Loved our dinner at Umi Sake House! The food and service were both amazing. We had the crispy rice…read morespecial and three rolls, including the Casino Royale and a couple from the daily fresh list, and everything was delicious. Our server was also incredibly knowledgeable about the menu and gluten allergies, which made ordering so easy. They were very accommodating and helped us feel confident about what I could safely eat. Would definitely come back next time I'm in Seattle! Plus they are open later than many restaurants, which accommodated our 9pm arrival in Seattle.

Immediately upon entry of Umi you can tell that this is where all of the cool kids are hanging out…read morein Seattle. You should prepare your entire party ahead of time to stretch their vocal cords before your night out, otherwise you will not be able to hear each other. I'm not sure what is going on with the acoustics inside of Umi, but it is insanely loud (it might not be that way for everyone though, I do have a hearing problem). Umi is the Japanese word for ocean, which is very fitting since you can order any fish possible here. And somehow, my homie that I was with decided to order a steak. I can't fault him, he was ravenous at the time. Admittedly, the steak looked fantastic as well. My other homie is a vegetarian. And even though this is not the most vegetarian-friendly establishment, he was still able to have a nice meal. He explained to me that he is a tofu connoisseur, so we ordered the Agedashi tofu. I've never had tofu prepared this way, and it was some of the best I've ever had. It was bathing in a dashi broth, which was the perfect level of saltiness, almost like a miso soup. The tofu was fried, and when you let it sit in the broth for a bit, it creates a fantastic consistency to each bite. In order to test the true caliber of a sushi spot, you have to try a specialty roll. I was feeling a little spicy that day, so I elected for the Knockout. It didn't exactly knock me out, but I was impressed. First of all, this roll was a looooooong boy special. I always prefer sushi to be made this way, because if a roll is only 6 pieces, the experience is over far too quickly. The roll itself was very enjoyable, and I even convinced Mr Steak to have a bite (he seemed to like it too). A little bit of truffle oil took this thing to the next level, they're definitely innovating in the world of sushi over here. I'd love to come back and try more rolls from the extensive menu here. Maybe something like the Hottie Roll, which was my nickname in high school.

We went to wa'z for me birthday and had a fantastic meal. This is definitely a great place to go…read morefor special occasions. The food is wonderful and the service is perfect. If you desire to go, make sure you plan ahead for reservations. The interior is kind of stark and wooden, but comfortable. There are 10 seats at the chef's bar, but we had one of the tables. They have a ton of sake choices, but we got a bottle of plum wine (which goes well with sushi. There is a set menu, with a nice introduction to each course. Every dish was thoughtful and delicious, including a dish of salmon that is one of the best tastes I have ever had. Another big memory was this big, gorgeous piece of tuna they brought out and cut sashimi from. Just really excellent. This is definitely worth a visit, we had just a super experience.

I'd been looking forward to this after having Kaiseki in Kyoto, but this didn't come close -- and…read moreat $185+/person, it should have. The seasonal albacore sashimi was the low point: sliced too thick, with a strong fishy smell suggesting it wasn't as fresh as advertised. I had to wash it down with water to get through my gagging. For a seafood city like Seattle, the nigiri was shockingly mediocre too. About 80% of the food was a struggle to get through. Grilled fish was overdone; the fried fish was overdone, cold, and stiff. A tofu-sauce dish with fig, walnut, and shrimp somehow tasted like potato salad -- more Americanized comfort food than Kaiseki. Dessert looked beautiful, with a bit of tableside theatrics, but tasted bland and the components were hard to distinguish from each other. The one dish that impressed was, ironically, the wagyu beef -- not exactly the point of a Kaiseki menu built around seasonal, local ingredients. Service didn't help. We were seated dead-center at the counter but too far from the two staff explaining each course to actually hear them -- we kept leaning in, only for one of them to eventually notice. We also missed out on things other diners got, like an up-close look at the aged tuna. There was only one waitress, who was also the hostess and had to clear every course and handle all drinks -- she was clearly stretched thin, and our water and tea went unrefilled until we flagged it ourselves. I don't fault her personally; it read as an understaffing problem. But at this price point, they should have staffed appropriately -- a mandatory 20% tip feels absurd when there isn't enough staff to actually deliver the service that tip is supposed to reflect. For the price and the format's promise, this fell far short of what I'd expect from Kaiseki. It's worth noting that many glowing reviews here mention meeting the head chef -- we didn't, and I wonder if we simply caught the restaurant on an off night without him there for quality control. If so, that's still a problem: consistency shouldn't depend on which night you walk in.

Walked by this place in a trip with friends. Had a great meal before dropping them off at the…read moreairport. Quick service and quick turn around. Japanese Hawaiian decor. Very cozy. The food is very authentic. I am of Japanese descent and I'm picky. My comfort food is the curry rice. It was delicious. There is something for everyone. I took pics of our food but I had to grab a pic of the salmon toe off of their website because I forgot to snap a pic. Can order on the app or in person. You have to eat here. It is an experience.

Stopped by Karaage Setsuna for a fast dinner before watching a movie at SIFF. Given the name, we…read morehad to order karaage. Service was friendly but the vibe is pretty casual so they're off-hand. QR code is available at the table to order but they'll also take orders. I would be interested in coming back to try their ramen or sushi, but with a restaurant name that leads with karaage, we had to go with that. Mega Karaage - for $1.25 per piece (30 pieces for $37.50), this is an amazing group deal rivaled only by their "Karaage Party Platter" which is 40 pieces but to-go only. Choices of original, shichimi pepper (spicy), or lemon pepper. Came out extremely fast, was piping hot, and juicy. Not as crispy or crunchy as I like but I imagine difficult to maintain because of the quantity. Would expect at least this much karaage to come with a side of sauce for free, so charging 75 cents feels pretty lame especially for people wanting to try their different sauces. Karaage Fries Combo - this is roughly 5-6 pieces of karaage with a small order of fries. Fries have choices of setsuna, salt, plain, or yakisoba. We went with the setsuna and I was pretty disappointed. It's just butter wiped on soggy fries. My friend compared the fries to In-N-Out fries which isn't a good thing, so I would skip the fries altogether.

Friendly staff and amazing sushi and appetizers. They have a fabulous happy hour from 3-5 with…read morediscounts on beer and sake. The crispy Cauliflower was a prefect appetizer and the seared salmon sashimi was tasty. Great roll selection and a good place to get a bite before a Kraken game.

Wow! I don't know if it's just because I haven't had sushi in 9 months or if the second pictured…read moreroll was that good. The fish in general was very fresh and delicious. I could have eaten 17 rolls. I forgot the name but it had yellowtail, crunchy onions and cilantro. De-lish. We were sat right away as it was not crowded because we came at an off peak day and time. The restaurant was very clean and the staff were very friendly. The sushi came out fast also. Not many cooked rolls for those who don't like raw fish (my husband) It is a bit expensive but that was to be expected. If we go back to seattle we'll be back there!

TL;DR: Abysmal service in a nearly empty restaurant, broken ordering tech, and a serious lack of…read morefood transparency regarding their high-end menu items. Save your money and go elsewhere. The Tech & Ordering Breakdown: The issues began immediately with a broken QR code ordering system. After we informed the staff, we were told to just wait. After wasting 10 minutes, we had to flag someone down to finally take our order in person. The entire process took 20 minutes due to zero proactive support. The Main Service & Food Transparency Issues: While the overall food quality was disappointing, the service was even worse. Our skewers arrived piled on a single plate with no explanation of what was what. Our server promised to check on the names of the dishes but never returned. She actively avoided our table for the rest of the night.We eventually flagged down someone who appeared to be the manager or owner. While polite, her service was just as inattentive. When she tried to identify the skewers, her explanation completely contradicted our actual order. We ordered one rounds of Wagyu--the most expensive item on the menu--but what we were served did not match. It left us feeling like the restaurant is either substituting premium cuts with cheaper meat or the staff is entirely untrained. Logistics & Drinks: The lack of basic service standards was shocking considering the restaurant only had two other tables occupied. A cocktail ordered at the very beginning of the night didn't arrive until we were almost finished eating, despite us successfully ordering multiple rounds of beer and sake throughout the meal. There is a complete lack of basic service standards and transparency here which is absolutely sad as the restaurant has pretty good ambiance. Despite the ambiance, I highly recommend spending your hard-earned money at one of Seattle's other excellent izakayas instead.

We came here after a long day and we were delighted by the place. Very clean, and very lovely…read morelittle Izakaya place. There was also a giant tv so if you catch some sports, you could do that as well. however, I think the food itself really shines here. We got the seafood combo skewers and bowls of beef udon. They were absolutely delicious. They were grilled to the perfect temperature and texture, and it was seasoned to perfection. The udon had warm broth that tasted unique to this place, and would strongly recommend. I did think that it was quite pricey for the amount of food you get here, but that's just the Seattle price for you. Still, I would strongly recommend if you were I. The neighborhood. Service was good as well. Pretty quick, and the restaurant owner gave me a free token to try the claw machine as well. Very fun!

A lively atmosphere in SLU to grab sushi, sashimi, and more. The service is prompt and attentive…read more There is a lot of seating and even good for groups. I sat at the sushi bar as it was just myself. For lunch, I opted in for the Power Lunch and it was fantastic. Served with 5 pieces of nigiri, seared salmon, miso soup, salad, edamame and more. The salad is great with the ginger dressing and the miso soup was flavorful with tofu. The nigiri was fresh and flavorful. Also got a shrimp tempura roll which was great with tempura shrimp and fresh avacado. Overall no complaints here. There are so many dishes I want to try and will be back soon for more.

**Thursday evening around 5:00 p.m., party of 2. No wait.**…read more Unfortunately, I'm going to have to echo several of the recent reviews about the slow service. When we were seated, there were only about three other occupied tables, all with couples. Two of those tables were already being served their food. We placed our order, but our food didn't arrive for about an hour despite the restaurant appearing to be fully staffed. To make matters worse, multiple tables that were seated after us received their food before we did. The long wait might have been easier to overlook if the food had been worth it, but it wasn't. I ordered the seven-piece sushi assortment with a baked crab roll, and more than four pieces of the fish were still partially frozen. The fish did not taste fresh, which was especially disappointing after such a long wait. An hour to assemble seven pieces of sushi seemed excessive. Seeing that more than half of the fish was still partially frozen made the hour-long wait make a lot more sense. Maybe they were waiting for it to defrost before serving it. My sister ordered a baked crab roll and two pieces of seared snow crab. The seared snow crab was completely forgotten until I had already finished my meal. We had to remind the staff before they rushed to prepare it. The baked crab roll itself was decent, but the combination of the extremely slow service, disorganized order handling, partially frozen fish, and forgetting an entire dish until we asked about it means we won't be returning.

We've been going to this eatery for over 20 years - and it never fails to disappoint. Each drink…read moreis well curated, each roll maximizes flavor and satisfied. Super happy with their service as well.

Like the drinks and the sushi, great costumer service. Will…read morego back again Like the drinks and the sushi, great costumer service. Will go back again

Very sad that happy hour has been changed to the bar only which has no table seating for more than…read more2 people. Went there 3 months ago and enjoyed the usual amazing happy hour in the restaurant - which has always been a big draw for them. Went back last night and was told they recently changed it to in the bar only, but the website still stated it was in the whole restaurant. We would have gone elsewhere had we known this. We asked twice about it and were told the website just hadn't been updated yet - no "I'm so sorry" or make it right response/offer was received. Was very disappointed and will not be back.

Wish I could give more than 5 stars!! OMG, this place was so aesthetically pleasing.. and perfect…read morefor Seattle weather. Welcoming staff and the happy hour menu was a nice surprise. Our server Elle was absolutely spot on with given us amazing options for drinks and for suggesting dishes. She also made the drinks and just WOW! Had the sake sangria , then tried the Sundress and that was just outstanding, also tried the other whiskey cocktail on their menu..but the Sundress paired especially with the Madrid moon sushi is just Outstanding! Do try it and do as for Elle to make your drinks, she's the BEST!! We ordered the calamari, the best as it was not too oily and had greens as well, a good balance.. the sushi was outstanding as well, I could have ordered a non fried one as that wasn't my favourite (but that was on me) the Bad Boy.. the salmon wrap was nice as well, but the Madrid Moon sushi - that was a pleasant surprise for sure, being a sushi snob I've never had this on before and it just took me out, tooo good!!! Do come here!

This is a great place to get some fresh classic Japanese sushi. The fish was fresh and the rice to…read morefish ratio was perfect. Staff was friendly and made our celebration amazing.

Excellent meal. If you want the HH menu though, you have to book the table seating. The full…read moreomakase is for the bar which is 4 starters (spread throughout the meal) and 15 nigiri. What I really appreciated about them is that they took the time to explain all the dishes. Seasonal sashimi: Sea bass, hobo, bonito skipjack tuna Large scale snapper Red snapper Knife jaw snapper Star butterfish Sweet shrimp Horse mackerel Bluefin tuna Japanese barracuda Chutoro Hotake Grouper Striperjack Uni Nodoguro (blackthroat sea perch) Fatty tuna (kamatoro)

Sloooowwwly making my way through all the omakase spots in Seattle. Shomon kappo was relatively…read moreeasy to book a reservation for. Had a couple open Saturday dinner spots just a couple days before. I love that Shomon is near Amazon town, so that we get free parking and can walk over to the restaurant. The place itself is clean, modern, and spacious. There's a pretty long bar, and two tables. I loved the immaculate lighting above the tables. Made for very good food pics. The whole omakase experience was very good. I thought the pacing of courses was perfect. I didn't feel rushed or like I was waiting around too much. The courses themselves were super beautiful. Flavors were interesting and fresh as well. I especially liked the bluefin tuna with dried apple in the first course, the white fish nigiris, the uni dish, and the dessert. Can't say I loved every single bite though. Some flavor combos fell flat (like the Wagyu in squash blossom). Service was absolutely amazing. We felt very taken care of throughout the entire experience. Would love to come back to try a different seasons menu, but not my absolute favorite.

We came to celebrate our anniversary and had such a wonderful time! Chef Masaki was so…read moreknowledgeable and friendly. He definitely made our meal extra special. The staff in general were also very respectful and friendly! Dinner service lasted almost 2 hrs. We were the only reservation at 5 so we ended up talking with a lot of the chefs, which was very cool. It's not everyday that you get to speak with a talented chef. A few highlights for me: -The tuna, smoked salmon and sablefish from the appetizer plate was stunning -Dashi soup was out of this world delicious. I loved the tomato notes. It was light yet had depth. -Really enjoyed the uni and botan ebi. The uni was very fresh and melted in my mouth. -Dashi soup to finish was also so yummy; made with fish bones broth and dashi, it made me feel bad about the instant Dashi I use at home. Also the kombu in the miso tasted very fresh, not like the dried kinds I usually eat. -Genmaicha ice cream with shiso jelly and melons was a strangely delicious combo. We will definitely return!