Foodie Friday: Umami Sushi

Enter Umami Sushi and you’re welcomed to a nice and trendy spot with Top 40 music playing overhead. 

Among the many restaurants located in San Marcos Center — next to Pie Society, Mochinut, Shai Yo Thai, Mochas and Javas and Dos Gatos — Umami Sushi is an eatery we hadn’t sampled yet. In a pinch to find lunch, Umami Sushi provided a delicious lunch at a relatively affordable price. 

“Umami Sushi specializes in Japanese cuisine with a touch of Korean dishes,” the restaurant says on its website. 

What to get: 

During our visit to Umami Sushi, my dining companion and I both chose to sample one of this San Marcos’ eatery's lunch bento boxes. 

I chose to try Umami’s bulgogi bento box ($13.95). This well-portioned lunch came with delicious Korean-style, marinated beef, a firecracker roll, California roll, salad, miso soup and three grapes. 

The bulgogi was flavored to perfection on top of steamed white rice. The firecracker roll, which was fried with tempura, was excellently paired with the California roll. The three grapes were a nice end to the meal.

My dining companion chose the chicken teriyaki bento box ($12.95), which came with grilled chicken served over white rice with teriyaki sauce alongside  a firecracker roll, California roll, salad, miso soup and three grapes. 

Umami also has a chicken karrage bento ($14.95), which comes with Japanese style, deep-fried chicken served over rice with yuzu sauce; and a chashu bento ($16.95) served with Japanese-style pork belly served over rice. You can also get the shrimp tempura bento ($15.95) or the salmon teriyaki bento ($16.95)

If you’re looking for Umami’s sushi and sashimi options, the restaurant has plenty of options to choose from. 

Umami has multiple sushi combos, including the Cali-five ($12.95), Philly-Five ($12.95), Texan-Five ($12.95), Rainbow-Five ($13.95) and Roll Combo ($12.95), which comes with your choice of two rolls: California, spicy tuna, spicy salmon, Philadelphia, Texan, flaky, spicy flaky, salmon, tuna or cucumber roll.

There are also three sashimi combo options to choose from: three-five, which comes with three pieces of sashimi served with five pieces of nigiri; the six-five — six pieces of sashimi served with five pieces of nigiri; or the nine-five served with nine pieces of sashimi served with five pieces of nigiri. 

Umami also offers build your own bowls ($15.95). You can pick from your choice of protein: tofu, tuna, salmon, crab delights, spicy crab delights, spicy ground tuna, spicy chopped salmon, beef bulgogi (add $2), extra fish (add $3), or fried egg (add $1). Then you can pick toppings from corn, carrots, cabbage, avocado, crab stick, cucumber, green onions and seaweed salad. Finally, pick a sauce — spicy mayo, eel sauce, Gochujang, yuzu, ponzu or yum yum. 

Looking for appetizers? Umami has several cold and hot appetizer choices to sample. On the cold menu, you can try the grenade ($9.95), which comes with your choice of tuna and salmon marinated and stuffed with avocado; or you can try the black albacore ($10.95) served with seared albacore tuna topped with ponzu sauce and black garlic. Umami also has poke nachos ($12.95), which comes with nacho chips, marinated tuna, avocado, spicy mayo, eel sauce and shredded nori. 

On the hot menu, you try the edamame ($4.95); the Idako Yaki ($6.95) — marinated baby octopus; chicken karrage ($10.95); or Agedashi tofu ($6.95) — Japanese-style, deep-fried tofu with dashi sauce and radish topped with nori kizami. 

For the full menu visit: umamiumami.com. 

If you go: 

Umami Sushi is located at the San Marcos Center at 700 N. LBJ  Dr., Suite 105. 

The restaurant is open from 4:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. on Monday-Wednesday and between 12-10 p.m., Thursday-Saturday. 

Phone: 512-667-7903