Come hungry, come for the meat, skip the spring rolls I am not a big meat eater by nature, which makes it saying something that Umami Japanese Barbeque has earned a regular spot on my list. There is something about cooking your own food at the table, at exactly the temperature you want, in exactly the amount you want, that turns a meal into an experience worth repeating. The concept is all you can eat Korean style tabletop grilling with two menu options. The Umami Buffet Experience covers a generous selection of quality meats, and the Full Premium Experience adds New York strip steak, Japanese short ribs, lamb, tri tip, shrimp, calamari, and cow tongue. We ordered one of each to compare. Honest verdict: the regular buffet holds its own and the premium upgrade did not justify the price difference enough to order it again next time. The table sauces are worth exploring. The roasted sesame is my personal favorite, but the miso apple and garlic shoyu are both worth trying alongside your meat. A selection of vegetables comes with the grill as well. One welcome improvement since my last visit: the ventilation setup has been redesigned so the smoke no longer follows you home in your clothes for the rest of the evening. A small thing that makes a real difference. The time limit is around three hours, which is more than enough. Forty minutes at the grill was plenty for us. Now for the honest part. The cold buffet side needs work. The spring rolls were a miss, the Hawaiian mac salad was forgettable, and the only sushi option was a California roll that did not taste fresh. For a restaurant that executes the grilling experience this well, the appetizer and salad bar deserve more attention. Four stars for the meat, the experience, and the improved ventilation. Come hungry, focus on the grill, and set your expectations accordingly for everything else on the buffet. read more

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Had a great lunch experience at Umami! We loved the salad bar area with lots of choices! The restaurant is kept very clean and tidy. We did the lunch premium today and enjoyed the extra meat selections! Service was great and we didn't have to wait for staff for help because they had a button at each table that lets floor staffs know you need their attention! We will be back again in the future! read more

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Friendly service paired with thoughtful selection of meats and sides. The grill experience is cleverly curated, preventing smoke and oil from saturating your clothes like it frequently does at yakiniku and Korean barbecue establishments. The environment is social and full of energy due to the interactive nature of the meal. read more

Wonderful service food delicious only wished the grill was bigger or each table had its own unit. We had two couples and it was enough for two so the second couple had to wait their turn. read more

Excellent food and atmosphere. Great cuts of meat and sweet salad bar. Definitely worth it.

We love Umami! We've come here multiple times over the years but tonight was the best so far. I love all you can eat bbq and this one is amazing! There's so many cuts and flavors and they were all great. My favorite was the wagyu and spicy pork belly. The other sides were all so tasty. They offer rice free now instead of needing to buy a bowl on the side. The California roll was tasty. There was some poke that was surprisingly so yummy! Poke is Fridays only though. I'm from Hawaii so I'm quite picky with poke and sushi. There were some ginger-y noodles that were tasty. The spring rolls were great with the sweet and sour sauce. I loved making lettuce rolls with the meat and kimchi and garlic. Even the fruit were so sweet and juicy. They had something new which was yuzu yogurt. It was divine to dip the fruit in and the flavor was epic! Everything was so good. The service was great and friendly. We would come back here again and again! read more

Umami Japanese Barbeque - Japanese Near Me - Vineyard, Utah

I loved Umami! This was my first Japanese BBQ in a while and I forgot how good it is! The staff here are so sweet and attentive. Our first server gave us a whole run down of how their menu works. There are signs everywhere that mark exactly what each item is and what meats/items are included for which AYCE menu option. They have a premium and then a regular menu. I opted for the premium and I think it was worth the $10 up charge. With the premium you have more meat options and it's just fun to try some of their more exotic options (beef tongue). The salad bar area was well stocked with options like sushi, edamame, and tuna poke. I do not recommend any of the rice or stir fry noodles. The rice was poorly cooked and the noodles were devoid of any flavor. They do have sauces stationed all around as well as sauce bottles at your table if you feel like you need it. The pork gyozas and spring rolls were good, but nothing special. I enjoyed most cuts of meat and really loved the garlic marinade in particular. I couldn't really tell the difference between the New York strip and the ribeye cuts, but pretty much everything else had a good distinct flavor. My reservation was at 7 and around 8pm I noticed some of the meat and salad bar options remained empty. I know they stop taking tables at 9, but felt like 8 was a bit early to stop restocking. Or maybe they were just backed up I'm not sure, but multiple meat, fruit, and their potstickers remained empty for the remainder of my dining experience. It's not a super big restaurant and it's split into two levels. I was thankful to be seated on the upper level because on the floor level is where all the food is located so it's a high traffic area. I enjoyed that upstairs was a bit more private. Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Umami and I will definitely be visiting again! read more

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A taste pf ayce around pleasant grove utah. This place has a good selection of meats for dinner. Tasty soup, curry, and sauces. Really loved the sauces. Wagyu beef and beef tongue were the highlights. Dinner also has ribeye available, cut th icker like a steak. Pro tip, get a little bit of the hokkaido miso apple sauce on the veggies and pineapple and then grill them up, it's a gamechanger! read more

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I never was a big fan of ayce bbq, but my experience this time exceeded expectations! I went with some friends on a Thursday for lunch and there weren't very many people. I liked that they have some cooked food like yakisoba noodles and gyoza for me to start filling my stomach right away. The miso soup was good, too. However, I wished they had more options. As for the meat, they are of good quality. Some of my favorites were the New York strip, cow tongue, shrimp, and grilled pineapple! I was really excited to see that they have Japanese pumpkin, but maybe I just didn't know how to cook it properly; it turned out very dry, which was a bummer. I was really glad they had a fruit bar. You can get filled up quickly eating ayce bbq and having fruits make the experience so much better. It was also nice that most fruits (cantaloupe, pineapple, and orange) were sweet. The strawberries were towards the sour side. They also had this yuzu yogurt for you to dip the fruits in. I liked eating it by itself more. The yuzu flavor was unique, but I would rather not have poppy seed in it. I really wished they would have some desserts as part of the ayce instead of making them cost extra. I love desserts, but I wouldn't pay more for them when I'm already paying so much for an ayce. The service was great. The staff members were all very friendly and helpful. One thing that made me like this ayce more than the others was that I got to get whatever I wanted myself, so I had control over the quantity I was getting. A lot of the times, I would just like to try one of everything, and in other restaurants, they would give you a whole plate of it. And, you never know when they will bring out the meat, and so you could be waiting for a long time and then all of a sudden they would bring out four plates of meat and now your table is really full and have the pressure to finish the food quickly. However, it was stress-free eating at this restaurant, and I was able to enjoy my time with friends. I would definitely recommend this place to everyone! read more

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My favorite AYCE BBQ in Utah, been coming for a couple years now, and I just really love how consistent the experience is everytime while bringing family and friends here. Staff is always friendly and helpful, produce fresh, and the restaurant clean. Also, the grills are hot! Its so frustrating going to other places and leaving hungry after 2 hours because the food takes forever to cook, you won't have that problem here! But let's be real, the meats are the star here, I love their selection, as there is something for everyone and they don't mess around on the portions as you can grab whatever you want yourself! The cuts are great as well, they don't take chuck and slice it real thin and pretend it's waygu like a lot of other places. The marinades always hit as well (the Korean short ribs and spicy pork belly are fire), the meats absorb the flavors well, also unlike other places that just slabs it on before bringing it to your table. I will definitely be back! read more

Umami Japanese Barbeque - Spicy pork belly, short ribs, ribeye - Japanese Near Me - Vineyard, Utah

All you can eat japanese barbeque! What does that mean? You pick from an assortment of meats and sides and grill it yourself. The price tag is a bit high, but with cuts of wagyu beef, rib eye, and pork belly you can definitely cook your monies worth. I don't love the buffet style selection, strictly because the food is just sitting out in the open for so long. However, all of the food at Umami looked very clean and was properly stored on ice so it put my mind at ease. Our group of four was seated at a table with one grill. This made cooking food a bit tricky because you have to share a small space. Our grill was heated unevenly, so one side cooked faster than the other. Unless you're in no rush, I would recommend staying away from the pork and chicken because it takes much longer to cook than the beef. (And then you don't have to worry about eating undercooked meat.) Overall, Umami was good but it didn't leave me wanting more. read more

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One of my favorite restaurants in Utah. The spicy pork belly is BY FAR the best meat. The salad bar is good. Rice is excellent. Drinks are good. Desserts are great. My only qualm is it is very expensive and always busy. Last time we went with our two small kids it was $120. That's crazy. It's good, but not THAT good. We don't go very often anymore because they keep raising the prices. read more

Umami Japanese Barbeque - Japanese Near Me - Vineyard, Utah

Friendly staff and everything seemed very clean. The food was presented nicely and clearly labeled. There was a cook selection of raw meats and prepared food. I liked how clear it was raw food on black plates and prepared food on white plates. The tables have a little remote to call waiters when needed instead of them constantly checking or not coming enough. My only complaints were how some of the meat was cut (such as thick cuts of chicken) and the music just threw off the mood (alternative rock). I'm just the kind of person that likes music to match the food. read more

Come here for the experience of cooking your own food at your table, and be ready to splurge a little! It costs $25 per person, so it's not cheap. I recommend coming for a special occasion and taking your time to enjoy the experience. The food is good but not so good that I want to run and tell all of my friends about it. They have a lot to choose from but I always had a hard time remembering which meats I was cooking and what I liked. It's also a little hard to keep the meat juices off stuff. I love that they have fresh options as well though, and I loved the gyoza! There isn't a ton of service, they only come if you press the button for help. So remember that. Pro tip: Come before 4 and it'll be cheaper! read more

Umami Japanese Barbeque - Authentic Japanese sodas - Japanese Near Me - Vineyard, Utah

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Fun experience, but relatively small selection of foods compared to similar restaurants and expensive for what you get. Nothing unique or extra special compared to similar restaurants. Maybe worth experiencing once, but wouldn't be sad if I never returned. read more

Girls' birthday lunch date, arrived when they opened at 11 am and got great seats. We were just informed that all premier cuts of beef/meat are offered all day, from opening to close, as they serve dinner items all day on Saturdays. What we really came for was Korean short ribs, which we searched for as soon as we got there. They didn't actually have it prepped/ready to serve until closer to 12:30 pm, which was a great disappointment. If we are paying for the "dinner" rate all day Saturday, it is expected/assumed for ALL items to be ready for consumption from opening to close. Korean short ribs, noodles, and sushi didn't even make it out until we were almost finished eating, around 12:30pm/1pm. When we asked for a manager, our server, Choddles (name spelling?) gave us a bit of a facial attitude and yielded to get the manager. Justin, the manager, explained to us that the kitchen didn't have enough time to thaw all the meats out the night before/this morning, before opening at 11am. Sounds like a management/operations issue, not the customers'. I asked Justin if this is an issue every morning they open, that they don't get everything out on time before opening, and he made it sound like it was only this morning that this happened - I wasn't fully convinced. So if you want to be guaranteed that ALL food/ premier meat options are going to be available when you come, DO NOT come when they open right at 11am. You do not get your money's worth for paying the "dinner" rate. Come closer to 1pm. The early bird does NOT get the worm in this scenario. read more

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Amazing, service. Delicious food. Welcoming atmosphere. Would 100% recommend this place! read more

It's our favorite always been treated amazing Also super clean place Loved there food and the staff

There's a growing trend with all you can eat "cook it yourself at your table" Asian places showing up throughout Utah County. Umami is the gold standard when it comes to these places. They have a wonderful selection of meats and it isn't frozen like some of the other places. The Bulgogi chicken, and the various cuts of steak are perfection. The pre-cooked foods are on a bar self-serve and do not disappoint. They have a great selection, three wonderful sauces, and the price point is much better than some of the other places with less variety. It's definitely on the rotation for me... read more

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We came here on a Sat for a late lunch. It wasn't that busy so we were seated right away. They have one side set up for veggies / apps/ soups and the other side is meat / seafood. They take your order for rice. Check in on yelp for unlimited sodas ! They provided 3 dipping sauces roast sesame, hokkaido miso , and garlic shoyu. These sauces were all a little bit too sweet or salty. I really liked the new york steak, marinated lamb, and my favorite ( beef tongue !). I wish they had more options for sauces, and more food options in general, however this is a good place to go if you are craving meat. Lunch time on weekdays is a better deal. read more

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The food was delicious, just the prices have really gone up. And the waitress seemed awkward. But other than that it was good.

This place is so good. Highly recommend. Atmosphere- clean, food- fresh & flavorful, service- impeccable. The only item we haven't tried is the ramen, but we plan to soon! read more

Very interesting dining experience in Vineyard! I have some mixed feelings about this place, but overall, good! It's definitely somewhere you would go for a special occasion or celebration because it was $30 per person not including drinks or desserts. The food was good! But it was hard to know what was best because we didn't get any recommendations on what to try. While cooking the meat ourselves was fun and unique, we felt like we couldn't do as good a job as a chef would have done for us. So we wondered if we had really made the most of what we got or if we ruined some things. The dumplings were our favorite part of the precooked food! Great texture and super delicious. We also really enjoyed the Japanese curry on rice! The wagyu beef was our favorite meat, followed by the pork belly. The noodles tasted like alfalfa... The waitress was kind and she brought us forks and drinks when we asked, but she didn't do much else and it was hard to leave such a big tip for only that amount of service. Also, watch out if you have a strong nose! I wouldn't recommend sitting by the buffet as that kimchi is RIPE. So, it was fun, hip, upscale feeling, but really pricey and could stand to up the level of service to make it an even better experience. Not kid friendly! read more

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Umami was exactly what I expected, it has good food that I'm happy to eat, but the price tag is more about the experience. It's fun to be at a buffet and to cook your own food at the table. What I didn't expect is how little I would enjoy it on a date, I think my experience would have been way more worth it if I had gone with a bigger group. Another thing I didn't expect was how fresh all of their fruit was! Umami is obviously known for its quality meet and while it is definitely the main attraction, the pineapple, strawberries, and oranges were perfect. I briefly spoke to employee and she mentioned it's always like that and when the employees get a chance to eat they always go after the fruit! Overall, this is a great place to visit maybe once or twice a year for the experience, but I recommend a group of at least four to make the most of it. read more

Very fun place to eat with a group. Buffet style Japanese bbq. The selection is great. You cook at the table. We go for holidays and special occasions but great any time. read more

I've been to many Korean and Japanese barbecue, California restaurants seem to do this much better. Never have I attended a barbecue place where raw meat is just sitting out for customers to grab. It seemed smart to give servers more time to attend to customers but we rarely had drinks refilled - the server also randomly told me I couldn't drink more than two beers in an hour and I'm not entirely sure why? Utah liquor law? Honestly the flavors were not that bad but my appetite was killed seeing all sorts of people fumble with raw meat lying out to be grabbed. The sausages were good, sauces were good. For a family of four it ran us $140 and it really wasn't worth the price tag. read more

Very yummy. Enjoyed the experience very much as I have not been to a yakiniku place in a long time. They have two different options, premiere or regular. The premiere lets you get more meats, though I didn't feel like the extra meats did anything special comparatively. They made it sound very enticing because it has sirloin, but the majority of the cuts of sirloin weren't the best. It was good though, but next time I will probably stick with the basic option. Love their variety of side dishes just like in Japan, and enjoyed that they had sushi as an option as well! And it tasted great. Felt a little awkward with the wait staff just sitting at the desk the entire time waiting for somebody to ring their buzzer. I was glad I wasn't seated on the first floor and got a little more privacy. But even where I was I still felt "watched." Idk if they are just going to stand there then they should go into a more discreet area. But it's not too big a deal. I am giving this a four stars because I did not think their sauces were very good. Looks like they make themselves because they are bottled with the restaurant name on it. But they didn't taste good enough to bottle them imo. The best was the garlic one. The sesame was pretty flat, and the apple cider one tasted like basically nothing. My only wish was for a better selection of dipping sauces. Other than that, loved the experience, the vibe of the restaurant and the food. read more

So good. Love everything there. The meat selection is amazing. Super good cuts of meat. Sides are perfect. Hits the spot every time

To me it seemed like basically a Korean barbecue with a Japanese twist. It seems like the meat is Korean flavored but Japanese cut, which in some ways I like better than Korean barbecue, everything is bite-sized. read more

This was such a fun place to come for dinner. Though we did have to wait a while, the options for fresh food and raw meats to cook was fantastic! The meat was really fatty though, so you had to bite off big bits of grizzle. We loved the pineapple and ahi poke. We cooked for ourselves, so we didn't really see servers that often, but the front desk staff was really friendly. The restaurant was clean, I though it was interesting that they had collapsible table dividers if you had a smaller group. read more

Umami Japanese Barbeque - Japanese Near Me - Vineyard, Utah

Had a great time at Umami and was very impressed! The restaurant was clean, well maintained, and the staff was friendly and helpful. There are so many options, including wagyu, for you to cook! There are a variety of beef cuts, pork, chicken, shrimp and veggies/fruit that you can grill to your desire. The pineapple was so juicy and fresh! Our favorite was the wagyu and the seasoned short ribs. The marinade was so good! For the cooked options, they had California rolls, gyoza, noodles, miso soup, salad bar, fruit, and few other Japanese options. The gyoza was really good.. because it's a buffet style, they're always bringing fresh options out. However, was disappointed to have most of the gyoza very burned on one side making it too crispy and burnt tasting. We also picked up some strawberries and got back to our table and found mold on them. We informed our waiter, Kyson, who apologized and said he would inform the kitchen staff. The miso soup was very good and had lots of tofu which I love! They have three different sauce options and our favorite was the garlic and roasted sesame. The food was all flavorful and so fresh. The restaurant is much smaller than I originally thought and yes, the tables are close together but we never felt too close to anyone. For the price, this is well worth it. I can't wait to come back! read more

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Had lunch today with the bf. He had told me how good Umami was but I had no idea just how good and fun this place was going to be. This restaurant is going to quickly become a staple in my life, I will be returning. The funnest part was after you go up to the buffet you get to grill your meat selections right at your table. They offer 3 different dipping sauces and I loved the garlic miso sauce. The sushi and kimchi on the cooked foods buffet along with the cucumber salad was equally as refreshing. There wasn't a thing I ate that I didn't enjoy. Pricing ran about 17.99 per person read more

Umami Japanese Barbeque - Japanese Near Me - Vineyard, Utah

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Umami is my favorite Japanese BBQ location ever! The meat is so good, tasty, the restaurant is always clean, and I never feel the service is overbearing. They're always so friendly and helpful when I need them! read more

Pro-tip: Check-in for unlimited soft drinks. They don't take reservations, but you can call ahead and let them know you're coming. They were able to bring out the same meats that weren't marinated upon request. Highlights: I really enjoyed the buffet style concept as that's rare for AYCE bbq. It's so nice being able to just sample every meat or pick one piece of something for your last piece without having to place an entire order and being worried you can't finish it. The meats were a pretty good quality, but 90% of them were pre-marinated, so I had to ask for unmarinated meat which they obliged. Decent selection of cooked food like the curry and gyoza, but I was most impressed with the fruit selection - HUGE strawberries and the yogurt dip was fun too. Lowlights: I wish more of the meats were unmarinated so we didn't have to specifically request and wait for those. I thought some of the ready-to-eat options could be improved upon - the shumai and sushi rolls looked unedible so I didn't even try them. Maybe they could offer cooked items like ramen/udon, katsu, steamed egg, or other items like Japanese cookies/roll cakes. The service wasn't great - only once did our server come back afterwards to ask if we needed anything, every other time we had to flag people down and ask for things. The table next to us had left for over 30 minutes before anyone bussed it. read more

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We LOVE this place. Truly, we would come to Umami once per week if we could. We love all three sauce choices to dip your meats in so much, we bet you'll love them too! Our fav meats are the Wagyu and the Spicy Pork Belly. Writing this is making me want to go back already! ⁣ the quality is always 10/10 and it's such a fun experience too. ⁣ TIP: if you have a party of 4 or more, be sure to call ahead when you are about to come in and ask for one cook top per 2-3 people. We personally think it's a little too crowded having more than 3 share one cooking area. We love you forever, Umami! read more

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So let me start with the fact that I'm not quite familiar with Japanese BBQ. I know Korean BBQ. When I first walked in, that was the thought that hit me. "This is Korean BBQ, but you go and get your meat yourself." And that pretty much sums it up in a nutshell. They have two serving areas. One is for the meat, and you use black plates to dish it up. The other is for the cooked food or veggies that don't need cooking, and you serve it up on white plates. You grab what you want, go to your table which has a hibachi in the middle and you start cooking. About the only thing we didn't try was the shrimp because the wife is allergic. But we sampled everything else, and we enjoyed everything we tried. Our favorite was the beef short rib. Their sake selection is excellent as well. We left stuffed, and very happy we found this place. read more

Great selection of quality meats with nice flavors. You can choose your own portions which is nice for AYCE. The curries and side dishes are also excellent, esp the curries. Delicious. On par with many high end Japanese BBQ places with better value. Highly recommend. read more

The food is great. Best curry and gyoza I can get in the area. I lived in Japan for two years and travel there frequently for leisure and work, so the food is to my taste. If you're expecting all of the cuts of meat to be as thinly sliced as you usually get in Japan, prepare to be disappointed. They originally did serve it that way, but changed to thicker slices due to (ignorant) customer feedback. Some cuts are still thin, but the ribeye and New York cuts are way too thick to be authentic. My wife and daughter are gluten intolerant, and they have many options and sauces available for them, which we greatly appreciate. read more

Excellent food and staff. Incredible selection of ingredients. The quality of the meat was superb, the marinades and sauces were delicious.

My party described this experience as "mid". The meats were just okay. The "hot" side dishes like gyoza were cold, rice was clumped together. The noodles were actually really gross. About 5 minutes in, we were all regretting the decision to come here. At one point, we tried to talk to a server, and they didn't hear us because they were wearing AirPods. Why tip when all they did was fill our water twice in an hour? Everything else is self serve! The food was edible, but due to the poor service on top of that, we won't be back. read more