Umi Sushi Bar & Grill

Go when they have their sushi happy hour.  Drinks and certain rolls are on special.  I had a couple lychee martinis and some sushi while waiting for my hubby to roll up, but by the time he got there, I was full.  And it was good because he didn't arrive til after happy hour was over.  I like coming to this place for a fix and nice date restaurant.  It's not the best 5 star stuff, but it's good (way better than that HEB stuff) and it's not uber expensive.  I will be back.

Umi was just weird. That's really all I can say about it.

Service was interesting (that's my nicer way of saying weird). The server always filled my water glass to the point it spilled or overflowed on the table. She apologized each time, but really? More times? It happened enough to make me feel creeped out by it and questioning her problem solving skills.

What really took this down a notch was that everyone received their rolls at extremely different times. We ALL ordered sushi. One person sat with sushi for a good 15-20 minutes before we received about half of our order. Then, one for someone else, one for the other person...again, I shall use the word WEIRD. Why? WHY?

When our rolls came out, we both got the intense whiff of fish. The bad smell. I thought maybe it was our salmon skin, because that does tend to stink in that special way, but it wasn't even there! I wasn't sure what was going on until I tasted everything. Okay...everything sort of tastes like the salmon skin. Finally, when I mentioned that I didn't like all the crunchies on top, the server chimed in to tell us that those were not tempura flakes, they were fried fish skin! She was very proud of this fact. Thrice I say, WHY?!?!?

Umi just ruined everything in the weirdest way it could.

I really love the food and service at Umi.  I always go for Happy Hour (or the reverse Happy Hour - highly recommended) when I get more bang for my buck, but I'll happily lay down the cash for the scrumptious choices.

The owner, May, is a fabulous and beautiful woman who takes pride in the food she serves and the experience of her customers.  She employes a very efficient waitstaff.

My favorite roll is the hot roll - I can eat three of them with ease.  For a larger group, I recommend the sushi boat (yes - the big one) as the variety and flavor is amazing.

Still my favorite sushi joint in Austin...I just wish I still lived South so that I could visit more often.