Umi Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

We did the eleven course omakase. We also had a child that had the steak. The seating area we used was a more traditional low set table with seating in the floor. It was a fairly comfortable and a unique experience, but if you have a lot of sake you may have fun entering and exiting your seat. The eleven course omakase did not include a soup or salad and was really primarily about sashimi. I think seven of the dishes were raw sashimi with two seared or partially cooked. The sashimi was good, but we agreed that rather than letting the fish speak, many of the dishes had sauces that overpowered the fish. The sauces were good, but this is one of the areas that could have been improved. There was also no real wasabi, which is a bit of a surprise at this price point. The sawara (Spanish mackeral) had a light sear and was a standout favorite. The black cod was cooked and was very good. The tempura was extremely crunchy and very good. The wagyu bite was overpowered by the truffle and foie gras, but it was good. A course of nigiri was one of the fish components and was excellent, honestly I'd have preferred some samples from it earlier, but we were very ready for it by the time it came (a little too many plays at sashimi without a break). The child really enjoyed her steak which smelled excellent and the restaurant was able to provide her with ice cream for dessert which she liked. The waiter was very attentive and provided goods descriptions of each dish and how to enjoy them. The waiter was also very knowledgeable regarding the sake selection and we tried quite a few of them, which I would recommend. Parking was done via valet which was nice. There are two large sets of stairs on the way in to reach the third floor that are a mild hike. Overall it was a...

Top notch and then some! We had a party of 7 and every single person was blown away. Most of us listened to the advice of a friend and got the Omakase (chefs choice) UMI and Miyabi and it lived up to the reputation. It was a 5 course meal and later on in the meal my father received Chilean Sea bass on top of smoldering bamboo paper that have everyone jealous. I was lucky enough to get a bite and we both agree that it was the best Sea bass that we had ever had. The salmon, tuna, and all the other cuts of fish were just as amazing. They had that soft texture that makes you want to savor it, eating it slowly as not to waste it. Even the octopus was softer than what you would expect. I could go on about the Sushi but lets not forget about the desserts at the end. Lisa Ito the wife of Fuyuhiko Ito is the pastry chef but I think of her more of as a pastry wizard. Not only did she come by our table and talk to us, but after hearing about the 30th anniversary of a couple at our table and about how my wife likes chocolate she sends out some amazing Chocolate dish with "Happy 30th Anniversary" drizzled on the plate along with another chocolate piece of heaven with raspberries and green tea ice cream for the wife, and an amazing green tea souffle, rare cheesecake with golden foil that had us scraping the bowl with our spoons. The bus boy had an easy job because there was nothing left on any of the plates. All of the service was perfect and what you would expect and more from a place like this. If you enjoy sushi, desserts, or life, you owe it to yourself to go to UMI's before you die. You might want to call ahead for reservations because they stay booked far out in...

One star - the ambiance and service here is great, but the food has some major red flags.

1. The first course of the 11 course omakase is salmon tare tare with soy and wasabi. But instead of using real fresh wasabi from Japanese horseradish, the wasabi provided is definitely not real fresh wasabi. They taste more similar to the wasabi in a tube found in supermarkets and cheap sushi places. Real wasabi has a mild taste and a hint of sweetness, but fake wasabi (horseradish) is very strong and has no hint of sweetness. The difference is night and day. For $135 omakase, and they claim to serve the freshest ingredients, this is completely unacceptable.
2. Of the 11 courses, over half of them are a plate of 3 pieces of sashimi with sauce. Though the sauces are slightly different, the overall taste is too heavy and I'm left with just the taste of sauce and not the fish.
3. they didn't have any good traditional omakase pieces; their tuna and fatty tuna are not well prepared and the taste leaves a lot to be desired.
4. no uni (sea urchin)
5. they served white tuna (escolar), an oily fish that is illegal in Japan due to its high oil content and consuming a lot of it can cause diarrhea.

Overall, my experience is meh. The service was great but the food is just horrible, definitely not worth the price!!!

However, their dessert is truly creative and is the best part of the meal.

If you are coming for experience, I recommend the 7 course for everyone who wants to try it since it contains the best parts of the meal. But if you are coming here to taste amazing sushi, to be honest I wouldn't recommend it at all. Gi-jin is definitely more worth...