Umai

This is one of the better sushi places in the Boston area. Actually my favorite out of the many I’ve tried — keeps me coming back! Quality, fresh offerings. Legit sushi/​sashimi (try the mackerel!) Plus — the overall best Tempura. And the Beef Udon is money. The staff is very nice and will remember you after a few visits. I actually like the stroll along Newbury, despite the crowds. On street parking is typically available but you may need to circle a time or two. A great date idea within walking distance of The Boston Public Gardens, The Common and AMC Loews.

Japanese food is my husband’s and my favorite, and Umai is our favorite place in Boston. After visiting Japan a couple years ago, when we got back to Boston, certain sushi places didn’t do it for us anymore. But Umai is always delicious and fresh. And the waiters are very kind. We brought our two year old, and they were very accommodating of his occasional shouts.

Went here with a couple friends the other night, and I really think we’ve found a hidden gem!
Having not been a Boston Native, like so many in the city, it’s hard to be able to find a nice restaurant sometimes.
The food was really good, and the service was super friendly and fast, and the location was perfect because it’s on a main road in back bay so we just were passing by it and walked in.
The main room is a little small, and it’s a little intimidating at first thinking that they can fit three or four more people in their small dining room, but don’t be discouraged, it’s worth it!

Ok you guys I am a sushi lover and expert. This is a bad place if you like sashimi or raw sushi. The worst California rolls too. I am so disappointed the service was bad and the food was really bad. Honestly time to change your chef.

Excellent, delicious sushi. They have seating in the area of their café that the stores on Newbury use for merchandise display that makes for a good people watching spot. The food came very fast and I appreciate that they brought the rolls on one plate when my friend and I indicated we would be sharing. My only complaints are the service was slow (had to ask for more water) and our boba tea was warm. Overall the place is on the smaller side so it’s probably not good for a large group.

Took me a while to remember the name of this place (and therefore write a review) but I finally did it! Although this was a while ago, over a year in fact, I still remember the experience. My boyfriend and I were in the area with a buddy and we were a bit peckish. Initially we were going to go to Itadaki, but it was crawling with kids trying to get their hands on a punch bowl. Not quite the vibe we were looking for. We stopped into Umai since there was no line (but still sushi) and were immediately seated.
Because of the extensive menu we had a bit of trouble deciding on what to order. At first we were going to get a bunch of maki rolls and share, but since we couldn’t agree on any we wound up ordering different items instead. I got a salmon and salmon roe don, my boyfriend got the tempura udon dinner set, and our friend got two maki roll. Didn’t take very long for us to get our food, maybe 20 – 30 minutes, but the server was a bit poor. My boyfriend and I both had orders that came with soup, but only one arrived. The food was fine. The fish quality was standard for an affordable Boston sushi spot. I didn’t see any food options that were out of the ordinary, so I can’t give Umai any extra points for originality.
I could see this place being a good choice for lunch. Especially for a college kid on a budget. But for me Umai is just a place I’d go to if I was in the area, nowhere I’d go out of my way for.

Excellent!
We enjoyed the Newberry rolls earlier today.
We definitely recommend it and we will be back.

This place has pretty good food, but the service is unacceptable. I’ve been here twice, once for take out and once with meal pass.
The first time I got a lunch special and was told it would take 10 minutes. I arrive after 10 and it took another 20 minutes to get my food… but overall wasn’t too upset because the sushi was good and the portion size was large. I figured the slow service was an isolated event… But I guess not.
I came with meal pass this afternoon and the service I receive was absolutely ridiculous. They told me it would be 10 minutes and after 25 minutes of waiting I asked, only to be told they just got the chicken that they needed for it. Um… What!!! I wouldn’t have waited if I knew it would take a total of 35 minutes to get my food… They did offer an apology but a a cup of water or tea would have been appreciated.
The teriyaki chicken I got was decent. It was mostly rice, but that’s to be expected with meal pass…
I would try this place again since I live nearby and like sushi, but wouldn’t go back if the service is anything like how it was the first two times…

The lunch bento boxes here are the best price you can get them at! For $ 10-​$ 12 you can get a bento with rice, your entrée choice of meat/​fish, three pieces of chef special sushi, salad, and some sides along with miso soup! My favorite is the gyudon bento box.
This is my go-​to place for bento boxes! Although my major con here is that it’s humid inside when the weather is hot. Even just that much can ruin my meal. It’s pretty tight as it is.

Horrible experience. My boyfriend and I came to Umai for our Easter lunch and ordered a couple of rolls. 15 minutes after eating we both immediately got sick. We have been throwing up for hours since eating and we are positive it is from the sushi. I’ve been to hundreds of sushi restaraunts before and it’s safe to say that this was my worst experience. Never coming here again, and I suggest you don’t either.

For a sushi place on Newbury, this place as the most variety and options for sushi. Extensive menu. Suggest trying the tuna on tofu appetizer if you like spicy tuna rolls or raw tuna in general. The sauce on there is on point. The rolls were standard and nothing to rave about. Just good sushi. Prices are what you would expect for a casual sushi place.

My husband and I decided to try Umai last night because the sashimi dons looked pretty awesome on their menu (they had pictures of some of the dons). He ordered the pork katsu dinner plate, which was pretty good according to him, and I ordered a Red Prawn and Uni Don. I was very excited to get my meal because first of all, it costs about $ 22 so I thought «Oh man, this must be super awesome. There must be a decent amount of tuna/​salmon roe/​uni.», but my excitement soon turned into disappointment when my meal came out.
The don looked nothing like the menu picture. I understand that menu pictures can be misleading sometimes, but it was way too different for us to let go. If it was a $ 10 bowl, yes sure whatever, but $ 22? My husband immediately knew that I would not let this pass.
These are the issues I had:
1. Red Prawn and Uni Don should have come with «red prawn, uni, tuna and salmon roe». The chef included salmon sashimi, which usually doesn’t cost as much as tuna, roe, or uni. I realized this after we came home.
2. The portion was ridiculous. They gave me 3 tiny pieces of tuna (imagine 0.4in x 0.4in x 1in), 3 tiny pieces of salmon, 1 spoon of roe, 4 tiny pieces of uni, and about 1.5 pieces of red prawn. The surface of the bowl was literally 65% rice. In the picture, you don’t see any rice & you get twice as much toppings.
3. We were told that the number of pieces are the same in the picture. I know how to count, and I thought that was absolutely not true.
That being said, the service was excellent. The servers tried their best to make us happy, sent the bowl back to the chef multiple times to get it fixed, and came to talk to us many times to apologize (although it certainly was not their fault).
Conclusion: We will not come back to this restaurant ever. The items are super expensive and definitely not worth the price & you can tell that the owner doesn’t care about the customers at all. We should’ve taken a picture of the meal but completely forgot, since they turned me into Godzilla. Sorry guys.

Ordered $ 13 udon noodle soup to go, asked for a small container of Sriracha and he said, «additional $ 1.50 for the hot sauce.» I asked if he would also charge me for hot sauce if I were to dine in? He said, Yes!
Food is okay.

I stopped in for a quick bite on a slow afternoon and I got in and out with a delicious meal in about 25 minutes! The seaweed salad was good but a little too crunchy for me… The Boston sushi roll was delicious and perfectly spicy! All of the meals being served to tables around me looked delicious. The service was excellent. A+ for food display!

Favorite sushi spot on Newbury! My to-​go place for lunch– their bento boxes are yummy and decently priced at $ 11-​$ 12. The staff is super friendly and tries to seat you right away. My favorite place to sit is by the window at the elevated table because I like to people watch. I’ve been here for dinner too, still delicious but a little pricy. I got the Oyako don (salmon and salmon roe over white rice) and there were only seven small slices. The caterpillar roll was $ 12 which is a bit much to me, for a small roll. I love eating here though and I’ll probably be back soon.

These guys are super nice. They seated us right away. They were very accommodating with our toddler. We didn’t want to spent every night in Boston as kid joints so we attempted a small spot with sushi.
The food was excellent. We had the baked Alaskan roll and the spider maki. We also had edema me and Gyoza
Everything was fresh and very tasty ! If we were locals we would go here often.
Small and quaint.

Great sushi! He spicy tuna roll was perfect and the salmon belly soooo good! Will come back many many times!

+ good priced lunch specials
+ plenty of seating… but the one by the window that’s elevated is the best for people watching!
+ good flavored
+ friendly staff
Came here during the weekday for their lunch special which was fiarly priced at $ 12 for pork katsu bento box and + 1 – 2 more for a more sushi heavy meal. The place was virtually empty, but it was a cold, windy day. Comes with a bowl of miso soup, a side of salad (that was very vinigar-​y, meh) and your meal. I was more than full after the meal and was satisfied after an hour or so of people watching. The waiter was a friendly young guy who told us about his immigration from China and how he’s studying architecture just down the street. It was an easy going, relaxing environment with a young staff. The food was simple and good and fairly priced. Will be back!

This was a decent place for sushi. I came in on a Saturday night after getting my nails done downstairs at Jennifer’s. The place wasn’t too full and we were seated right away.
The reason for the three stars is because of the service. Given there were only two wait staff, my friend and I weren’t given water until we asked due wasabi spice halfway through our meal. Our sushi was tasty but not anything extraordinary, and came out after 40 minutes, we had to ask the waiter to check on it before he apologized. A table of regulars came in after us and was checked on repeatedly and offered water upon being seated. My friend and I had ordered bubble tea and I got min hot. Little did I know that it would come in a cup half the size of my friends cold one. The waiter was nice enough to give me a complimentary 2^nd tea after I complained due to the size difference but they had run out of boba! So my experience while made better by the boba lacking boba tea left more to be desired.
Overall the sushi was good and decently priced but I’ll likely try another sushi place on Newbury next time I’m there.

Just saying, we were looking for Omai/​Omy/​Oh My restaurant all day and was so confused and then we realize how vapid we were; but at the end of the day; we made it to the restaurant and got to sit @ the window. Yezzzz!
I’ve eaten a good 80% of sushi in Boston now, and I just want to find my sushi-​home. There are some kudos point for Umai but it’s not an OMB-​Gimmeonceaweek type of way.
Buenos: love that Aloe drink. Perfect lightness to cleanse my palate between each bite.
First time I had the Seared Tuna Steak Kabob Lunch Bento, it was good, not super amazing, the texture and the taste get muddle of the a while.
My friend got the Miso Saba Lunch Bento; man that look really good though… should have sneak a bite ._​.
Second time, craving some saba. Got my buddy to tag along. We ordered a variety of nigiri and sushi.
I also got Boneless Fried Chicken Dinner Plate, because I wanted to overindulge. Was slightly disappointed since I imagine it would taste like Café Mami’s Tatsuta based on the description. Overall it was slightly salty and could have really benefited from a touch of acid or a typical mayo sauce.
Adore my saba. But then I don’t think I can dislike a piece of mackerel.
Wanted to be fancy I got Uni. I feel depressed since I’m not sure if I don’t like Uni in general or I had bad Uni. I was sorely disappointed. But I don’t want to be like hey their uni sucks because I only had it twice now. Please let me know your #1 place for good uni please I don’t want to deprive myself of uni thinking I don’t like it.
My experience here had been fun, their servers are nice and prompt. The place is slightly small I can’t imagine bringing my entire ohana here. But its a cute place, nice people. Food wise its a few hit and miss. Will continue elsewhere in my journey: looking for the one true king of sushi.