Umi

Great experience. Every dish was delicious, and it was a lot of fun watching the chef at work. Being able to take the chopsticks home was such a nice detail. Thank you for a lovely birthday meal!

It’s not bad, but the high quality is missing a bit, we’ve had way better sushi in a way better setting in Kyoto: Gion Tadayasu, and sushi Saeki and a year ago in a couple of places, see my reviews, that were not available now. Many places are closed on Dec 31, and he was open.

Magnificent omakase experience in a gorgeous intimate setting. Two Michelin star Chef Seiichi Shimamoto will make you feel so welcome and you will be in awe of each dish. We felt so lucky to have dinner at Umi during our short visit to Tokyo and we can't wait to return! We highly recommend!

In a sea of great sushi restaurants in Tokyo, Umi stands out for being accessible for tourists. I accidentally came upon Umi while watching Youtube videos for ideas. I saw a video and the food looks delicious and reservation was available online. A few clicks later, I had a reservation for lunch at Umi for my first full day in Japan. The meal set the tone for the rest of the trip! Umi is located outside of the main tourist areas but it was not hard to get to at all. Google map was accurate and took me to the entrance. I was confused in the beginning because there wasn't any signs. However, the curtain outside and a little lantern on the ground showed me it was the right place. Like most sushi omakase restaurants, Umi is an intimate place with just 9 counter seats. Since we were first to arrived, we took one of the end seats which gave us a good view of the chef as he worked. Lunch starts promptly and the service moved quickly. As you would expect from a 2 michelin Japanese restaurant, the service was impeccable and attentive without feeling overwhelming. The chef was friendly and spoke a little English. When I asked him a question that he wasn't sure, he took out his phone and gave me the answer via Google Translate. It is rare to have a chef be as interactive as him. The best part of Umi is the food. The sushi, nigiri, and the cooked food were excellent and beautifully prepared and presented. It is still amazing that every good restaurant in Japan has access to the same high quality seafood but each one can make it taste unique. Umi is no exception. The starter was a cold dish in a beautiful ornate cup and then it just keeps going from there. Highlight for me has to be the selection of fresh seasonal fish and shellfish from around Japan. In total, we got 21 different serving and every dish builds upon the last one. For the shrimp nigiri, the chef made sure to slice the shrimp into two pieces for the ladies at the counter but kept it as one big piece for the men. Little careful touches like that makes a huge difference. The selection of sake was excellent and reasonably priced too. He had some sake that were limited bottles and I will probably never be able to find it myself. I have been recommending Umi to nearly everyone I know who is planning to go to Japan. The lunch is an excellent value and Umi is a good introduction to anyone who wants to have an incredible omakase experience. Wonderful food, attentive staff, and a super friendly chef makes everything perfect!