Umami

A Treat
Its not perfect but I love this little hidden gem, not many people seem to know about it probably due to its small sign and underground nature. Its kind of like a simpler version of Tampopo or Wagamamas but what it does do it does very well.
I’ve been here a few times and always had a nice time, theres nothing overwhealming about the place but everything you expect is done to a high standard. The staff are cold but alert and the chefs seem to really be adept and capable of crafting quality cuisine every time.
Simple décor in a small room with nice mood lighting cultivates a relaxing cosy atmosphere which has really embolden my having a nice time so to speak. Overall its great for a date night or just to experience something a little different.

Disappointing to be honest. Whenever I see the bright neon signs offering sushi and noodles in a tucked away restaurant I always want to go in.
I came at 12.30 which is clearly peak time as it was rammed. I went for the lunchtime express, 2 courses for £5.95. I went for chicken skewers in satay sauce which were okay. I also got hokkien fried rice which was disappointing as the last time I had this it was yum. That wasn’t here though.
To be fair it was quick and cheap, as promised. The staff were a mixed bag, from very smiley to the grumpy staff other people have mentioned. Service was very quick but almost too quick. The second you put down your fork your plate is whisked away, all the better to get the next paying customer in.
I feel in this case that location, location, location explains their success.

Not sure what to make of this place… on one hand it’s cheap but on the other hand I felt a little unwelcome.
I arrived at 14:55 knowing that they served a lucnh menu until 3pm… It had to be authorised by a ‘manager’ who allowed it… bit of fuss over nothing really as most places alow you on set menus as long as you arrive before the stated times. Not really a friendly welcome.
The selection is quite limited but adeqaute for lunch. The price of about a fiver for 2 courses is pretty amazin really. I ordered fried king prawns to start with. These were ok but lacking a little salad to accompany them. For main I ordered a chicken thai curry which was suprisingly very good. The portions aren’t massive but qhat do you expect for less than a fiver?
I will probably only go back if i’m in the area.

Freshly cooked food at a reasonable price, and very friendly service

Go here if you are a student. Right next to unis and super super affordable. I think lunch is 8 quid for 2 course meal which is really decent. The food isn’t obviously better than what you would get at a proper nice restaurant but it’s still very good. Nice place to hang out for a quick one hour break.

I have been meaning to try this place for ages, so finally it was my lucky chance.
The walk from town felt endless due to the weather, eventually we climbed down the stairs to enter a very clear cut place.
Lots of benches and tables were laden out in rows ready to go, and a kind waitress let us choose where we wanted to sit. I have read previous reviews that the service is typically aggressive. The majority of waiters were young chirpy females who were bright and accomodating, however the one guy with the tattoos… yeesh he needed to really cheer up.
Anyway on to the food… wow I thought I had died and gone to sushi heaven. The sashimi was really well priced at £3.50 for tuna (I normally pay at least a fiver) and the sake…£.3.50 for a flask… and it was good sake. cheapest sake ever.
We ordered lots of tuna maki, salmon nigiri and temaki handroll for starters, and a spicy ramen noodle dish for mains.
The sushi was really nice quality espcially for the price, the main meal i thought let it down. I love udon noodles but these were like the ones you buy as student. those cheap supernoodles for 10p.
Normally I would lower my rating, but the price of the sushi and sake is soo good that i know when I come back for the sushi I will not be disappointed.
I think if all the waiters had the same ethusiasm this would be a great place. oh and there is 10% off your food when you check in on Unilocal in the evenings.
But anyway I wouldn’t come here for dinner again as its not posh enough, but for a quick sushi fix it is, I might risk a main again.

This restaurant offers great position (right next to the aquatic centre) and a large menu with fusion asian cuisine.
Price is in line with the average asian restaurant, but you can save some money with takeaway or lunch deals (ideal for students).
Food isn’t bad but it’s not memorable either. I had ramen udon which was quite lacking, but my partner had a pretty tasty pat-​thai.
One major downside is the location: a basement with no windows. Avoid if you’re looking for some nice atmosphere.

I got a sushi craving… I looked in Unilocal… I avoided a few chain sushi joints and ended up at Umami.
Being a bit of a sushi novice… I kind of guessed at the menu a bit and thought that sashimi meant raw and nigiri by process of elimination meant cooked… How wrong I was…
Umami offers a mix of sushi, noodle and soups which I thought was great and we ordered a mix of Sushi and Ramen with some side dishes. The Char Sui pork Ramen was great… needed a little soy sauce, but that was available on all the tables.
The sushi… well the whole plate came raw with the exception of Smoked eel and prawns.
Raw octopus — not for me (difficult texture)
Raw tuna — really good
Salmon — great!
Smoked Eel — to die for!
Prawn
When you enter the restaurant your greeted by large wooden tables with benches either side. It’s quite basic and a bit too bright for my liking. If i’m honest I don’t think I’ll be returning as it didn’t have the atmosphere or vibe that I like from a japanese Sushu House.
Overall — It’s not a bad place to get sushi & Ramen.
Top Tips —
All the sushi is raw except (eel & Prawns) asked the waiter.
10% Off evening bill with Unilocal Checkin

Has sushi here last week and have also been here lots with the lunch deals in the past.
Sushi was… Not so great for me :(it may be that I just don’t like sushi or raw fish however my partner who came with me, who does like sushi wasn’t Wowed by it unfortunately! It was lovingly made I’m sure but just dismt have enough Taste for me!
We also had the roast pork ramen noodles which was lovely and very tasty. Lots of juicy noodles and pork in a broth with lots of pak choi! The pork dumplings that came with it were also delicious!
You have to get prawn toast and Thai spicy crackers they are just divine!
The lunch meal deal is great value and cheaper than the evening meals tho it’s lovely any time of day!
There are lots of long benches and communal tables so if you’re looking for a romantic dinner perhaps here isn’t the place!
Good selection of beers and wine though not particularly cheap! House rose was lovely :)

I was introduced to to Umami by a colleague and would probably have walked straight past it otherwise. The door on Oxford Road is fairly anonymous, and the staircase down to this basement restaurant is completely bare which gives you doubts about whether you’re supposed to be here.
In short, Umami is like an independent and authentic Wagamama or Tampopo. The service is fast and friendly and the food is fresh and tasty. Their lunch menu is incredibly good value, but arrive early or else you won’t stand a chance of getting a table. They also offer sushi and do sushi to take out for lunch.

When you need a spice hit to get through the day this is the place.
The lunch time deal is always really good and I’m left feeling full. The serivce is super quick but if your any later the 12 noon you might have to wait for for a few mintues.
The food is also healthy so if your looking for something that fits in to your healthy eating plan this is the place.

Great little place to eat on oxford road near to the universities. Very similar to wagamama /​tampopo, but if you go at lunch time, you get two courses for less than £6!
The layout is bench style as in similar restaurants, so be prepared to be sat next to some strangers ! The décor is simple but modern, and there is a large open kitchen where you can see the chefs at work.
I quite often go here with vegetarian friends and they always have a good selection on the menu. I tend to get whatever their ramen of the day is, and meat or vegetable gyozo or tempura to start. Always well cooked and comes out of the kitchen very quickly! Although it can get very busy at lunchtime and I’ve heard the staff can get a little pushy to keep the turnover on their tables, I’ve never had a bad experience. I think for £5.95, you can’t go wrong !!

I really wanted to like this place. But on my first experience I got take out and it all went bad. I got a veggie soup and took it home. I asked the girl numerous times if there were any nuts in it because I am severely allergic. She assured me several times it was nut free.
At home, in my first few bites, I found a peanut and had an allergic reaction. Needless to say I spent the evening with an ambulance and will never go back.

Service here is at times physically as well as verbally aggressive which is… disconcerting. Express means express. It will not be acceptable if you are not ready to order. It will be acceptable to serve your main course before you have finished your starter.
Lunch deal — £5.95 for 2 courses is good value and I had decent gyoza (3 pcs) and what was essentially won ton soup which wasn’t particularly flavourful except I thought the dumplings themselves were quite good.
There is a full menu too and basically this place is pretty good, overall though I do prefer eatGoody (it’s Korean food though) which is also marginally closer to my office.

Really love the unique environment. You feel like «everyone’s in it together» almost like an elegant cafeteria… if you can imagine that. The food was great I had a red curry entrée with duck but I think the best part of the evening was the dessert. The cheese cake was magnificent. The waitress with the piercings was really nice!

I’ll give this place one thing. They’ve definitely got patience, and I am very appreciative of that. With a large group, with so many lollygaggers, the staff here were definitely good to us. I know I would have been unhappy with us.
The restaurant is a good size, with a lot of seating. A nice modern-​ish interior. My Grosvenor Hall pals definitely loved the location!
Our group ordered a variety of dishes. I had the fried noodle dish, it was nice. Nothing too special. Someone else at the table ordered sushi, definitely pricey and not filling at all. Rice was there and… honestly, nothing really stood out. But I am glad I had the noodles, looked the most appealing compared to the others. At the end of the night, we were all able to have a good time at Umami, probably because we overstayed our welcome, and you weren’t too fussy about it. So much thanks to that!
If it weren’t for the nice location and understanding staff, I wouldn’t have much else to say. =/

Umami’s best marketing strategy is their location! They are right in the cent re of Oxford road amidst the University attracting all the students there. When you are a student in Oxford road and want to have something different besides subway and MacDonald, Umami definitely is your best bet.
Their food is decent but I cant say the same about the service because the staff look so annoyed and irritated all the time. You always feel like they are doing a massive favor by even coming to take your order. Having said that, their lunch deal is actually pretty awesome for less than 6 pounds you can have a good meal. Despite the not so good service I used to frequent this place ever so often when I was bored of studying in the library and cluster of Manchester Business School!
The seating arrangement is more like a fast food joint and boy they dont let you sit for even one extra minute after you are done with your food. They also have a 20% discount if you opt for take away (I guess they just don’t like people: p)
Things to try:
1. Thai Green/​Red Curry
2. Sushi Palate
3. Tom Yum Soup
Verdict: Cheap and good food but not ideal for dining in!

This is a good deal for lunch. For the lunch special pick one appetizer and one main. They come quick and were pretty good. I had gyoza and curry chicken w/​rice. Service was quick and efficient. This is good deal for a quick lunch. The sign on Oxford road says «Noodle Bar» Head down stairs.

Good for: humorous menu spelling mistakes, the Wagamama’s lover who wants to stick it to the man, the best tofu this side of the Great Wall
Bad for: the unobservant passer by, interior designers

Umami must hate the dreaded «W» word. You know, «W***m**a.» But then, seeing as the restaurant seems to be almost entirely modelled on the famous Japanese noodle chain, they can’t really complain.
Sitting in an underground premises on Oxford Road, Umami reflects the students swarming all around the local area. A slightly budget w***m**a but with same bench tables, open kitchen and scribbling-​down-​your-​order-​on-​your-​paper-​place-​mat kind of vibe.
They do great lunch deals, which include a starter and a main for just £4.95, which really is a steal. I went to Umami with two friends for a quick lunch and we all taken in by the lunch deal.
For my appetiser I had the king prawn gyoza dumplings. They came with a tasty dipping sauce and were served really quickly. For the main course, I chose the ngaulam gaeng keow wan (I wrote it down!) which is basically a thai green curry. It came with lots of cucumber which isn’t really my thing, but it was hot both in a spicy and temperature way so it really did the job for me as it was freezing outside! At times, I did feel that it was so spicy the taste of the dish was lost, but I guess that depends on individuals’ tastes.
Umami is just fine if you’re a student and fancy a quick, cheap bite to eat. It’s not as good as Wagamama though. Oops. I said it. Wagamama. And again.