UMAI Japanese Kitchen & Sushi - Chicago

My party arrived early for dinner and were seated promptly. Our waiter quickly brought us water and took our order. For appetizers, we enjoyed miso soup, spicy edamame, and shumai. I especially enjoyed the wasabi shumai; they had a unique and delicious flavor. The miso soup was very hot, almost burning my mouth a few times. We also had some salmon avocado rolls and a specialty roll, both of which were fresh and well-made. The sushi was excellent, with the rolls holding together perfectly. I would definitely return to Umai, as the food was top-notch. Don't miss out on the wasabi shumai!

I was thrilled for my first visit to this restaurant and it lived up to my expectations. We began with a Sloopin roll, which was enough to share among three people. I opted for breaded pork on rice with a flavorful sauce, accompanied by a salad and miso soup. It was all incredibly delicious. My friend ordered the Spicy pork ramen, which smelled amazing. I will definitely try it next time. The restaurant has a charming ambiance and the service was top-notch.

Came on a Friday night and got seated within 10 minutes. This is a casual restaurant that is perfect for dinner with friends. Food, atmosphere, and service were great. I like sushi rolls, but am more of a nigiri/omakase type of girl. I gotta say the sushi rolls here are amazing. I expected them to be pretty basic, but I was pleasantly surprised. I tried the white truffle tails, umai crunch, and chicago rolls. I'm not a huge fan of the basic rainbow or dragon rolls, so these were creative and delicious. A couple of the rolls here have asparagus in them, which I wasn't too excited about, but it works. Also tried the omakase set. It's nothing special, but the fish is fresh and the price cannot be beat (10 pieces for $30). Beef tongue was also pretty good. The restaurant has a large variety of food on the menu such as ramen and katsu, so I did not expect to be impressed by their sushi. I would definitely come again.

I was quite surprised at how busy this place was on a Thursday night around 8pm. It was literally 100 degrees outside and we walked in thinking we could easily cool off inside, but unfortunately the inside was still pretty warm. Their AC was probably working as hard as it could, but with all of the bodies in there, plus the insane heat outside, I don 't think it could keep up. Our server(s? did an amazing job of refilling our water glasses which really helped us out a lot over our course of our meal most definitely. Onto the food: we ordered 4 different rolls, from the regular to the signature maki as well as a beef tataki. We also ordered a cocktail each. The beef tataki was a perfect cold appetizer that we both really enjoyed to start off. I 'm not personally sure if I 've ever had that specifically before anywhere so I can 't really say how authentic or if the quality of it is on par with what it normally should, but we really really liked it! Onto the rolls I 'm kind of indifferent on them. I think they were all decent, but that 's as far as I would go. I 'd say the Dynamite was the best one out of all the ones we ordered. I don 't think I 'd go out of my way to come back to this place based on the taste and quality of the sushi, but if I 'm in the area, I think it 's solid. It 's just not the *best* sushi I 've ever had. I 'd definitely want to try other things such as Udon for example!

Best sushi spot in Chicago, hands down! Amazing food, from the fresh sashimi to the ramen to the delicious rolls! The staff are always so prompt and kind and make room for everyone. And the restaurant is always impeccably clean and so comfortable. Truly a great space to have a date night, casual lunch, or drinks with friends.