UMAMI Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Lake Charles

The place was pretty easy to get into. We showed up around 5 on a Saturday and picked our seat after hostess asked a preference. Polite entrance and prompt service. Place on the outside looked a little rough with grass about 8-10" tall in the curbs and some branches piled up in the grass. Inside was a little rough in terms of aesthetics since pieces of ceiling were messed up from what I assume was storm damage from 2 years ago. Picked a booth to sit in and was told they needed to wipe quick. No problem since it was our decision. Was advised it would be wet since freshly wiped, no problem. Table dried and was sticky. I assume the rag that was grabbed off a nearby table had been used to clean something and hadn't had a chance to be rung out. No worries, a lil water cup condensation on a napkin cleaned it up. Waiter came out and took our drink orders. Not as enthusiastic as i think he could/should be, but wasnt rude or anything. Just a thing I caught onto from someone that has worked in food/customer service industry for about 13 years before. Orders a Japanese Mojito and a Red Dragon. Both were made well and we were very happy with them. Took a lil longer than anticipated to come out, but nothing worth complaining about, just note worthy. Appetizer of the pan seared gyoza came out in a timely fashion. Very well done and the sauce on the cabbage on the side was surprisingly good considering a simple garnish. Very happy with it. Ordered the shrimp hibachi and came out timely and was good as well. Ordered three sushi rolls consisting of the Jurassic Roll, Super Tiger Eye, and Spicy Lady. All were very good with them tasting clean and made well. Only minor complaint was the rolls weren't rolled as well and had a tendency of falling apart as you grabbed them. Held together, but all 3 almost fell apart as you grabbed and dunked them in soy sauce. One actually did collapse after a small dunk. But still happy with the rolls! Good place overall. Gave 4/5 stars for subpar entrance/parking, ceiling tiles/interior appearance, slight slower drink order arrival and waiter's persona, and slight sushi rolling quality. Nothing to complain about at all and will go...

Umami has and always will be a place cherished by myself and my fiance. It was a random place we found one day, sat in, and was greeted with a smiling face. The service is always so pleasant, the food is amazing. If you don't like raw fish, there are so many other amazing options. Hibachi, soups, a hot rock, and more! If you ARE a fan of fish, look no further for the BEST sushi in town. This is our go to for sushi, sashimi, nigiri, you name it. Everything we've had and tried has been the freshest, most tasteful experience. We sat in and tried Uni, a sea urchin that was shipped in literally Today. Our servers have always expressed interest in what we order, and are always so happy to help with anything. The chefs are kind and courteous, and surprise us with special treats when we sit at the bar.

Wondering if they sell alcohol? They do! They have the classic budweiser, Corona, whatever you want beer, some wines you'd find around town. But they also have AMAZING imported sake, plum wines, and other drinks that have blown our minds. The plum wine in the bottle with the red poppies is my personal favorite!

Truly I have nothing negative to say about this place. It gets a little busy around dinner, and if there are big parties, the food can sometimes be slow. But that is such a small complaint compared to everything about this place. They truly deserve your business if you're looking for somewhere new.

Sorry this is so long winded, and my fiance had the photos of our dinner tonight, but it made such a wonderful night. Even now at home we are talking about the Amberjack Sashimi, and the Black Pepper Tuna we had. Absolutely divine, Nirvana! The photos I'm sharing are from our anniversary dinner a couple years ago. Thank you Umami for always being such a delicious, kind, and unique...

I do not know who is running this business now because the quality has went so low the plum wine is even the cheap plum wine that you can buy for $8 and they're trying to charge $30 a bottle I've been going here since I was a little kid they have for surely lost my business today we get there wait for over 25 minutes standing at the podium looking like we're special when they're not even busy then they made us sit at the bar we were at the bar for at least 15 minutes no service nobody asking us if we wanted a drink or nothing then we get sit down have to wait another 10 to 15 minutes to just get our drinks the dude is very rude I asked for the Japanese plum wine and he gave me the American and then once I showed him the picture he's like no we don't carry that very rudely I have never been treated like this at this restaurant the sushi was so filled with cream cheese that was all you could taste this was really disappointing I haven't been in a couple months because I was in China just got back and I wanted to go eat at my favorite sushi restaurant with my fiance it has went to other crap They said they had to clean a table when there was two perfectly cleaned boots that were not dirty I have never been treated like this and I have been going here for years absolutely ridiculous and...