Umi 2

Umi is starting to become my quick and easy lunch time hangout!
I’ve been to the first location in Chalmette numerous times so when I saw signage for a location on the Westbank close to my job I was pretty excited.
The renovations to the space are really nice and the staff whom I recognize from the other location are as nice as they’ve always been. The food and service has improved tremendously after my first initial visit. I wanted to give them a chance to work out all the kinks before writing this review. So here goes…
I’ve only had the crawfish roll from here as far as sushi is concerned… so I can’t really comment too much on the Specialty Rolls. As far as the hibachi is concerned it could use some finesse. They aren’t cooking the items in from of you like traditional hibachi rather in the back with the rest of the items. Each time the food has been kind of on the salty side. We asked our waitress to tell the kitchen staff low sodium and they semi got it right the next time. The hibachi rice while flavorful was soaked in oil/grease…they hit a home run on the salmon, shrimp and veggies.
On my last recent visit I ordered the steak bowl entrée (Donburi). It was amazing! Flavorful, smothered steak with grilled onions and egg over white rice. And a super large portion for lunch AND CHEAP! They also offer this entrée with chicken as well. It just might be my go to from now on when I visit. I’ve also had the seafood Yaki Soba (not pictured… Sorry) that was pretty good as well.
I enjoy this place alot… the kitchen staff just needs some practice and to be consistent with the dishes.
All in all… its a decent place to grab lunch. I’ll be back for sure. Oh and they do delivery too!

I love the ambiance here and their fish are very good. All of the wait staff have been very very nice and knowledgable about the food. WE will be back!

My family has enjoyed Umi II on multiple occasions. The staff was friendly and attentive. We liked the tempura, sushi and fried rice. This restaurant is a great addition to the neighborhood.

I am so glad that this place opened! I’m from Las Vegas and in comparison to the sushi places that I’ve explored here in New Orleans. None really matches up with back home… Until Umi2! I ordered the Fat Cowboy and the Out of Control roll. They were both amazing!!! The FCR, awesome surf’n’turf concept. While I was enjoying my meal, I couldn’t help but think… This Place Delivers Too!!!

Average sushi, average or less service. The highlight was the salad but it had too much dressing. The bento box was big but forgettable. The tempura was soggy. I had to wait for the tempura sauce. I ordered the steak with the bento box. She asked how I wanted it cooked I said medium. It came back medium rare and it had no taste at all. As if seasoning was non-​existent here. Fortunately (or not) it was drenched in high sodium teriyaki sauce. First time ever I did not finish a bento box meal both the sushi and the beef. The sushi that came with the bento box was supposed to be a California roll. I’m really not sure what it was to be honest. The décor was okay but so out of place… more like a fancy truck stop. I rather drive across the bridge for dunner than come back here…

I dont work here. It is a great place. Very nice people. They care about their clients. They want to please. The food was excellent. Freshest lettuce i have ever had anywhere-​I had a sashimi type salad. The salmon roe sushi was phenomenal. Fresh fresh fresh. Can’t wait until they have sea urchin. This is a must try.

I want to give this place a 1 star but I’ll try to be nice as I am the first person to review them that does not work there. I know because I saw them there this evening.
The space is really quite nicely done. Very stylish. The food was very much lacking.
I really believed our waiter was new because he was slow, forgetful and looked and acted very confused. But he said he worked at their original restaurant so um… maybe he’s related to them in some way. He managed to bring us the wrong app, was super slow to do anything and by the time he got his shit together, it was half an hour before we were actually able to order our mains… which we regret ordering.
Speaking of relations, it was apparently bring your 2 year old to work with you day. The poor thing was not having a good time and screeches could be heard from him all through the meal. Last place where they had their kid there was closed not long after I was there. Maybe take the hint.
So now, the food:
We ordered the curried shrimp, and mushroom soup apps. The curry was just… bad. The Mushroom soup was simply miso with mushrooms and while neither of them were good, they were the best parts of the meal.
I ordered the Dynamite roll and the Girly got the Lobster Tempura roll. In my entire life, I have never had lobster that was crunchy like cartilage and smelled fishier than fish. Really bad.
The Dynamite roll was disgusting. I mean, seriously disgusting. It was supposed to be spicy, crunchy salmon and tuna with more crunchy tuna on top. They mixed the spicy tuna WITH the crunchy stuff so it made this… bread paste that had a really unfortunate texture that was nauseating. It was also not spicy at all.
Actually, nothing that was supposed to be spicy was actually spicy. I ate 4 bites and could NOT put down any more. It was really disgusting.
When the waiter asked how the food was, I told him. And showed him that I wasn’t eating the sushi. He proceeded to bring the bill without offering a discount for the bad sushi. I did something I’ve never done before. I specifically asked to take the sushi off the bill. Hated doing that but damn, this was the nastiest sushi ever. Thankfully, there was a Rouse’s close by. We bought some Pepto and took shots right in the parking lot.
Seriously.
As I mentioned earlier, I was going to give them 2 stars, but since the geniuses at Unilocal said they won’t remove the two reviews written by employees even after I told them I saw them there, I will change it to 1 star, which, they really do deserve anyway.