Umi's is by far one of our favorite places to go in Seattle. Tucked away on 1st Ave, almost hidden by other shops and restaurants they have an unassuming small red sign above the window with a door nestled in a few steps. Don't let the percieved size decieve you from outside or in their waiting area- they have 4 different rooms available for their guests as well as a bar area and sushi bar. The music is always chill and relaxed, and the atmosphere is much of the same, very zen and asian inspired with very clean lines and designs. One room mimicks an outdoor Japanese garden even equipped with skylights, the front is similar to a Japonese front porch, they have a few platforms for larger parties, and a tatami room for intimate parties of 8 or more. It's also a lot of fun to sit at the sushi bar and watch the chefs work!
We especially love the 3 happy hours Umi's has per day, accept on Friday and Saturday. Happy hour in the restaurant is from 4-6 and 11-close and in the bar area is from 4-8. They have beer, sake, sushi rolls, sashimi, cooked food like chicken, ribs and tempura, and more on their happy hour menu. As soon as you sit down you are greeted with some hot edamame. Their service is fast, efficient, and good. Our favorites are Joanie and Trevor. They are super nice, super fast, super knowledgeable, and even entertaining. They really make the dining experience one you can look forward to.
The food at Umi's is best described as Japonese fusion, and isn't bound by the chains of traditional sushi dogma. Their rolls often have a slight Mexican influence with lime, cilantro or jalepeno and even their sauces like the habenero ponzu give a really nice kick you would expect from a hot Mexican salsa. I personally am a huge fan of the habenero ponzu. I'ts not too spicy so you don't taste the sushi, but it gives a nice kick to really accentuate the rolls. If fire isn't really your thing, they also have many many many other sauces like a strawberry ponzu, mango shiso sauce, blueberry sauce, sweet chili soy glaze, garlic ponzu, creamy lemon orange sauce, different aiolis, and many more that I'm not quite sure how to describe. Their sushi is delightful and the fish just melts in your mouth, truly some of the best sushi we've had in Seattle! They have rolls of all kinds and natures with eel, shrimp, scallop, tuna, salmon, pickled Japonese veggies, crab, peppers, etc. Our favorites usually revolve around tunas, crabs, some eel, and salmon (and of course various peppers). Their fresh sheet contains some of our favorites like Samurai Spirit, Body of Sin, 009, Naughty Roll, Spicy Cassidy, any of the James Bond themed rolls, and also some great rotating sashimi and sushi like white salmon, copper river salmon, and many other great local and seasonal favorites.
For happy hour we love the various sakes, their teas are really nice as well (but I don't think they're on happy hour) and they have a curious Japonese "Scotch" style Whiskey (not on happy hour either). We haven't tried it yet, but it looks really interesting and has 2 different aged varieties. We adore the Bad Boy Roll, Cali Crunch and Seattle Crunch Rolls, as well as their Sashimi Sets on the happy hour menu. The presentations for their dishes are often changing and always look very nice and clean and colorful. For dessert we highly recommend- compliments of Joanie- the Black Sesame ice cream. Dessert is something that is hard to get to here, especially if you love rolls, and Black Sesame ice cream was something that just didn't sound too appeasing to me. Fortunately for us, Joe adores ice cream and insisted upon Joanie's recommendation that we try it. Although I'm not really much of a sesame fan, this ice cream was a complete knock out! It's served in a martini glass with caramel sauce and cut strawberries. Absolutely worth foregoing the last roll to save room!
This place is one of our Seattle Staple Restaurants, so I have to give it a 10- we are never dissappointed!
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