Umaya Izakaya — Restaurant in Washington

Came here for lunch with some work colleagues and found the food okay, but everything else was rather disappointing, especially the price.

Our meal started out great. We ordered the spicy tuna tartare as a starter, which was really delicious and came out in a timely manner. I especially loved the taste and texture of the crispy wonton chips. They went well with the soft texture of the avocados and tuna pieces mixed in the tartare.

Between the four of us, two of us chose to try out the Filet Mignon Tomato Ramen. The description said, "tomato veggie broth with a western twist!" I've never had tomato ramen before, but thought it would be interesting at the very least. When our ramens came out first, the visual seemed appetizing although the skewer of "filet mignon" was rather disappointing. I didn't expect a whole 8oz piece of meat in my ramen, but still the skewer resembled more of a beef kebab than a filet mignon. It was also entirely overcooked that the meat was very tough and hard to chew. The broth was a little better and you could easily taste the sweetness from the tomato. But overall, I think the ramen itself was underwhelming. For $18, I expected something a little more impressive, especially since the non-filet mignon version was $5 less! Also, they totally chintzed out on the piece of nori that usually comes with a ramen dish. Instead of a full piece, they only included a half a piece of nori. Dried seaweed is not that expensive. Again for $18, I feel cheated with my half piece of nori.

As for the other dishes, one of my colleagues ordered the Veggie Yakisoba and the other ordered the Katsu Don. The yakisoba was one of the cheaper items on the menu at $12.50, but the quality was subpar. At a restaurant such as this where most of their prices are higher than average, I should expect the quality of their food, taste and plating, to be exceptional. The yakisoba looked as if it was stir-fried in a wok then just dumped onto an oversized plate. I can't vouch for the taste as my colleague ordered it, but she requested for some other sauces because the taste was rather bland.

The Katsu Don took the longest to come out at about the 40-minute mark and 15 minutes after the other three were served. Our server did apologize for the delay, but I feel like this is a huge oversight on the part of the restaurant's management. The restaurant did not seem to be that crowded, considering it was during the lunch rush, but the food seemed to take forever to come out. I don't know if it was lack of staff, or lack of staff discipline, but it took us over an hour and a half to finish our meal and most of it was spent waiting for the food to come out.

I've been to Umaya a handful of times and always left thinking the same thoughts I've expressed here: overpriced for such underwhelming dishes. I normally don't choose to come here unless someone else suggests to go, but every time I'm disappointed with my experience.

Umaya is supposed to mean "a place that tastes good," but this places just tastes okay at best, which is fine if not for their...

Writing my review while it is fresh.

Sat at bar, service was quick for a beer. Got the DC Pale Ale. It was a bit drafty at the bar.

Ordered chicken katsu curry donburi with egg, robata filet mignon, asparagus, brussel sprouts, shishito peppers, and pork belly. I was pretty hungry since I’ve been traveling a ton lately and need more calories! Asked server if it was too much and he said “nah, everything is pretty small”. Cool! I’m in.

Off the bat the beer was flat and I should have asked for another or a cocktail.

Donburi came first and it hit the spot for comfort food. Chicken was well cooked, curry had nice spice to it, and the vegetables were good. My poached egg came in a separate bowl which confused me. It was also over cooked for a poached egg. No worries, still good. Happy I got the bowl!

The robata items came next which were a mixed bag.

Filet was a bit tough, seemed like they didn’t trim the tenderloin enough. Needed more seasoning as well. Probably a bit overdone. Expensive for what you get IMO.

Pork belly was good and hit the spot. Nice amount of charcoal flavor without being dry or too fatty. Would order again.

Shishito were fairly flavorless, needed more salt. They were cooked well though. I love shishito and get them everywhere I can but I wouldn’t order them here again.

Asparagus were done well, cooked well with a good amount of char and seasoning. Would get these again.

Brussels were good and simple. Overpriced but were done well and seasoned well. Not sure if I would get again especially at that price point.

There were definitely winners and losers. Winners would be the donburi curry bowl, pork belly, and asparagus. Losers (especially at the price point) would be the filet, Brussels, DC Pale Ale, and shishitos.

I think it is more of a 3.5 star place. Average with some good menu items. If I were in the area and dying for some chicken curry katsu I’d come back. Otherwise I’m not sure, I don’t know the area well enough but I may venture somewhere...

I've enjoyed this place! I have had SO much from here.

Umaya has STEPPED IN for me. I've had their sashimi multiple times-- delicious. And lately, many skewers. I've had their duck yakitori, as well as scallop, king oyster, asparagus robotayaki, tuna tataki along with their chicken and veggie gyoza as well, which they've featured BOGO deals on which is great! I also tried their ube cheesecake which is one of the only sweet things I've been able to finish in a long time. Very good.

I do agree the portions are small for the price, it works for me currently.

UPDATE: Still eating from here and am happy. Got their aspargus, seasoned egg, and they also had BOGO on their chicken potstickers! It's nice to see them to do a deal because of their generally small portions. The BOGO deal on the chicken potstickers made them feel worth it.

At $2 a spear, the asparagus is hard to justify, but some days I splurge on food. They also include a sauce, IDK what it is haha, it's green and I believe it has yuzu in it but it's good.

I also got a seasoned egg. Came in a to-go container with juice that leaked all into the bag? I've never got a seasoned/ramen egg served like this. At first I thought I was mistakenly sent soup. I didn't eat it because of the mess.

My main complaint is--they have condiment cups, that's what they give the green/yuzu sauce in. Why not use those for soy sauce as well? For soy sauce they just give you packets. It's annoying and not ideal. Just rip open a packet into your to-go container of potstickers. This is not ideal. Give me a cup to...