Great, authentic food served with care and attention. The place is very small so reservations are a good idea if it is a weekend.

Best Food, Best Service, Most Delightful people always a pleasure to visit....Our family always looks forward to go there LS read more

Fresh, tasty food and great service. It's a cozy, small restaurant so make sure you make a reservation on the weekend.

Limited seating and don't go if you are in a rush. The service is top notch and the food even better. Sushi is some of the best we have had.

Really good sushi and awesome service. We will be back for sure

We were here on Saturday night. Food was excellent. We sampled a lot - plum wine, unfiltered sake, sashimi, rolls, salad, seared yellowtail, edamame, and it was all delicious! We will definitely go back soon. It's refreshing to find a great Japanese Restaurant in the area! read more

UMI is not only the best Japanese restaurant in Hickory, it is the best restaurant in Hickory. Period. Immaculately prepared authentic Japanese home cooking and sushi. There is nothing else like it in town. read more

This place is a true gem. It's very quaint and you are instantly taken to a relaxing place. There are only a few tables so reservations is very recommended. The service and sushi were incredible. Extremely fresh!! The place is run by Japan natives and is a family operated restaurant. We can't wait to go back! read more

This was a great change for Japanese. Felt very authentic and couldn't have asked for better service or food. Quiet atmosphere and romantic.

Yes, this was very good food. We went for a graduation dinner (party of 12) and we almost filled the restaurant. Everyone left happy, nice find outside of Boone in hickory, I'd go back. Make reservations if more than 8 read more

I have moved away from hickory, came to visit and this place is still open! It is by far the best place for Japanese food. Their sushi is always fresh, sashimi is alway fresh. It's a smaller joint, where you have to make a reservation to guarantee a table but it's well worth it. The prices are not make too for the quality you get. read more

I wish I could keep this a little secret but it's such a wonderful little intimate place and look forward to returning!

Escape to Japan as you enter this lovely space. The food, ambiance, and service is unparalleled in this area. The husband and wife who own this have succeeded in creating a special place that is simply elegant. I recommend Umi to anyone who enjoys great food and atmosphere. You will not be disappointed. read more

I do not give a 5 star lightly, this may be one of the only ones I give. The food, the service, the atmosphere is all amazing. The only problem I had was there there were so many menu options and that the seating area is small. Reservations are a must! The food is the best Japanese food I have had anywhere. I cannot wait to return regularly to try more. I had the asparagus and goat cheese roll following the advice of others, and it is amazing. I also had the shrimp tempura roll, and the Dragon roll. I loved all of it. I also have the miso soup and some hot sake. There wasn't a think I couldn't love more. The attention to detail and community involvement that Umi has amazed me. All I could think of was the great documentary "Jiro dreams of sushi" which is a compliment to any Japanese restaurant. read more

Excellent sushi, fantastic service. Small restaurant, can accommodate about 20 people. Nice ambiance, feels a bit like a spa with the waterfalls and music (kept waiting for a back massage, but alas none was proffered.) Will definitely be frequenting here, definitely worth a drive to get to (if one is involved) Good for small groups (call ahead, they can prepare a platter to be ready for your arrival) read more

Umis is a Hickory area gem. Wonderful authentic Asian food, charming decor and attentive staff. Don't be put off by the strip mall location. Small size and limited hours do call ahead and make a reservation. read more

Very good. Small and inconspicuous but very delicious and compared to San Francisco cheaper with comparable offer and I had this one week ago. read more

This is definitely my favorite Asian restaurant in the area. Quite authentic and excellent service!

o my god this is the best fucking sushi ever i cant wait to go again this weekend it's like a weekly holiday

My son and toddler grand daughter were visiting from Raleigh and we wanted sushi...but I have never tried any in Hickory. Found this place on yelp and the rest is yummy history!! My husband and I have eaten sushi with them in Raleigh, but have been fearful to find a local place up to our standards...well, we have found the perfect place. Great food, atmosphere and service. We will be back for sure. read more

By far the best sushi in town!!! The service and quality is very consistent. My favorites are the goat cheese and asparagus roll, miso soup with yellowtail, and spider roll. I brought one of my girls who doesn't like sushi and she had chicken nuggets. She said they were the best she's ever eaten. It's a small, intimate place which would be gat for dates. A must if your in Hickory, read more

The best authentic Japanese food in NC. Be sure to make a reservation because it is small.

The sushi was absolutely wonderful. The eel was the best I have ever had! I live near Raleigh but will visit more often.

This is the only and finest authentic Japanese restaurant in Hickory. It is family owned, the sushi is the best that I have every had, and the small restaurant is relaxing, and very tranquil. There is no overloaded pink shrimp sauce. The food is authentic, and the owners are very careful of the fish they use. Certain tunas that have higher mercury levels or that are in danger of becoming extinct will never be used here. The menu is replete with color photos and the lady that serves the guests is very helpful in answering any question you may have. After dinner you feel satisfied and not bloated, and most importantly, very relaxed. It is not only excellent food, but almost like therapy to enjoy a meal there. I would give ten stars if it were possible. Thank you UMI for something truly unique for Hickory. Peggy and Paul read more

The atmosphere is small and intimate, just like a real Japanese restaurant. It is best if you call ahead for a reservation just encase the place is full so you don't have to wait. We were lucky and showed up just when the doors opened on Saturday. I ordered the Shoyu Ramen Noodles which I enjoyed with gusto. My husband ordered the Katsu-Curry Rice. He said it was sweet and the pork was delicious. The thing we love to get is Calpico. It is hard to describe but it is a very refreshing citrus drink that isn't carbonated. I also want to point out the owners. They are so sweet and genuinely nice. They wanted to show what a Japanese restaurant it like in Japan and they brought their home to us. read more

First of all: Don't let the fact that it is conveniently located next to a sewage treatment plant deter you. I promise you can't smell it from inside the restaurant! Hands down, this is my favorite restaurant in Hickory. If you don't get sashimi while you're here, you are doing it wrong. I also recommend the Shoyu Ramen - it's definitely *not* like what you ate in college. read more

Umi is the best traditional Japanese Restaurant in NC. Eating at UMI is a wonderful experience we have enjoyed many times. The ambiance is simple and elegant. The food is exceptional and very fresh. Host and chef are wonderful people and go out of their way to accommodate. Thank you for bringing Japan to Hickory. read more

Make sure to get reservations, as this place is small but believe me it's worth the effort and wait! Best Japanese food in town, and the only authentic place! Whether you get the sushi or one of their entrees, you won't be disappointed. This is one of my favorite places to go when time permits. read more

Oh So Beautiful! THE ONLY place to get authentic sushi in town. Opt for brown rice for a nice treat. If you like Unagi try both the roll and the nigiri. A new weekly stop for me. read more

Real Japanese food. I worked in Japan and this is the real stuff. Great service. Reasonable prices. That's as good as it gets. read more

My mom is Japanese and she absolutely loves this venue, and the people who own/run it. The cuisine is top-notch and tasty as it should be, always using the freshest ingredients and is very cozy and intimate. Sure the outside looks are a stark contrast to the goodness within! Finally, a true gem in Catawba County where leave-r-rights are the norm! read more

Hands down the best sushi my husband and I have ever tasted. The service could not be better anywhere. What a wonderful gem hidden in Hickory. read more

Umi is a fantastic "homestyle" Japanese restaurant-perhaps something that you'd expect to visit in a much larger city. The sushi is top-notch, but this isn't your typical tappanyaki/hibachi menu. Hey, it's fun to get a little adventurous! This little gem fills up quickly for good reason: The place is intimate and tiny, and the food is delicious. The service is warm and informative. I'm so glad to have such a place in Hickory! read more

I haven't had Japanese food like this since I lived it Japan! This was very nostalgic for me and I would 100% recommend it to anyone visiting Hickory. I loved the food, atmosphere, and the folks who ran the place. Thank you so much!! read more

This is the best place for Japanese food around. If you want authentic Japanese, not American Japanese, this is the only option. My only problem is the one time I ordered their Udon soup, it tasted bland and almost like instant soup. Other than that, the sushi is fresh, and the katsudon is delicious. read more

Best sushi in Hickory area. It's a very small place so make sure you have a reservation if you don't want to wait . But even if you do, it's totally worth it. Grilled squid is my favorite appetizer . And of course after that, sushi . It's always fresh and delicious. read more

We decided to eat at Umi Sushi because of good reviews on Google, Yelp and TripAdvisor. We went there on a Monday night which was not busy but I made a reservation anyway. This place is decorated nicely and the service was great. We ordered soft-shell crab for appetizer and it was $8.50 for one piece. A tad pricey but it was good. Sushi was a lot skinnier than what I'm used to but it was wonderfully made. Really small portions. The house salad was good too. The dressing was different and not the usual ginger dressing that Japanese restaurants. I could see how this place would turn away people especially on the weekends. But I imagine you wouldn't need one during the weekdays. read more

I guess I'm spoiled being from California and having a sushi restaurant on every corner but overall this place isn't bad. The sushi is a little different than I expected- for example there is not a Caterpillar roll on the menu which is my favorite and the California roll uses lettuce instead of cucumber. That's actually the weird part about all the rolls- there is lettuce in everything! When I went to Japan I remember lettuce being something hard to find and certainly don't remember it in the sushi. So I disagree with the reviewers who say this is authentically Japanese. Overall though the food is fresh and worth eating. I can only give it 3 stars though because we waited for our food for a really long time. We made our reservation for 7:30 and we waited 10 minutes or so for our drink order and then it took us about 30 minutes to get in our food order! We finally got out food after 8:30, maybe 8:45, and though we weren't quite finished by 9:30 the Japanese woman owner/waitress asked if we could please leave because we were the only table left. Being asked to leave at 9:30 on a Friday night is unacceptable in my book, particularly when it says they are open later. If you are to go make sure you get an early reservation and eat fast I guess. For me though, I think I'll continue to drive up to CoBo in Boone where the sushi is just as good and the atmosphere is way better!! read more

Pretty good! I didn't know what to expect for NC sushi options. The salmon nigiri we ordered was still a bit frozen, and ended up a little slimy- seems like it was frozen and defrosted a couple of times. The rolls were good, unique, though some of the cuts of fish on top were very inconsistent (ranging from small slivers to large hunks of fish). Overall, we would go back, though we would likely try some of the other food there. The restaurant itself is lovely, very calming, peaceful. read more

We eat here about out once a week. The couple who own/run the restaurant are the most accommodating and talented chefs in the area. Umi trumps any Japanese in this area and may have the best sushi I've had. (I are at the top sushi chef in the worlds restaurant in Hawaii and Umi could put him out of business.) Make a reservation or call ahead the meals are authentic and dining isn't a quick thing here. Everyone must go! read more