Umi Hot Pot Sushi & Seafood Buffet — Restaurant in Round Rock

I was looking forward to the everything Umi had to offer. This was our first time to dine at Umi. All the reviews were so positive about happy hour, their speciality drinks, DJs and look of the restaurant. It was about 12:30 when we entered. The hostess pointed to a printed out sign saying there was a lobster 45.99 pp special. I get overwhelmed walking into new places and Umi was very sparkly. I had no clue what was going on or what was being offered at the restaurant besides a booth or table option. We were seated in the back of the restaurant and it was pretty muted next to the glamorous buffet area. There were no menus or signs offering explanations about how to do anything like ordering ramen, hot pots, brûlée, or even how the tea service worked. No QR sign on the table for menus or to help explain their system. The napkin holder at our table mentioned 4 or 5 ramens with the ingredients but nothing about ordering. Our poor server acted like she was working at a low class buffet. Just to clear plates and fill drinks…I didn’t even know Pepsi products were offered(no menu or signage) until I asked for a coke.

Our server took a drink order but never explained anything about specialty drinks or how to order from the kitchen. I’ve never experienced making or even eating a “hot pot” or how to start one (like even what dish to use to prepare). There was a sign to make about 3 or 4 different sauces. However no sign anywhere about how to experience or make your own hot pot. The sushi was in the very front of the restaurant and was literally over crowed by all the hot pot item choices (not labeled). I never even saw where the sushi was until I was leaving the restaurant. Like explain something to me please like, how your restaurant works or how the food is laid out. Or even ask “Have you ever been here before?” Who’s going to show off your service if you don’t explain or say anything

This really upset me, because there were no plates or like a “how to start a hot pot”, here. No expectation that someone might enter your restaurant and not have a clue about how it works. I did find plates under the buffet lines for all their other dishes. They did label the dishes offered in the buffet area which was great. I had crab legs and they tasted like they were boiled in water with no seasoning (not even salt). There was soy sauce, salt and pepper at the table. No unique sauces on the table or special Japanese spices to enhance the flavors of bland dishes. Was one supposed to be offered?

This was such a sad first experience. The whole vibe of the restaurant felt like no one could or would answer a question or tell you how to do something. Plenty of people were enjoying all the things the restaurant had to offer. I can’t ask them how to properly prepare my food. The restaurant definitely doesn’t cater to new experiences of people who have never experienced their restaurant. If I’m already paying $50 per person, I expect servers to provide 5 star service.

Service definitely fell super, super short on this experience and it’s something that can recover quickly. But you have to understand I wasn’t dining at a Golden Corral and I had no clue how to do anything. This was the biggest letdown from a high priced buffet encompassing an entirely different cultural food experience. I felt like the cost should equal the services style as well, which should be similar to a steakhouse.

We wanted experience Japanese cuisine. We got the worst of the worst. Our favorite sushi place, Machi Sushi on Anderson has better table service. They explain everything or I can google something off the menu I don’t understand.

Super let down after a...

My sister and her family, along with my husband and I, tried this place out last night for an early birthday dinner for my sister. She saw this on TikTok and wanted to try this out. It was our first time AND this was our last time dining there!!! My husband has a severe mushroom allergy and carries an EpiPen with him EVERYWHERE!! He asked our server if any of the dishes in the buffet have mushrooms in it. The server didn't know and that she would have the chef come out and tell us what dishes do and don't. 10 minutes goes by and the chef, along with our server, came out and let my husband know, with a smile on his face, that he couldn't guarantee that any of the dishes would have any mushrooms in because of the cross contamination from the knives and cutting boards in the kitchen. So, my husband was NOT able to eat any of the food!!! So, my nephew, niece, and my brother in law came back to the table with plate fulls of food and noticed that my nephew had only eaten a slice of pizza and couldn't eat anymore on his plate. He had me try a chicken nugget (which was cold and hard, like it had been cooked and left out on the counter for 3 hours), I spit it out in my napkins and couldn't eat it. My sister came back with a "cooked" sea snail and literally could not remove the meat from the shell. When cooked properly, the meat should easily come out easily. Not hers!! For $40 for a buffet, the food better be high quality, this place is not!!! The service was crap, management was crap, and just the overall experience with us being first time customers was VERY disappointing!!! Never again will we eat here. We ended up paying for the food that we took, but management was refusing to accommodate us to help resolve our experience and totally declined and was rude about it. We left and went to Kyoka Sushi Bar & Grill on Louis Henna next to HEB. They have an all-you-can-eat buffet for $30 with the BEST food and experience EVER! Save your money and eat there instead!!!...

Here’s an honest review. We arrived at 6pm, and there was no wait at all. Subtle differences in the variety of food from their predecessor from this location. It seems they’ve slightly reduced the options, which seems like a smart move to focus on quality. The staff is very attentive. It's a buffet, so you expect some messiness made by guests, and things like fried foods softening as it lays out. That said they were quick to clean and reset the stations and this would be the only time I suggest to go at peak times so the turnover gives freshness.

Pricing: Dinner: $39.99 Lunch: $29.99

I started with sushi, and as always, I went with fatty sushi like salmon. It was average, not rubbery, and fitting this price point. I enjoyed the mounds of masago and the Ikura topped sushi roll.

The seafood variety was great - shrimp, razor clams, mussels, abalone, snails and lobster tails. However, I did notice the crab (snow and stone crabs) meats weren’t as plump or fresh as I expected but there was so much else to eat.

Cooked Chinese Buffet section. Glad to see that they went beyond the usual General Tso’s, lo mein, and fried rice. They had more adventurous and authentic options like jumping fish, chicken feet, and frog legs. That said, Sui Mai was probably my least favorite out of the dim sum options but it balances out withbrisws pork belly and oxtail options.

For Hotpot the Chong Qing broth I liked because it was actually spicy, and there’s a nice sauce bar to customize your flavor.

Ratings: Variety: 5/5 Food: 3/5 Service: 4/5 Cleanliness: 4/5

While I get that there might be some lingering comments about Umi’s as the parent company to the old restaurant in the same space, but I think they’ve taken over to make sure things are done right. My understanding is they removed every person from...