked around, and asked us “do you need a table for 7?” omg I smiled so big and said “yes, we do please, thank you!”

We sat in the empty section that was “reserved” and, while we were there, the 6 top they were waiting on became a 4 top 😊 so for literally no reason other than that they didn’t care to TRY, those girls hurt my feelings and made me feel like my family was not important. Thank GOD FOR THE SWEET SHORTER LADY IN THE APRON WHO I PRESUME IS IN CHARGE. You did a really nice thing and you helped my birthday not be terrible. Thank you so much.

Oh the food was...

My wife and I have had Thai one other time at another place in Wilmington. We didn't care for it so we decided to give Umaii a go after my buddy recommended it. It was certainly better than. The other place and we will be back. Drinks. I got an old fashioned which as you all know is my go to at a restaurant with a bar. I have to say...I was disappointed. A part of me is still trying to figure it out. Maybe its the ice? Perhaps it was just too watered down? Maybe it was the use of maraschino cherries. It was a nice twist on the orange peel but they didn't rim the glass with it? Maybe it was the whisky but it was makers which is a decent whisky. I dont know. The sweet tea though...perfect! We got a simple crab roll and it was good. We usually skip the seaweed but didn't and it was still good to go. My wife got the Pad See Ew with chicken. The broccoli was nicely cooked and the food had a good flavor. I got the Drunken Noodle with chicken and it had excellent flavor. The sauce was creamy. Both dishes had one thing in common and we were both thrown back. The noodles. They were more like an overcooked pastry. I asked the lady sitting beside us and she agreed. She said they are usually much better here so all I can do is take her at her work. They were kinda like chicken and pastries. The service was wonderful and the staff super friendly. Maybe we will be back and give...

Really wanted to like this place after seeing it's good reviews. Service was good, our waitress was sweet and tried to be very helpful. Our drinks were very good..pricey but good. The food, well if you want sushi your just ok (no need to go back) but everything else I wouldn't feed to my bulldog. The calamari were like giant fried under-cooked rubber bands (not even sure if it was squid). Sweet and sour chicken was NOT sweet and sour chicken as per Thai or Chinese, it was sitting in a tomato based sauce with chucks of canned pineapple and zucchini...horrible. The pad thai had stale peanuts thrown on top of what tasted like a frozen or canned dish. Our waitress was very nice, young and inexperienced and agreed with the quality of our meal and was...