Umi Maui — Restaurant in Maui

FOOD: Crab Sushi I guess it was silly of me to ask if they use imitation or real crab meat, but I didn't want any surprises. The two pieces were piled high with shredded, genuine crustacean meat. Absolutely delish.

Crispy Calamari The mix of rings and tentacles were coated in a smooth, light, crunchy batter and drizzled with a tasty aioli. Very nice version.

Spicy Tempura Roll You get the best of three worlds in this one: Sushi, shrimp tempura and spicy ahi pokē! Artfully presented, it was sprinkled with a pebble-like topping which was actually dark-colored bits of tempura batter that not only gave the dish a bold visual appeal, but also provided for a delectable crunch. Recommended.

Gyokotsu Ramen I'm pretty sure this is a hybrid word as the Japanese character "gyo" translates to "fish" and the word "kotsu" to "pork bones". Voila! A fish/pork-based broth? What the... Yes, puhhhlease! The deep-hued broth was searing hot, slightly rich yet not thick, very bold in flavors and not fishy. Ocean-based toppings such as two types of fresh seaweed, shrimp tempura and nori flakes complimented the dish well. They used thin, non-eggy noodles that were cooked a tad past chewy, something I can forgive as the dashi made up for it. Thankfully they know how to do an excellent medium tamago; an arduous task on this island. Hana hou! Kanpai! Bravo! Highly recommended.

Ramen The broth was a very subtle tonkotsu base and tan in color (thankfully NOT white like milk which is so unappetizing to me). Sparse drops of black garlic oil gave the slightly creamy broth smoky and garlicky notes here and there but not throughout the dish. The lack of sodium and depth was disheartening, but most disappointing was that it wasn't searing hot which always kills it for me. I'm still on the fence about the noodles which I feel are too thin for ramen. They had an odd texture like buckwheat and felt a bit slimy on the palate. I prefer an eggy, chewy, thicker noodle. Toppings were paper thin slices of chewy pork belly, nori shavings, fresh seaweed, green onions and a whole gooey egg cut in half. Sorry, pass for me.

Spicy Ahi Roll The fish was very fresh, lathered in a traditional spicy mixture, drizzled with a creamy aioli and sprinkled with crushed tempura and green onions. The spouse liked it but prefers a plain version without all the bells and whistles on top. Me? I'm not a sushi fan but enjoyed a single piece.

Cheeseburge Maui "mom & pop" eateries really serve up some tasty burgers, no exception here. The simple burger is topped with just American cheese and what tasted like a thousand island-mayo mixture. The patty was homemade, very thick and super juicy. Fries are not included. Highly recommended!

Mentaiko Pasta This was a nightly special (7.12.18) that really should be added to their regular menu. While I've never had this Japanese-inspired spaghetti dish before, it was extremely delicious. The al dente pasta was coated in a thick sauce of creamy and savory flavors yet wasn't heavy like an alfredo-based dish. There was no shortage of seafood either with lots of tender scallops and crunchy shrimp, along with local alii mushrooms. The herb shiso is used in this dish but I couldn't detect its usual pungency. Highly...

This is the best meal I had in Maui during my 3 weeks... Gorgeous, Gorgous soul food. I despaired finding legit sushi in this island with such beautiful fish - Umi nails sushi. Their preparation of nigiri and maki sushi is so much better than anywhere else I went while here. Proper sumeshi (sushi rice), constructed well, the proportions are spot on. All the sushi we sampled was excellent. They put Uni (sea urchin) on the standard Sushi Dinner plate ($22)!! That's unheard of! (and might be wasted on newbies) The Deluxe Oyster Shot ($8) is a dream: oyster, quail egg, uni, yuzu and some sauce...give me this every day. The Foie Gras nigiri ($15) is the best I've ever had. I always order this if its on a menu and I've had it all over the West Coast. Umi sears this perfectly so that it's crisp outside and soft, melting inside. They don't overdress it with the sweet sauce you normally find on this preparation...just enough to enhance the Foie. The slices are also big enough that searing it doesn't make it a cracker. Normally people are stingy with Foie. I was sad eating it because it was SO good...I wondered if I'd get to eat it again!! I haven't even touched the hot kitchen's excellence. EVERY.THING.WAS. SPOT.ON....I couldn't even order everything I wanted, we didn't have enough people to eat it...and that's another thing, these prices are super reasonable! Get in now because they will have to adjust up a bit. Eggplant with Miso. Calamari. Hamachi Kama (yellowtail collar). Oxtail Soup done in an herbacious pho-like broth instead of brown sauce. They had Parrotfish ($16) on the menu! I'm very sad we didn't get to try it.

Here's the only catch: they need to organize the front of house a little more. There was no one organizing the tables. The lady selling jewelry in the front was just doing stuff to help them - probably family, right? - but...just know you might have to be patient and firm to get a table. BYOB. Street...

I have absolutely no clue how this place has good reviews. First off everything that they serve you on or give to you is disposable (I am guessing this is for covid), but still terrible for the environment, and If I am paying for over priced sushi you guys should be able to afford a dishwasher. The first things we ordered was miso soup and crab rolls, the miso was good and had a variety of sea weed that made it more enjoyable, even so you could tell that the quality of the miso was bad and extremely salty. The crab rolls look amazing, but once you bite into it its all fried and no crab, after almost finishing it on the small piece of crab that I had, there was this yellow egg like paste in the crab. After our disappointing appetizers we still decided to try out the sushi, sadly this was the worst part. We got 3 of the best looking rolls, and I have to admit the food looks great, but it’s all a veil hiding extremely low quality fish, the tuna looked fake you could tell that it’s dyed, and everything tasted extremely unfresh or frozen. The quality was so bad we actually could not finish our food, after trying to eat as much as we could we decided that it wasn’t worth it and asked for a takeout box to kindly throw in the trash. My bill came out to 100$ and I would have had higher quality fish at genki sushi. Save your money go anywhere else and you will actually...