Umami - Japanese restaurant in Pittsburgh - 202 38th St, USA

Atmosphere and Service were excellent. Staff seemed to enjoy their job which is important. Good music and interesting location. Menu was very intriguing but I don't have the biggest background to compare to. As a casual in the Asian food world, it sounded and tasted good. The staff were very knowledgeable and thorough when it comes to the menu. Drinks were good and $2 off before 6pm, even on a Saturday. I would like to return again to try more of their sushi menu. The quail eggs and octopus balls/takoyaki definitely live up to the "Umami" name with the sauces used.

Dining at Umami was an absolute pleasure. We came in on a Saturday night without reservations and were seated at the sushi bar within 30 min. The atmosphere was intimate, dimly lit and izakaya-esque, with a live DJ. Drinks were a great start to a lovely evening. Onto the food - which was the highlight. We ordered a nigiri plate, uni, o-toro, king mackerel special, karaage, agedashi, and a few pieces of robotayaki. The karaage flavor and seasoning were brilliant and could not have been better. The fry on the agedashi was life changing. So crispy and perfectly paired with the saucy broth. O-toro was as you'd expect, the most melty, fatty, flavorful piece of tuna you can dream of. And the king mackerel was a delight; perfectly cooked and tender with a bright and refreshing sauce. Service was also spot on. Sitting at the bar, our server juggled making cocktails and staying attentive. He did a marvelous job. We spent about $200 for two for an unforgettable dining experience and it was worth every penny. I would highly recommend Umami for a night out to treat yourself.

I came here about a month ago and have been back weekly since! The food is incredible, fresh, and flavorful. It is consistently fantastic and my new favorite restaurant. Service is also amazing! I can't remember her name but the young black server was so charming and informative about the menu. I'll definitely be back!

I'll start with the positive bits for my review. The food was absolutely delicious, and the atmosphere was really neat. My boyfriend and I got 1 mixed drink, karaage, gyoza, 1 handroll tamagoyaki, 1 grilled chicken skewer, 1 chicken skin skewer (yes, only 2 of those skewers pictured are ours) and taiyaki for desert. Our total was almost $80, and we left hungry. The portions were way too small for the price. Delicious or not, leaving hungry after paying that much was unfortunate. We had a party of 6 and everything was brought out at different times. The last person in our party actually watched us eat because they didn't bring her food out for about 40 minutes. We asked out waitress about it (she was very nice). She went and checked and said that the dish was burnt and they had to remake it. Everyone was done with their food by the time the last girl in our party got hers. It was also minutes before the restaurant closed. They didn't rush us out or anything, but still not the best experience. Overall glad I came here, it was a nice little room where you sat on the floor for a cool experience. For that price though, I can't say I'd go back.

We came here all the way from Philly and I swear this is now one of my favorite dining experiences. The food was so fresh and delicious. The kitchen was run so efficiently. It’s an open kitchen and we sat at the sushi bar able to see everyone at work. It was so impressive. The service was friendly and quick. Literally everything we tried was incredible and I would travel just to go back here. Worth every penny.

Overall not bad experience, the staff was nice and the ambience was relaxing. We didn’t have to wait terribly long for a Saturday night, and the service was pretty timely. The food itself was only okay. We enjoyed the eggplant and oyster mushroom skewers, they paired well with the burned flavors and the teriyaki sauce. The fried tofu were surprisingly impressive, it had very crispy outside and soft and hot inside, and the yuzu sauce was very unique, unlike most Japanese spots only serve it with a soy sauce based sauce. The Shoyu ramen was a bit disappointing. The ramen eggs weren’t marinated but just soft boiled, and the dish really lacked a good stock for flavor. The stock more or less just tasted like soy sauce mixed with vinegar, rather than a good broth flavored with soy sauce. The pork belly had good texture but again it lacks a base flavor. At the very least it could be saltier, and I wish it were marinated with something to complement with the dish. The noodles though, were perfectly cooked. That definitely was the highlight of the dish. But overall I wouldn’t recommend the dish especially given the price point, the dish looked much better than it tasted. My husband got the teriyaki eel hand roll and Okonomiyaki. He liked the hand roll but complained the Okonomiyaki being too greasy, which was actually difficult to eat towards the end. I am indifferent about the hand roll and can’t comment on the Okonomiyaki. Overall it was a good hangout spot. The drink was pretty good but the food was on the more expensive side. I would recommend the small plates but otherwise this is not the place for a remarkable Japanese food experience.

The atmosphere and staff here were excellent. It was a spacious restaurant with nice ambiance. The food was tasteful but too strongly flavored with the sauces. We ordered okonomiyaki and variety of grilled skewers. The gyudon was surprisingly drenched in the bbq sauce. For two people, came out to be about $35 per person. Overall I would recommend to first time goers.

Thought this place was great! Mushroom skewers were awesome. So was the Udon. You do have to walk up a few flights of stairs and I don’t believe I saw an elevator.