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Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese, Thai
Neighborhood: LakeviewMontrose (Brown)
Mon-Wed. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Thu. 4:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
maybe they were trying harder when they first opened...
the quality seems to have steadily decreased over time. not quite as tasty, and i'm pretty sure the prices have gone up.
i feel bad for this place though... they're no competition for mixteco next door.
Umaiya opened fairly recently right across the street from my house. In the short time its been… Read more »
Wow. I really jinxed myself there.
My most recent order came out to a lot more than I was used to seeing and was accompanied with a new menu where, to my horror, I saw that they'd substantially raised their prices.
Bad form.
This has been my go-to place for eating sushi in my pajamas. Take this to mean that I've never been… Read more »
Finding good yakisoba in Chicago is not easy. I'm giving Umaiya 4 stars because they have the best yakisoba I've eaten since I was in Japan, where yakisoba is cheap, delicious, and plentiful. Also wonderful were the pumpkin Thai custard and weird, gooey, FREE dessert that consisted of corn, coconut cream, and tapioca.
Big points for online ordering and temperature/packaging of food. We picked up our carry out order and walked about 2 miles to see the 3rd of July fireworks. When we arrived 25 minutes later, the food was still piping hot.
One star deduction for really gross veggie gyoza. Next time I go back, I'm trying the meat gyoza.
People thought this was:
I've never eaten inside, but my mom brought home a Dragon Roll for me.
The car ride home was rocky apparently, because the maki rolls were completely lubricated and "sliding around" in
TOO.
MUCH.
MAYO.
Time for an update. My fiancee and I went here for a cute BYOB Valentines Day date last night, and everything was awesome.
The sushi here is now vastly, vastly improved. For an appetizer, we had the Winter Roll. This roll looked absolutely beautiful and tasted even better. I liked the creative mix of ingredients: white tuna, salmon, bean sprouts, black tobiko and wasabi mayo. Bean sprouts are my new favorite maki ingredient -- IMO, a tastier, healthier source of crunch than tempura. For $9, the Winter roll is a pretty generous size too.
We followed that up with red curry for me and basil chicken for him. We both reported that our mouths were on fire when we finished eating. We both agreed that's a good thing. The tofu is good -- firm, well cooked and flavorful. I hate when I order curry and my tofu hunks are kind of mushy and raw. Ick. Not the case here. Veggies are also good. Thai eggplant features prominently, which is a good thing in my opinion.
Umaiya has limited dessert options, but we had a bit of wine left to drink and wanted something sweet, so we tried the pumpkin custard. This was just OK, not mind blowing. It's only $3 for a portion that's definitely big enough to share, so it's worth a try for something a little different. Basically it's a little dish of warm, sweet pudding with gelatinous strips of pumpkin in it. That didn't sound very appetizing, but I liked it nonetheless.
Service is great -- attentive but unobtrusive. We never had empty water glasses; we never felt pressured to rush out the door.
All told, we got out of there for less than $30, and we had a super fun time sitting in a cozy corner at watching Montrose Ave go by outside. Another little reason to love living in Ravenswood!
My sushi experience here was very bad. I stopped in for take out on a weeknight. When I got home, I… Read more »
Cute, tiny sushi place with reasonable prices and yummy food. I am a huge fan of eel and their fancy eel rolls are always delicious and beautifully presented. The Thailand maki alone is worth the trip, though - so good! Definitely not a fancy place, but it's good for a weeknight dinner.
Cute little place, and by that I mean LITTLE. There are like six tables. We got some standard sushi rolls, salmon and avocado. Decent, but nothing to rave about. However, we also got the pumpkin thai custard for dessert, and it was yummy! They brought it to us in the plastic container that it comes in, so it was obviously pre-packaged. But now that I know this exists, I'm going to try and find it and fill my freezer with it.
People thought this was:
Love this place! I called about 45 minutes ahead to ask for a table for 6. Small, yes. But the decor is really modern, sleek and comfortable. Except for a few people coming in for carry-out, we were the only customers. The service was very good.
I could go on and on about the food and service. Basically, I love this place because the people are so nice; the food is fresh and delicious! With so many Thai and sushi restaurants around, give this one a try.
The best part - as we left, and passed by the front window, all three employees smiled and waved at us. Love this place!!!
People thought this was:
Awful, terrible restaurant. Ordered maki rolls to go, got home and found A STAPLE in my sushi. When I went back and informed the staff, they could not have been less helpful.
Never go here, order from here or generally give them any business. The quicker this place closes the better.
People thought this was:
Small eating area, but perfect for lunch! The portions are just the right size, and I love the option of Thai or sushi. They have really great prices and all of their dishes have such great flavors that I have a hard time finding elsewhere. Maybe it's the extremely fresh ingredients they seem to use?
Also, when eating in, I've gotten a "free gift" with my bill. Not just a mint -- oh no, a keychain with a president of Thailand on it. Hell yes.
People thought this was:
It was OK.
No crowd, BYOB, and VERY quick service.
The sushi was so-so, but the crab rangoons were yummy.
Rounded up from a 3.5. I think I have a sentimental attachment to this place because it's one of the first restaurants I regularly ate at in my 'hood.
I like their pad thai. My girlfriend does not. She says it tastes like they put ketchup in it. I respectfully disagree and think that it is perhaps, on good days, moderately delicious. Do not get it with shrimp though.
I did not like their pad see ew and their curry is mediocre. Their sushi, in my experience, has also been mediocre, though I feel like their eel stuff gets the job done.
The service is very good and very fast, and it's cheap. Good for takeout.
Okay, its more of a 3.5 but, I'd rather be positive ;)
Umaiya is great for quick, inexpensive sushi! They have a large selection of basic maki for $5 and under including some fairly tasty spicy tuna rolls. The special rolls are delicious, sizeable and well-priced. The fish is fresh, but not the highest quality...you get what you pay for.
I haven't eaten in, just grabbed take-out on the way home. But, the little shop front is teensy so I can imagine it getting very cramped in there. Service is pretty quick for take-out even when the restaurant is busy. So, if you're into sushi as a casual dinner Umaiya is a good bet. If you're looking for something elegant and sophisticated sushi-wise, this isn't the spot for you.
The sushi is good- but when the place has more than 3 tables occupied it feels real cramped.
The service is still getting up to speed, I have a feeling they are doing double duty as server and prep, but they are nice so that helps you feel better if you end up waiting a bit.
I will still be heading here on off nights to satisfy that BYOB sushi craving.
In my world, there are two kinds of sushi - lunch/take out sushi and dinner sushi.
Umaiya is lunch/take out sushi. Its not too expensive. Convenient (in my case, right around the corner from my condo). It easily satisfies a sushi craving. All good things.
To me 'dinner sushi' is more of an experience rather than just the sushi. You need a few friends and some drinks. You order mass quantities of sushi, and sometimes, several rounds. You feel no pressure to get up and leave bc you are having stimulating conversation. THAT is dinner sushi.
Umaiya is not dinner sushi. Umaiya is 'staying in on a Friday night' sushi. Or, 'coming home from the gym on Saturday afternoon and need to pick up lunch' sushi. But, its still tasty and fresh, as sushi should be.
People thought this was:
Really great little neighborhood sushi joint....staff was friendly/attentive, though didn't offer much in way of explanation with some of the rolls.
Very cheap for the quality, all of the rolls we got were very fresh and well prepared/presented. We had the spicy tuna, philadelphia, california, some veggie rolls and something with a lot of avocado on it...also had the edamame and miso soup, all were very good.
Seating area is small, but comfy...BYOB! No corkage fee. (I think it is supposed to be $3). There is a liquor store kitty corner...
Great stop, I will try them for takeout too...support local business and quality sushi, check it out! :)
People thought this was:
I had a quick carryout lunch from Umaiya and the pad thai was good. From the reviews here, I should be going here for sushi next time.
When previous reviewers mentioned that this place was tiny, they weren't kidding! Not that size really matters; I was just a little surprised that they could fit seating for 16 or 18 people in such a small space.
I picked this place for my birthday dinner based on the glowing reviews and the fact that its a new joint, just down the street from me. Neither my boyfriend nor I were impressed with Umaiya. Really, the only things we liked were the metal chopsticks and that its BYOB with no corkage fee.
I ordered two veggie maki rolls, which were really nothing special. I also had a bowl of tom kha soup that was pretty good, but nothing great. My boyfriend ordered the mussaman curry with vegetables. The waitress advised against only getting vegetables and told him tofu would be better because the only veggies they put in it are onions and semi-cooked potatoes. I was a little surprised that even though they had lots of other veggies on hand, they couldn't accommodate his request. He ate it, but slowly.. and coming from someone who inhales his food, that's saying something.
The presentation of my plate was really cute though. They had made snowmen out of rice and small pieces of avocado, cabbage and fish. As a vegetarian though (this came up when ordering), it would have been nice to know that the fish was indeed fish BEFORE putting it in my mouth. Oh well.. now I know what raw fish tastes like.. blood.
I might order take out from here some day, but given the number of other (better!) places in the neighborhood, I know I won't be back any time soon.
People thought this was:
This place rocks in the creative sushi roll department. Besides the normal sushi rolls, you can expect to find some very delicious and unusual selections. My two favorites are the Winter Roll and the Thailand Roll. F**in' awesome. The Winter has white tuna and salmon, with this awesome mayo and covered in black tobiko. The Thailand one has coconut shrimp in it and is covered in toasted coconut, yum! There's also the Mexican Roll, it has yellowtail with cilantro and jalapeos etc. Its so nice to have such different selections when you eat sushi.
Their website is a little hard to find. So being the nice person that I am here it is: http://www.umaiyacafe.com
This place isn't that big so its not good for a big group, but you can always order take out. Just beware that on busy nights they sometimes under estimate how long it will take them to have your food ready. Its happened to me and my friends a couple times. I still say its worth the wait, but nonetheless annoying if you're hungry.
If you do decide to eat there it is BYOB. They didn't charge us a corkage fee which is always a plus.
People thought this was:
I ordered a beef salad and beef green curry for takeout. I couldn't put the beef salad down, it was delicious and spicy enough to make my nose run (I asked for it to be medium); however, it lacked in greens. The green curry was also good. Umaiya also serves sushi and I did have a taste for it, but I made a vow that I no longer was going to order sushi from a restaurant ever again, not when there's LFM.
Well I just got finished checking this place out and I do agree...its a small place but very nice. The staff was great and I enjoyed the food.
Thanks to Yelp and my cell phone, I was able to check the reviews before walking in there. So I ordered the new appetizer they had of crab rangoon, and then a roll of the spider. The spider roll has softshell crab, avocado, crab, cucumber, masago, and mayo. It was smaller then I'm used to...had about 6 good sized pieces.....but was very tasty. I'm spoiled having a larger roll at Sushi X, but this was up there as far as taste. I definitely want to go back and try the Godzilla roll that they have and maybe try the noodle bowls. So for this experience of satisfying my hunger, I give it a thumbs up!
We've ordered from Umaiya twice now (both times carry-out). Service has been super fast and very friendly. We've had:
cashew chicken (ok - different sauce than I was expecting),
Pad Thai (disappointing. not enough veggies even though I ordered it with vegetables instead of meat),
Garlic Chicken (very good),
crispy scallops (good, but scallops are better with no batter to distract you!)
California roll: very good
Thom Kha soup, also very good
Looking at the other reviews, I think our next time we'll stick to sushi and see how that goes.
Go here on a Saturday and it is as though you are the only people in the world. The plates were beautiful! Highly enjoyable and recommended.
People thought this was:
Umaiya, forgive me, for I have sinned.
Though you are less than a block away from where I live, I…
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We ordered from Umaiya using Grub Hub, which worked well. They delivered within 30 minutes, which I thought impressive. The delivery guy was nice, and the process seamless. The quality of the food left something to be desired, however. Everything was just okay. I found the menu a little too creative. Occasionally I like maki rolls that are things I wouldn't necessarily put together, but I must say that cream cheese and sushi is never something that has appealed to me...it is just not the same thing as lox and bagels. They're also a little heavy on the mayo.
I also ordered a noodle dish which had nice flavor, but the tofu was a little rubbery, and the noodles stuck together a bit.
All in all, this place was great in a pinch. They delivered on a cold night when I preferred to stay in. However, there are so many great restaurants in the this neighborhood that will deliver, I don't think I'll order from Umaiya again.
People thought this was:
I live right around the corner from this place and have been wanting to try their sushi for awhile. FInally I did. I ordered miso soup, spider roll & shrimp tempura roll take out. It was $20 and worth every penny.!I actually ate the entire meal at once. I can't wait to order it again and try their other food.
The Thailand Roll was AWESOME! Never had it where the stuff inside a roll that was supposed to be warm was actually warm. The shrimp inside was hot. Yum! The coconut really added a kick to it if you like coconut.
I also had their unagi don (broiled eel over rice). Salad was tasty...peanutty. It was more than enough for me. Quite delicious but the unagi sauce on top was too salty and there was too much of it.
Metered street parking, easy to find.
Friendly service. Small dining area so not recommended for groups. It wasn't busy at all when I went. It was a weekday around 2pm.
White tuna. Spicy. All I'm saying.
Wow! What a great place! Tons of creative maki from which to choose, BYOB (always a plus), and the… Read more »
Quaint little place! I love what I have ordered. They were good, but can get expensive. Definately coming back!
People thought this was:
i've driven and walked by this place many times but never really wanted to check it out because the prices seemed a bit high for such a small place. but...we were hungry last night and were in a hurry to get to a friends house so we decided to eat here.
he ordered the chicken pad thai, i ordered the chicken terriyaki combo. he liked the pad thai because he says it wasn't oily but when i tasted it, i've had better. the chicken terriyaki was way too sweet and syrupy for my taste. the california rolls that came with my combo were pretty good and some of the sushi that came with were also pretty good, except for the octopus? i think it was octopus, but whatever it was, it was really slimy. i had to spit it out.
so...judging from the reviews, the rolls are what to get here. so, maybe in the future, i will try some of their rolls.
There are only a few tables here, but the service was good and quick. We had 5 maki rolls between the two of us and all were really good. For a good inexpensive maki roll, try the shrimp tempura. BYOB, there is a liquor store on the NE corner of Ashland and Montrose right across the street.
Wow! is all I can say. We were just looking for some new place to try and came across this restaurant. When we passed it we thought, oh a hole in the wall and expected "hole-like" atmosphere. BUT we were wrong. It is really small but has a cute dining area and the service is great with very nice people. The food was amazing. It was very fresh and their special Chef's rolls were creative and tasty. The Gomae is excellent. I love sushi and have been to a lot of places and have NEVER felt compelled to write one up. You'll like it as long as you don't judge it before you go in the door.
People thought this was:
horrible, horrible sushi. got takeout once and the fish tasted like it had been previously frozen and now had freezer burn. Yuck. i will not be getting anything from here ever again.
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