Umenoki Japanese Restaurant

Small price, Large value.. Sushi should be fresh, beautiful, and delicious. Umenoki passes the test. Although the size of the pieces on each plate reflect the low price, the quality of the sushi overflows the track. I went for lunch with a co-worker with low expectations due to the '$1 Sushi all day" sign. I was pleasantly surprised to find a clean friendly atmosphere, and plenty of selections on the track. I ordered Iced tea which was delivered quickly and obviously made fresh regularly. Some of the larger rolls are actually $3, but the size of the portions and the clearly marked plates made my budget lunch possible without confusion. I stuck with the $1 plates. The Nigiri sake was perfectly cut, and the rice was fresh and tender. I hardly noticed the size difference. The shrimp tempura roll was well made, down to the entire tail being shelled before battering. These are the kind of extra touches that make good sushi great. The Alaska and California rolls were as good as any I've had, with an extra artistic touch on the California roll. I hope to return soon with a larger appetite and a few friends.…

Great Place. I personally really like Umenoki for their great value and the service. Mr Lee (Li?) is very nice and his Dragon Roll is the most beautiful sushi roll I have ever seen! For $12 incl tip I can go in and get stuffed on Unagi, Inari and excellent salmon and tuna. We are regulars, so maybe we get treated better than some other reviewers... :P…

Food: Not so great; Service: Very poor. I went to Umenoki by Mall 205 because my brother said most plates are only $1. I went with my boyfriend to try it out. The pieces were really tiny. Yes, yes, consider how cheap it is, I should be more forgiving, but Sushiland's Tamago (egg) and Crab Salad are also $1, and it's much bigger and better. Aside from the portion of the food, the taste was bland. My boyfriend said the wasabi tasted like Chinese hot mustard, but thicker and green.

The service--at first it was alright. The waitress checked on us twice. Kudos to them. However, when we were done with dinner, we waited for a long time for someone to get our check. No one was near. I even stood up to attract their attention, however they are nowhere to be seen. Frustrated, we went to the counter to hoping they will notice us. Someone did. Yeah! She was standing in front of us but didn't ask when our needs were, but instead she helped another table for 5 minutes or so to put their sushi in the container. (Do they not have hands!? They do. They can do it themselves.)

When the attention was finally to us, she asked if we wanted an order to-go. We told her we want to pay. Let me explain what's my problem with that--there were only 3 group of parties there, it wasn't busy, you can see everyone in the restaurant, and she managed to be inattentive! We paid our dinner and left.

My boyfriend and I are NEVER going back to Umenoki again. Never again.…

We always come back. We have been visiting Mr. Lee at Umenoki since they opened. We do miss them on Sundays since that is the only day my fiance and I have off together. This was the place where I first introduced my fiance to sushi and he swears he won't eat sushi anywhere else. It's a family atmosphere and everybody knows your name, well not your name but at least they remember you. We have been bringing our son since he was born, he is 3 now and they are so sweet to him. He even knows Mr. Lee's name. Of course he loves it.

Yes, we were saddened when the frequent user stamp cards were taken away but its worth it. I wouldn't say they have the BEST sushi in town but for the price and in the area you can't beat it.

My only complaints are, the upholstery on the chairs is a bit on the dirty side, I would've chosen a chair that is easily wiped off. They are also pretty low for the table height. Second, the bathroom doors are filthy looking, either a fresh coat of paint or those bad boys need a good scrubbing. Third, from an interior designers perspective, low hung pendant light above the table and going around the sushi bar would be very attractive and would make the space more comfortable. Something is definitely missing and I'm pretty sure that would do the trick. Perhaps a nice small cobalt blue glass pendant. Hopefully they read this and take my advice.

But of course, regardless of this, we'll be back.…