Umi Hot Pot Sushi & Seafood Buffet — Restaurant in Rockville

Understanding this is a buffet with a 2 hour limit, let alone $45 an adult was information simply not disclosed to us. On our part, we were running late, looking for a buffet to celebrate our daughter's high school graduation , after going to N.C. Elizabeth city, and returning back to Rockvilke on a nonstop road trip. So with lack of sleep, a quick Google search, that produced a $22.50 review we jumped in our truck& took off. Given this buffet closed at 10 pm & we arrived at 9:20pm we rushed in trying to conserve our time. After a brief encounter with the host, even explaining to her this being our first time, this being a graduation type diner, & pulling up with a 3,5,7,18,37,42,80 year old individuals we were explained none about ho this worked, instead a statement about how to try & be there earlier. My wife tried to pay after taking count before getting acess & we feel that the reason we were denied without explanation was because it was part of an overall trap.Had we known even the estimated cost we would have HOTTAILED OUR ASSES Out, and waited the following day to go to where we were familiar with, like Golden Corral Communication with hostess was ok, although genuine and kind, NOTING WAS EXPLAINED on how it worked even after explaining why, for who, & what we've were doing there. So briefly about the food: NOTING GREAT , noting that stuck out, simply ok. Food overall was ok. Best part was the steamed or boiled shrimp which like everything esle, tasted like everything esle. Sushi, wasn't bad but presentation was immaculate.The place was absolutely beautiful , which makes our experience so confusing. I do understand it was late, & I understand we should have looked more in depths about this place, but as I stated before we were in a rush, & after google searching buffets outside of another buffet that clearly had cost, & such in plain sight, better yet a hostess willing to verify at front entrance all information,at this buffet Umi we ran into the complete opposite. Online what we did briefly see before we shifted truck in drive was a review expressing the approval of a $22.50 price tag for a lovely all you can eat experience. We experience discomfort, as it was very uncomfortable that staff was watching over us as we tried to make a couple of plates before they shut down the food. I guess what bothers me was that, when asked about drinks , like the food, costs, we were met with answers we didnt understand because language,no answers, & noone took time to show us where to find or what we could actually get, & for what. So the night was more filled with mystery on what we could actually have, while the mystery of costs lingered over our heads. I dont think that is RIGHT, considering what iniatives we took, and what response was given. Imagine eating somewhere and noone fully answering your questions, so as we sat & ate like at any other buffet our assumptions has now become one that we cant have certain things because we don't know what happens next. Then you have dam near everyone watching you like a prison. We were given the bill a whoppping $250+ bill, as me & my wife tried to make sense we were met with some hostility. As we now see put together why the night went as it did. After we decided our options as the now all of a sudden waitress couldn't explain the bill to us, we inturn decided we would talk to managment,post our review & get some resolve later if possible. Without any answers about why we HAVE TO PAY GRATUITY , which was included mandatory we felt stuck in this uncomfortable hostile situation. But this was the kicker while trying to understand this unforeseen bill this waitress with no regard snashed the receipt out my wifes hands.Insane. This needs to be noted: MY wife & I kept our composure. Ive never experienced something like this and its clear we we've blindsided the entire night for that reason. We are requesting that management refund 1/2 the bill and gratuity in full for our diastourous disrespectful experience. We are afterall...

Update Oct 2024 We came by again, and there have been some changes. They now charge fees if you want to carry out drinks ($3/drink) or ice cream cups ($1.50/cup). The quality of bubble teas has also decreased: smaller and more artificial. The quality of the seafood has improved, no ammonia taste.

Service quality is about the same. Though they are not cleaning the hot pot braziers very well. The flare ups are more spectacular when they happen, and there is carbon dust being spit out.

August 2024 We came during the grand opening weekend. It was very busy, with an actual line before they opened. They have a koisk inside that you use to join the waiting list. The staff seemed trained, polite though busy. They came around fairly often, though it could take a while to get something (drinks, hot pot, ordered food) delivered to the table. The food itself had a lot of variety, but the quality was mediocre to average for a buffet. They have a 2 hour time limit.

The inside was very bright, generally open (they have low walls and lattice walls dividing the dining area from the buffet), and looked like they were going for a sort of modern japanese vibe with lots of fake greenery. They play upbeat music in the background, mainly covers of popular songs.

They have 4 people booths and tables that seat 2-8 people. The tables were placed fairly close together, so if you sat towards the middle of the table, it was like sitting in a booth if you wanted to leave the table. Which is fine if you have 4 people, but we had 6 people and had a party of 2 seated right next to us, blocking one side. A 6 person booth is not ideal for a buffet.

For the hot pots, each party can choose up to 2 broths: mushroom, chong qing spicy, tomato, and sukiyaki. You tell the waiter which broths you want and they will bring it to your table. The pots themselves are about half the size of an individual hot pot, placed on portable alcohol burners. They burn for about 1.5-2 hours, and there are occasional flare ups. I recommend keeping things 1-2 inches away from the burners. They do have a sauce bar in the hot pot food section. The veggies and meat for hot pot are in individual containers in refrigerated display cases, next to the sushi section. There is a big lighted sign on the wall indicating the hot pot section.

The buffet does include drinks, including bubble tea. The drinks are in refrigerators in the middle of the buffet, next to the desserts and across from the crab legs. All of the teas have some kind of topping, either boba, jelly, or popping bubbles. Strangely, the taro milk tea has lemon popping bubbles. We highly recommend the passionfruit tea and thai tea. The honeydew was very artificial. They may change it later, but they used plastic straws when we went there.

The bathrooms are located by the fruit and hot pot section. They have men and women bathrooms with 3 stalls. There was a big disgusting mess in the handicap stall that had been there for at least 15 minutes. I find it annoying that they didn't at least put up a sign and we had to figure out ourselves that it was unusable. Shudders

The food quality was mediocre. The hot pot food offerings were slim, and the meats were tough. The grilled foods were very dry. The seafood was bland and sometimes had a faint ammonia taste. I was pleasantly surprised to see they had eel as a sushi offering. The salmon was decent, but the tuna was tough.

They will give you crab crackers if you ask for them. Note that the parking lot right by the store is small. The shopping center has plenty of parking, but you might have to park further away since Aldi (right next door) also has a...

Parking is limited if you go on Fri - Sunday.

Once you enter there's a kiosk to enter your name and phone #. It'll give you text message detailing about how many tables are ahead of you. For 15 tables ahead it'll be around 30-45mins some families literally finish eating and just sit there so that estimate can change or a big party leaving can speed things up.

We went on a Saturday night at 6:30pm didn't get to eat until 8:15pm. As you wait go to Aldi or 5 below to stay cool and kill time.

Once you're table is #3 on the wait-list ill go inside and wait for your # to be called. Dont trust the guys estimate he's always off. If he says 1hr add another on top of it. Also I don't believe you can reserve ahead (95% sure)

Once you are in you have to ask for water or soda there is no station for that. If you want hotpot the details are on the napkin holder. Choose your base then ask the server. The broth tasted like chemicals and msg. The meat select was straight up fat and tasted very off idk if the broth made it that way. I took 2-3 bites out of that pot and threw away.

If you want to eat crabs ask server for cracker/hammer. They only give one per table. All the crab/clam/snail/crawfish is COLD and some not fresh. Nobody wants cold seafood!! The clam tasted good but had sand in it so was not edible, please see picture. The oyster looked like you could get food poisoning if you ate it. I didn't touch it.

Ramen bar grab a number that corresponds to the picture i shared and drop it down to place an order. The tonkatsu was straight coconut cream it was disgusting.

Server was asked twice for water but didnt not give us. I understand they are overwhelmed but to be asked twice is ridiculous. They are friendly and fast with picking up plates however. For the $$$ I expect top level service to match what they charge.

The sushi quality was not good the tuna color looked like it was dyed with food coloring. Some rolls were decent though. Yuraku sushi buffet is the best for sushi buffet.

This is getting a lot of 5 stars from them offering 5% for a good review. Dont fall victim to false advertisement and marketing. Shame on other yelp elites giving 5 stars to this restaurant and falling for their marketing scheme just to save pennies.

Honestly I felt scammed for $40 the rest of the food options were bland. Only highlight for me was the jumbo fried salt and pepper shrimp as well as deep fried soft shell crabs. I can see this place going out of business in the near future after this hype.

However I think lunch and weekdays are cheaper. I still don't think it's worth it. Fruit wasnt fresh. Items were overcooked, bland, or oversauced. Lack of options. Only highlight was the boba and ramune which was personally too sweet for me anyways. I will say the atmosphere is nice with bright lights and decor. But when we went the floors were wet and dirty due to high traffic. Just not a good overall experience. One and...