Umami Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in San Marcos

Sushi places are either a hit or miss with me, and this place unfortunately was a miss. I ate here midday on a Saturday and found the place to be almost a ghost town, for better or worse.

I wanted to sit at the bar, but it was closed because the staff was eating lunch/dinner. No worries; everyone is human and deserves a break.

The food selection is decent enough, with a typical sushi selection of entrées, main dishes, and special dishes, including vegetarian options. I selected my tried-and-true Rainbow roll and a special roll, the "San Marcos," with a side of garlic edamame.

I got the edamame pretty quickly and assumed it was microwaved since the plate and exterior of the beans were hot. Not long after, I received both of my rolls and began to eat them.

Garlic edamame: Was decent. I've had worse and I've had better. Rainbow Roll: Was alright. I would say it was flavorless and I had to add soy sauce to make any of the fish flavor pop. San Marcos roll: Ugh, where to start? Unfortunately, the first thing I noticed was that the sushi rice was too wet and made the rolls stick to the plate, causing them to rip open. I kept eating the roll; they somehow made a combination of flavorless, too dry, and too wet in one dish. The rice would stick, the crab was so dry "I choked about three times" and felt like I was eating flavorless, scorched fish.

In all, the atmosphere is nice with the lighting and TVs to enhance the environment with a backdrop of the nature channel.

The service was alright, but slightly mid-tier considering I was one of two people in the place with two servers and two chefs.

Most likely I won't return since it was my first time here, and I can go across the street and get...

First off, I do not like sushi--I came here for my husband's sake. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of options for a non-seafood-lover. It was definitely mostly sushi, but they had a few kinds of ramen, some bao buns, and a few chicken options in the bento meal.

I got the chicken teriyaki bento dinner. It comes with miso soup, salad, rice, and two other sides that you choose. I was impressed by the variety of sides that came with the meal. The plating was beautiful (for both my food and for my husband's sushi). The atmosphere is beautiful--they have a wall of screens showing what I believe are scenes from Japan. I didn't like the music, but it is modern, popular music.

As for the food, I believe it was made well, but I did not particularly enjoy it. I was hoping for more hearty, savory, flavorful options. The sunomono salad tasted like sweet pickles to me. The teriyaki sauce was good, but once I got past it, the chicken itself (albeit very tender) was flavorless and my first bite had gristle so I was picky about which pieces I ate after that. The miso soup had a strange smell/flavor, but I have not had miso soup many times so maybe that's what it usually smells like. The gyoza (pot stickers) were good. The rice was as good as rice is. The salad was good, but the dressing was vinegar based, and it was too much for me at the bottom of the salad, where it pools.

My husband enjoyed this sushi. He got Matthew's choice (good), dynamite (good), and summer (very good, pleasantly refreshing and smooth).

We probably won't be back, but I still see it as a place that many other people...

Me and my friend come to this restaurant pretty regularly, usually once a week or so. The service is excellent and there's always a place to sit outside.

I usually eat the vegetarian/vegan? ramen and then me and my friend split some Sushi with green tea, and water. My friend either gets a ramen or a bento box.

We've made it a tradition to come here we usually challenge ourselves to finish our ramen/bento box and sushi entirely.

The food comes out fast but not too fast, I can usually have a decent conversation before it's time to eat, but I've never thought to myself "I hope the food is coming out soon". Umami is always right on time. When me and my friend eat we rarely talk, usually we are furiously devouring our meals.

The college students that work there are laid back yet, professional, they have good charisma and they feel more like acquaintances or old friends than random servers.

The young servers (Shout out to Josh 🤙🏼💯) have personalities that shine through their work, me and my friend never feel bad for asking for something, when we request to split the check late, or ask for refills on green tea it seems the young servers demeanors are "yeah no worries, I'll get that right away."

Me and my friend usually spend about $35 each on our meals (after a reasonable tip of course).

It never stings to pay, I'm always delighted to come back and enjoy the great food and atmosphere umami has to offer.

Me and my friend plan to continue our weekly tradition of eating at umami one slurp of ramen and bite of...