Burned plastic and paper clip sitting on the table. Asked constantly to have someone take it off the table and no one attempted to remove it until the cook came. The toxic plastic burning with kids at the table is unacceptable. Never coming back to this dump. read more

Umami - Toxic Plastic burning and paper clip - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Im not sure why it took me so long to write a review for them but this is by far THE BEST HIBACHI IN RALEIGH! I have been here numerous times and it's consistently delicious! It doesn't matter what you get it's fresh and delicious! Today we tried the crab wonton (wonton Umami) it was crisp and flavorful! If you are craving hibachi this is the only place to go! read more

I miss Fujisan. Umami is okay. It is fine. It is not amazing. Soup was the star - super flavorful. Salad was watery and ginger dressing had an off flavor. Fried rice only has egg and ours was over sauced with soy. "Vegetables" were the usual onions.zuchini and mushrroms. HEAVYon onions, very thin zuchini and very sparse on shrooms. No carrots at lunch. My jumbo shrimp was delicious but $4 upcharge for 5 shrimp had me shook. Scallops were cooked perfectly (not rubbery or overcooked) but chef was SUPER heavy on the sauce. Portions are smaller (but that is fine). I would not stay away but I will not be in a hurry to return. Service was fine. read more

It's been many years since we were in Raleigh. This used to be my son's favorite place to eat. We arrived around 5:30pm and waited no more than 5 mins to be seated. Our service brought us drinks and took our order pretty quickly. Soup and salad came first. I had the ginger dressing and it tasted the same as before. The mushroom soup had way too much sodium/MSG. I would give it a pass next time. The portion is huge as usual, with plenty of fried rice, noodles, and veggies. The noodles were overly seasoned with soy sauce and was too salty. My son and I shared a filet mignon and lobster. I requested medium rare for the filet but it was cooked to a medium. It was still tender, most likely due to the cut of meat. The lobster was also over cooked and a little rubbery. For the experience of watching the chef cook in front of us, I'll give this a 4 star. The food itself, probably a 2.5 to 3 star as everything is just drenched in soy sauce. read more

Umami - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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I usually enjoy my food from Umami. I enjoyed my food during my last visit, but I was not pleased that the cashier did not understand the type of sushi that I attempted to order. I described and explained my sushi request to her, since it is not on the menu. I also asked her to ask for assistance three times. Finally, I ordered a different type of sushi because I was hungry and had driven 50 miles to satisfy my craving. Not again!...There are numerous local sushi gems within my radius. read more

Celebrated a birthday during the week and it was great. Covid practices in place and I loved the idea of a clear divider between other parties. The table cook wore a mask throughout the entire show. He was engaging and great with the kids in our group. I like you can customize your order and the portions are great sizes. We ordered sushi but didn't enjoy the size or flavor. This is my favorite Teppan restaurant in the triangle. read more

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Our family visited Umami for our daughter's 18th birthday. We were hopeful to have a similar experience to another Japanese steakhouse in Raleigh: upscale atmosphere, sophisticated service, exciting chef, and delicious food. Unfortunately, Umami was a miss on all points. The atmosphere was an attempt at upscale, but the dining area was run down. The carpet and chairs were noticeably worn out in areas. The silverware had an inexpensive feel and was mismatched. The service was also disappointing. Our server was unfriendly, inattentive, and rushed. Our chef was very friendly but he seemed tired and ready to be done for the night. The most disappointing part of our experience was the food. The quality of ingredients, the flavor of the various components, and the cook of the proteins were poor. I'm sad that our important birthday celebration fell so short of our expectations. We will not return to Umami. read more

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We ordered takeout from here a couple weeks ago and we loved it! I went in to pick it up and was completely shocked by the restaurant! The staff wear traditional attire and it makes the experience that much better. I can't wait to come back here and sit down and eat. They have hibachi as read more

DISCLAIMER: Explicit Language:::: I am beyond pissed and disappointed with this establishment and whoever is running it. I've been to this restaurant plenty of times to dine and have never had this issue that I am experiencing this evening! I decided to place an order for one of my go to restaurants for some sushi. I didn't want to eat anything too heavy being that is late so I decided to take the sushi route. I placed my order online for the Bang Bang shrimp and an order of the Crunchy sushi. Per the online site, my order was gonna be ready at 9:10. This go-round, I decided to abide by the time so that way I wouldn't arrive too early or not too late. I arrived on time and I get my order. Honestly, I can take accountability for not checking the order before I left. But because I've been to this restaurant, plenty of times, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I come home, and the sushi looks like I got small amount of pieces, but actually got the right amount which is fine. But when I opened the shrimp, it was literally as you can see in the photos, swimming in the sauce. And then the shrimp was fucking cold. So what most people do, you call the restaurant, your calm, and to speak with a manager. Unfortunately, due to the language barrier, it can get frustrating where you're trying to talk to someone about an order and they are completely nonchalant like you did something wrong. I wound up literally yelling over the phone to the "manager" because she decided to ask me "what is it that you want me to do" which honestly immediately pissed me off. as a manager, claiming to be a manager, that is the one thing you do not want to express to a customer that has spent $25-$30 on sushi and shrimp that is just mediocre at this point. There was no resolve. The woman I spoke with, was nonchalant, not being very customer service savvy, not even providing an option-- just automatically asking "what is it that you want me to do". at one point, I even asked to speak to someone else that was better equipped to better assist me with my issue. At one point in the conversation, she had the nerve to tell me that I needed to bring it back up there just to get something resolved. The fact of the matter is that I'm leaving the house at 8/9 at night, driving 10 mins to and from the establishment. That is 20 minutes of my evening wasted and 20 minutes wasted of gas. After this, I will no longer be going to this establishment. I've had better customer service. I've had better sushi. I am hoping that someone of any level of management will contact me or see this review or whatever the case may be. However, I will not be returning to this establishment, having to deal with mediocre food and mediocre customer service. this was bullshit! read more

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Went for a family birthday dinner; all 5 in the party enjoyed the food and experience. The service was great, we had a good time and the portions were so generous everyone left with a to-go box. I also lost a personal item at the restaurant and upon calling they looked for the item and held for me until it could be picked up the next day. read more

Our first time to this restaurant was amazing! Drinks were ordered and delivered quickly. Jessie was our chef and he was entertaining and cooked everything perfectly! We had the filet, shrimp, scallops and spicy chicken and it was hard to pick a favorite! Enjoyed ourselves so much we didn't take any pictures. We will be back! read more

Great sushi place. The food is delicious, and it never disappoints. The ambiance is nice and relaxing yet also enjoyable. The only complaint I have is that sometimes the food takes a long time to arrive. Other than that, I recommend and definitely think you should give this place a try. read more

This place is great! We did not do the hibachi but the sushi was great. The sexy roll was my favorite! But overall the food is great! Since we did not sit in the hibachi area, we sat near the bar which had a very modern feel to it. I loved all the LED lights and the TV screens. The whole server and sushi chef were all super nice and very accommodating. Our server was also very patient with our party. read more

Umami - Sunomo Salad it was delicious - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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The perfect 3 star rating. Nothing is WRONG with the place (outside of being pricey, but isn't sushi and hibachi generally overpriced?) but there is also nothing really great or interesting or unique about the place either. This place is fine. Everything was fine. Actually one of my rolls was really good...I think the problem is I left there feeing like I just spent over $100 (for 2 people) but the experience wasn't a $100+ experience. There are many other places around where I could have spent the same or less money and been over more satisfied in every aspect. Our service was flat, my drink was a little weak, and the overall vibe was...just meh. It just didn't feel authentic to me. The whole experience felt contrived. Like they were trying to hard to seem authentic (see the kimonos and make-up they make the servers waIf this place was substantially cheaper it would be a great local spot for a quick bite. But you pay "going out to dinner" prices for a quick bite experience in my opinion. read more

Umami is located in an awesome plaza to shop at before and/or after a meal. The meals are reasonably priced and the hibachi is very entertaining. They make their own unsweetened iced tea if this is your flavor, which I thought was cool since they are catering to their audience. I had the steak and shrimp hibachi and it was delicious. I also loved the salad with ginger dressing. I would definitely visit again. read more

The food is a solid 3. The value is a solid 4. I'll round up just because it's their first review. It's not really a new restaurant. At least not the interior. This is the old Fujisan. Same location. Same decor. New owners per the answer at the front desk. They took down most of the old pictures with "celebrities" and the prior owners. That said, I love this place because you walk out full. Raleigh prices in effect. Dinner combo runs 22 for the steak(rib eye), chicken, shrimp - choose 2 of the 3. +3 for the Filet. +$2-4 for the jumbo shrimp. (Memory fails me now and didn't think to take a picture.) $22 for the Scallops and Shrimp combo. Dinner comes w salad, soup, a pretty weak fried rice $22 for Scallops and shrimp combo. It comes with Soup, Salad (same ginger dressing as Fujisan), Grilled veggies (onion n zucchini) after the obligatory flaming volcano inside the onion trick. :) fried rice (a little weak with no egg or egg tricks) AND noodles. Then they slice and cook up your protein. All in, a decent amount of protein, lots of carbs to make sure you leave full, and the dipping sauces are still good. If you liked the old place you'll still like it. If you didn't ... They also do sushi rolls, etc. but I always come here for the hibachi grill. read more

We met some friends here for a special reunion. We chose not to sit at the hibachi table, but the food that we had was just as amazing as if it had been prepared in front of us. We enjoyed the martinis, the sushi was amazing, and our cook to order hibachi dinners were superb! We were so stuffed. We hope we can come back someday sincerely, friends from Texas. read more

It's good, a bit pricey. The gentleman who cooked for us was very interactive and funny. I noticed around the room that not all the chefs were like that so we were lucky. Food was normal of what you usually get at places like this. read more

Umami - Rib Eye Steak and chicken Hibachi - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Shrimp Hibachi Rib Eye Steak Hibachi Hibachi Chicken Two of us went to dinner on a Saturday night. We got there around 6:00 and only had to wait 20 minutes to get a seat at a hibachi table. Our chef was fun and engaging without being over the top. We ordered the Imperial Dinner for Two, which came with steak, shrimp, and chicken, and we got a ton of food for a good price. Overall, it was a great experience, and we'd go there again! read more

The food is typical Japanese food and nothing special about it. The show they put on is ok but it is done everywhere. The service is good but sitting at a huge table with strangers isn't my idea of fun. read more

good Hibatchi large portions I do wish they would do more combos- and a few more "tricks" would be nice . our last hibachi chef was funny and it was enjoyable. we like filet & Scallops read more

The service for my meal was great. Unfortunately, I requested my steak to be cooked medium and it was well done as pictured below. Otherwise, great meal. Decent ambiance. read more

Umami - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

The food was so fresh ! I ordered the 2 meat hibachi I believe it was $25 . It came with a salad , soup, a lot of veggies, rice , noodles, ribeye steak , and chicken (not pictured it was still on the grill ) . The wait for kanki was about an 1 1/2 hrs so we gave this place a go ! We will be back . The food, the entertainment , and the staff was great . Definitely recommend! read more

Umami - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Impeccable service and great choice! I took the lunch special and was not disappointed. Go for it! Great lunch and fast service. read more

Umami - Lunch Special - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I had dinner here with one other person on a Saturday evening. - Wait times for hibachi tables are considerably longer than tables near the sushi bar. If you don't feel like waiting I'd recommend asking for a table at the sushi bar. - Our waiter was attentive. - I ordered two rolls of sushi (the names of which escape me) and I was unimpressed. It was very mediocre and more akin to Chinese buffet sushi. For the price I could have had better sushi elsewhere. - The bathrooms were disgusting. There was toilet paper and paper towels everywhere, pee on the seats, and one toilet was clogged. read more

The food is delicious. The service is great. I only knew about Kanki. But now I have umami. I ate the hibachi and the sushi. Both were too tier. read more

Alas, I wanted to love this place and was excited to get seated but left disappointed. Maybe it's our own fault because we had really amazing hibachi (somewhere else) the week before that left me craving more. The service was great and everyone was friendly but the food - it just looked better than it tasted. I had the fillet and even though it looked great watching them cook it, it just tasted... I don't know, maybe a little chewy. Everything else also looked great but just tasted - again kinda blah. I feel like I'd give them another chance if I lived close by but don't foresee going out of my way to come back. read more

Dined at this restaurant with a party of 15 for a 95th birthday in the separate dining room with two individual cooks simultaneously. The party was divided in half. One half of the room had their cook come first. He was very jovial, interacted with the group, they laughed and they had an overall wonderful experience. We were on the other side with a cook whose demeanor was the exact opposite. He did not speak, only to ask the way in which we wanted our meat prepared. Apparently our plates were not close enough for him to reach so rather than asking us to please move our plates further, he threw the rice at us, landing all over the table. He did not apologize, only stated " I can't reach your plates" in a very dismissive, matter of fact tone of voice. Since we had four additional seats remaining in the room, they sat four additional individuals with us. This was perfectly fine but the cook began to solicit from them their opinions as to if it was ok to throw the rice at us since our plates were not close enough. I asked for the manager, which I was told was an older female. She refused to come and address the situation but rather sent another person to the table. Nothing was addressed. The cook continued with this same demeanor for the rest of the evening, being very rude and abrasive. We were there to celebrate my mother's 95th birthday and I did not want to ruin the evening so I decided to not say anything further. It is unfortunate that she was sitting on our side and experienced our cook and not the cook for the other side. That cook, although he was not hers, took the time to wish her happy birthday on this milestone birthday. Our cook never even acknowledged her, although she had a huge "95" birthday balloon behind her. The food was mediocre. The shrimp was overcooked. The noodles were undercooked. I did not choose this location, but will guarantee I will never return. read more

Great hibachi, cook was so energetic and funny, and all around a good place to go. Appetizers and sushi's came in fast, when it comes to the hibachi the cook would ask you for any details of how you would like it to be cooked. read more

The owner in the geisha costume is extremely unprofessional and rude. First she didn't greet us as soon as we walked up being too busy counting cash...then had to approach us in the middle of meal and lecturing us about not bringing a drink in. I had my spindrift from the car and was finishing up. Made my family member had GERD. I spent $70 on this meal for this experience to get scolded for a can of water. It was our first and last time. Shout out to our chef, who was great and also our server. Bad boss/manager/geisha, good service though. read more

Firstly, I have to say the amount of food you get is staggering! Like it is unreal how much they are able to put in to-go containers. The price point feels slightly high for the quality of meats in my opinion but we've only tried them one time so possibly it was an off night. I'm a little torn on my review because I had an upset stomach for a few hours but my hubs was fine (we did have different proteins). So whether it was the food or not, I guess we will never know. The other thing I'm knocking down a star for is the fact that the online system quoted me an hour for my food to be ready but it had obviously been sitting there for awhile when I arrived (and I'd ordered scallops so you can imagine how that was when I got home). We have to be super careful in our family because of being high risk and the vaccine showing limited efficacy for the group one of my family members is in, so I'm not hanging around in a busy restaurant 30 minutes before my food is projected to be ready to be able to get it. I'd like to try this place out again although I'm not sure how they're handling the clinically early unmasking which is a real risk to certain groups. I look forward to giving this place another try. The menu is diverse and fun. I know it's hard to get projected times down for orders, but there are options for allowing the customer to track the food to know when to pick it up. read more

Excellent service! Very welcoming and attentive staff. Our server Neil especially went above and beyond to make sure we were taken care of along with the chef who made a delicious meal & the portions are PLENTIFUL. Highly recommend the imperial for 2! Thank you Unami team! read more

Enjoyed visiting here and seeing their efforts to keep groups separated. Sushi was delish and the hibachi was good; but our chef overcooked then meat just a bit. They offered a complimentary appetizer, nice touch! Overall was great! read more

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The sushi is INCREDIBLE! The sushi bar has a great atmosphere and our waitress recommended the rolls we ordered which were GREAT choices! We also ordered some steak hibachi togo which was delicious. The only downside is it's a bit pricey but definitely worth it! read more

Umami - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I used to work and live around the corner, and ate at Fujisan probably 100 times over the years. This was my first visit under the new name. Well, things have changed. And not for the better. Much of the staff is the same. So the customer service side of things at least remains quite good. And the quality of the hibachi chefs remains... entry level to moderate. Which was fine when the food quality was good, but under the new name it certainly appears as if there were some changes in the kitchen. Starting with the soup and salad... The soup used to be quite nice. Now, it tastes very much like a salt lick bullion cube. The ginger dressing on the salad has changed to something sweeter and less clean tasting. We saw some serious portion changes in the cooking. Mushrooms now appear only for those ordering beef, making the mixed veggies only zucchini and onion. Next the rigidly measured sesame seeds, resulting in a mere token gesture of sesame and no actual noticeable presence in the food. I appreciate the need to portion control to keep costs well managed, but the result was a noteworthy drop in overall quality of the meal as compared to what I became used to at this location. And last but quite significant to me, the cooking style used on the scallops changed. We used to dream of the scallops from Fujisan, easily the best scallops in the triangle. What I ate for this meal was merely adequate, and nothing I'd recommend to anyone. All in all, I found myself very disappointed with the final result. All in all, this restaurant has moved itself away from being a top pick for hibachi style food. I'll give it another chance to see if it improves and/or we just had a bad experience. But I am somehow doubtful. read more

We loved this place, especially their happy hour. Their cocktails left a lot to be desired. But their sushi was on point.

I am only giving one star because "0" stars is not an option. My family loves hibachi-style Japanese cooking, but this location was the worst of its kind that we have experienced. From the bland soup and salad dressing to the flavorless "fried rice" and noodles, there was nothing special about any aspect of this meal which seems to be flavored with oils and heaps of sodium (or possibly MSG). Even the filet mignon was chewy, and some pieces were inedible and had to be discreetly hidden under some rice. We went into this meal wanting to love it and could not find one reason to recommend it. The best I can say is this: if you have never been to a Benihana or a Japanese Steak House and have no good comparisons, then you "might" like this place. But if you have ever experienced a good hibachi meal, then I cannot imagine that you would enjoy this dining experience. PS - Another reviewer mentioned getting food poisoning from the sushi and I should add that I didn't have sushi, but this meal gave me gastrointestinal distress as well. read more

We were so happy that we chose this place for our daughters 11th birthday dinner. We live in Wake Forest and my sister and her family live in Durham, Umami & Brier Creek is a perfect halfway meet up spot. The food was delicious and the cook was a delight. I called on Wednesday and they took our group of 9 on a Friday night at 6:30 with no problem (unlike Kanki) read more

Great sushi, horrible service. I'm not sure if it's a language or cultural difference but the server was very short with us and not very friendly. read more

Service was very nice. The owner was a pleasant accommodating woman. The food was average.