Review Umami Restaurant & Bar - Brisbane

This place is mind blowing. The food is filled with so much flavour and the cocktails are all equally tasty. I has at least 5 cocktails and couldn't fault a single one. So excited to visit again soon.

Staff were very accommodating as we had a birthday party here and they catered to all of our needs. Food was good but the cocktails were excellent!

A bit on the upper price range but the staff, service and food were terrific!. The ambiance was great! Terrific tapas style cuisine, great for date nights and group gatherings. I can't recommend the pork belly enough! It was crazy good!!! Everything we ordered tasted amazing. The duck pancakes were also a delight!

What a lovely place! The service was really good, water was brought without having to be asked, the food was varied, different and delicious! Even my meat-loving dining partner got excited about the different spin on the fried tofu! We shared 5 tapas dishes and this was enough for 2 people for dinner. Reasonable wine and beer choices and a great range of Japanese drinks too. We had asked for a special table when we booked and were given a really nice booth. Love the decor too. Really worth a visit!

Great food, bit of a stuff up meal orders across table (1.5hrs before food) but also place was completely packed. Bookings recommended as is the steaming dragon cocktail to share.

Great place for a bit of different style food. Great service and list of Japanese whisky. Will be back.

Staff were lovely but untrained. We’re not aware of what was in the menu nor the ingredients of the dishes. The team had a good attitudes, that was the only saving grace. The dishes for the most part were a miss unfortunately. The one good dish was the truffle dumplings.

Staff were amazing, so friendly and helpful. There was a mix up with one dish but what we got excellent, so no complaints. Cocktails are interesting and delicious. The food was perfect. Will definitely be heading back.

Seriously, I wish i was in the neon signage business, because the number of completely half-baked asian restaurants that seem to think culture is akin to horrible wallpaper and way too much coloured lighting is mind-blowing. <br/>Oh and chuck an expensive coffee machine in the corner for who the hell knows what for? <br/>The food was the product of someone watching too much Munchies and having never bothered to learn how to cook. To be honest, I was skeptical of the place based on the name alone. <br/>Big shoes to fill, and only children's feet available it seems.

I was a disappointed. Everything looked amazing on paper, but in reality was a bit ordinary. Crab gyoza? Hell yeah! Nope, a bit of a let down. Yakitori chicken? Hoorah! Nope, just ok. I’m sorry to say it’s not that great. <br/><br/>Everything was presented beautifully, but the taste of the food was just ok. And drinks are expensive. <br/><br/>I’m giving it a rating of 2, because I can’t, in good conscience, give it any more. On this app, a 3 is great. 4 is awesome. 5 is mind-blowing. <br/><br/>Umami is just ok, and way too expensive. I’m sorry, but that’s the verdict from me.

Had the degustation menu with work colleagues. The place has a nice ambience. The food is ok. Nothing to get excited about. Needs to pace the food better as well as a cleanser. Overall it was average.

We stumbled across this place after a few drinks and was very happy to have found it. The place is quite dark, which doesnt do the food any justice but my flash took car of that. The service was great and our favourite was the umami bites, very tasty👌. The croquettes are also a must. Will come back again.....sober next time 😂.

Went out to try Umami at Fortitude Valley last week. Despite my usual hesitation for modern Asian fusion, my good experience with Junk lead me to try it out, so a couple of us headed there for some dinner after work on Friday. One of the main themes of the restaurant which really caught our eye was the Maneki Neko (beckoning cat), which one of my companions really quite adored. Apparently these are also offered for sale.

Had dinner with Dimmi promo of 50% off food bill three weeks ago. Located at the previous spot of Hunan restaurant underneath the Golden Palace restaurant. It was not hard to find this contemporary set-up modern Asian restaurant. The first step walked in then you could find the chefs working at a fast pace through the window of semi-opened kitchen. Service was professional and friendly. Ordered the Bao Bao, Grilled Octopus, DIY Beef Rice Paper Roll, Wagyu steak and the Signature dessert "The Astro Bomb". Loved the Bao Bao came with two textures of soft shell crab and pulled pork so we could enjoy seafood and pork meat at the same time. Grilled octopus deserved thumb-up with tendered texture and delicious taste. I particularly like the way that they presented the beef rice paper roll. I had similar dish in Vietnamese restaurant many times but the size and quality of the rice paper that they served were the best. Importantly was the very hot water and side dishes that accompanied with the dish, they were well matched. Wagyu steak done in perfect med-rare. Needless to say, hero of the night was the dessert, they played the tricks with liquid nitrogen and presented a very nice and interesting dessert to have the beautiful full stop for the night. This restaurant really deserves the name "Umami" (it means delicious in Japanese).

Checked out this place for an impromptu dinner. Although quiet when we arrived, the place picked up and it was really enjoyable to sit and take in the street, funky 80's music and decor. The food was delicious and the hunky waiter was wonderful. I'll definitely be back!<br/>

Absolutely loved their Umami Bites, Bao Bao and the fried chicken! Such great flavours!! But will most definitely come back for their pork belly - Umami definitely wow'd with that one 😍 great customer service and overall, a wonderful dining experience!

Dim light, a modern yet intimate space, an extensive wine list, delicious food & great service. A share style modern Asian menu is on offer and I got to try many of these as part of a work function. Stand out dishes amongst the group were the soft shell crab bao, Vietnamese fried chicken wings, umami bites, red curry brisket, roast pork belly and duck. For dessert, we got to try the Astro bomb, panacotta & chocolate (secret menu). All of them were a success. Needless to say, I've never had so many stand out dishes in one sitting...consider that Umami goodness signed, sealed and delivered !

Amazing spot! This hidden gem serves up some of the best asian fusion in Brisbane. I had the beef brisket curry and duck pancakes. It was soooo delicious! Can't wait to dine here again.

Recently hit up Umami for a team dinner and wowowow was it brilliant. With a great wine list and v cool cocktails it's an awesome place to go for drinks and some mean Asian tapas with friends or on a date. The VFC (Viet Fried Chicken) was the absolute winner of the night with a tender centre, a great crispy skin and flavour packed coating of nahm jim dressing. Among the mains was the brisket red curry which had a great spice to it, a chicken dish which was not as nice as the rest, a huge board of Asian styled pork belly and roast duck (my favourite) as well as dumplings, soft shell crab bao and umami chicken bites - safe to say we were pretty full. But there's always room for dessert and the beautifully light and subtly sweet rosemary-infused panacotta hit the spot perfectly. Only had a bite of the secret menu chocolate dessert but I probably could have eaten a tub of the white chocolate gelato.

Possibly the worst dining experience I have ever had.<br/><br/>The food is extremely overpriced and sickly sweet. <br/><br/>Ordered a glass of wine that never arrived, staff asked us if we would like dessert before we had even got main meals.<br/><br/>Don't think this place will survive!

Umami has a really nice atmosphere and I love the layout of the restaurant. The menu seemed very interesting with a good variety of Asian fusion cuisine. The meals were well presented however the quality was not quite there. The duck in my duck pancakes were dry as if over cooked. My croquettes were quite delicious with a good crunch on the outside and fluffy filling. Pork ribs was not too bad except the sauce tasted like it had too much XO sauce in there. Duck wontons were luke warm when they came out and lacked in flavour. I'm use to wontons in soup being much much hotter when served but others may not feel the same. I was not keen on the sweet and sour flavours on the octopus dish. Just didn't feel this was a good combo for octopus. Overall the food was not bad. I think with all the hype of shared plates in Asian fusion, I was expecting a lot more. <br/><br/>The staff service were poorly trained. Being a first time customer we didn't know how many plates we needed to order between two people and the waitress had no idea either. It's probably excusable as it was her first day though. After we had ordered another waitress came by and asked us what we had ordered as they have mixed up our orders with someone else. We ordered 5 dishes. After the second dish another waitress came out to clear the plate and asked if we wanted to order anything else. My partner and I were confused at the question as we were still waiting on another three dishes. It shows these waitresses are not paying any attention and the constant change of waitress is not helping. The third dish gets cleared by a different waitress again and she decides to take away my husbands plate and drops his cutlery. I asked whether or not we didn't need our plates for the two remaining dishes we were waiting on and she seemed very confused. Possibly because of the language barrier. She soon apologises and had to bring out a new set of cutlery and plate. Then we had three different waitresses ask us how our meal was whilst our faces were engulfed by these pork ribs. Bad time to be asking customers about their meals girls. (Shakes head). Staff here need serious training considering they've been open for 8 months now. These little faults should be refined already by now. <br/><br/>

After hearing a lot about this place, I went in with a couple friends last week. The concept was very interesting, the food and drinks are above average. We had the bao, duck wonton, BBQ duck pancake, red curry, wagyu steak, astro boy and chocolate. <br/><br/>The bao was good, nice and saucy. The duck in the pancake was soft and juicy. The wonton was awesome, the soup was so tasty, I wish there was more of it. Red curry was good but was too spicy for my friend. The waiter gave her some coconut milk to mix in, she enjoyed it after that. I loved the wagyu steak, it was so buttery, together with the jus was one of the best steak I ever had. The astro boy was interesting, I don't like sour taste but there was enough sweetness to make it interesting. The chocolate dessert was great, can never have enough chocholate.<br/><br/>We really enjoy the drink selections, we shared a couple beer towers, I had a nice glass of red with the steak. Finished up with the Japanese old fashioned, love the Japanese whisky, so smooth. <br/><br/>Would definitely be back, its nice to have a place that you can get good food and drinks together.

Review in retrospect:<br/>Came here the day before Labour day after seeing the hype about the salmon tartare and duck wontons. Seated and found that tables were sticky, not a great start. Had to motion to staff to get the order taken and found that the salmon tartare was sold out which was disappointing. Went on to order the DIY rice paper rolls, duck wontons, and banana flower salad. The rice paper rolls were fine but personally not a big fan of DIY. I suppose if I wanted DIY I would DI@home. Flavour was nice though. The banana flower salad was solid if not spectacular (maybe slightly over saturated in the sauce). Good level of heat but portion was a bit small. Finally the pièce de résistance - the duck wontons. It takes so much effort to make a proper consommé but this didn't taste like one and certainly nothing like Peking duck. Dish was lukewarm and uninspiring but marks for presentation and balance of flavours. For dessert, the Astro bomb was the saviour of the night - pleasantly surprised by the flavours and uniqueness of the dish. Food wise, the place is slightly below average, but let down by dirty tables and inattentive staff. On multiple occasions had to ask for water, I don't recall any "how is your meal?" questions and finally had to fight to get their attention for the bill(so much so that one thinks they didn't want to be paid). The owner made genuine inquiries regarding the experience and kudos to him for wanting to improve. Overall the food was a 2-2.5/5 with few highlights, but service was most definitely a 1/5. Umami, don't remind me.

I recently read some raving reviews about the new menu at Umami Restaurant. I thought next date night, great...however i was bitterly dissapointed. Walking in on a sunday night we had the place to ourselves which was great, however the music was way to loud with only one couple seated. The service was great, however slightly intrusive with the waiters coming over literally, every 5 minutes, asking the same questions, it was obvious that there was no communication behind the scenes. <br/><br/>On arrival we were told several dishes weren't available, very very dissapointing, considering two of them i had planned to order. <br/><br/>First up were the duck pancakes, the best dish of the night, however one or two more pancakes would have been great due to so much duck and cucumber!! We then followed with the VFC (vietnamese fryed chicken) holy SALT!!! innetible unfortunately, and I am a big lover of adding salt on to just about anything. We then had the duck wontons, which were ok. We ended the night with the astroboy desert which was again, only ok.<br/><br/>Cocktails were hit and miss.<br/><br/>Unfortunately it wasn't great and I certainly wouldn't go back, especially with places like Wagaya just opposite. <br/><br/>I am more then confused how this Restaurant has gotten such great reviews, possibly we caught them on a bad night or ordered the wrong food, nontheless at over $130 for this food...I wouldn't rush in.

Checked out this place a few weeks ago, loved the awesome menu! Asian fusion dining and great place to catch up with friends. We all loved the dishes, especially impressed with the whole fish it was very fresh. The mixed vegetables as well were not your average mixed veggies, next level!

Unfortunately, Umami has disappointed incredibly. We showed up on Sunday night to an empty restaurant. They asked if we had reservation - yes - but no-one there anyway. We sat down and were informed that 5 of the dishes were not available due to party the night before. After thinking about it, we decided to stay and risk it. We ordered and then were informed that one of the dishes we also ordered was also not available. Too hard. Cant this place get it right? Dont open if you dont have the food or change the menu!

An interesting mix this one. The salmon tartare was good on its own, the pork pieces were chewy and oily and something more crispy would have made it a great dish. The beef brisket curry was spicy and buttery, not unlikeable but definitely unusual. So my experience was ok but not something I'd return quickly for

This place is amazing! We came on a Sunday night and had the place to ourselves, the place has potential 100% to have a rocking atmosphere but there is not enough recognition, YET! We had the 6 course meal between 4 people and obviously given more then enough food and every meal was hands down YUM. We also had the cocktail to share mhm yep yum too AND the star of the night was the deserts. You have noooooo idea, must try! The staff were also friendly and hilarious, GO GO GO.

This place is now one of my favourite restaurants... the food is superb, decor and atmosphere stunning and the staff attentive ... I have now been back 3 times and cannot fault each visit ... previously owning a restaurant and being a chef for 15 years ... trust me when I say this restaurant is worth a visit!!

Loved the 8 course banquet tasting menu; it was full of wonderful flavours and perfectly filling.<br/>My favourite dish was the duck wontons.  <br/>The service was outstanding; friendly non-intrusive; made us feel like we were really welcome and very informative about the food.<br/>The whole experience made it a perfect evening out

Good atmosphere and nice food. Actually was very quiet when we came in maybe it's just opened. We ordered the degustation menu and it was very nice. 10 courses made us fool and delighted. There were an avocado parfait dish, the parfait was frozen so it's really hard for us to cut and eat it. Every time my hubby tried to cut it, it made the noise and it was kinda awkward...I am pregnant so I can't eat raw meat but there was a beef dish for me it was like rare.. it looks very nice and I can't try it...maybe it was a mistake cause we didn't tell to the waiters how much do we want for our beef. But anyway, was a good experience, will come back to try other dishes as well.

Amazing. Tasting menu was incredible. Chefs are experts. The food was an absolute dream. One of the best meals i have had in my life. Waiters and waitress has personality and were enjoyable company. The pork, mind blowing. And dessert was one of the tastiest things in existence. I would and have recommended this restaurant to my friends and family.

Excellent service, staff are very polite and attentive!  Food is great, very tasty and good value for portions!  Atmosphere is terrific and the interior is very cool! A great night out!

Umami, a word so foreign yet it’s already created a buzz amongst food lovers in BrisVegas. Allow me to introduce you to one of the Brisbane food scene’s newcomers - Umami Restaurant, a place that will allow you to explore that fifth taste with dishes presented in a share plate format curated by award winning Chef Minh Le, who rose to fame quickly with his talented creations at The Foraging Quail.

The food was immaculate and the 8 coarse was verry well balanced. The wine and spirits list was verry impressive!!! With a great cocktail list to match.

With a group of 14 we enjoyed the great food, service, atmosphere and cocktails. Food just kept on coming with a variety of tastes. Highly recommend to all!

I visited Umami for dinner with a couple of girlfriends last night (Thursday). It was a fairly quiet night, so we pretty much got the whole restaurant to ourselves. The fit out of the restaurant was trendy and showed some sophistication and class. On a quiet night it would be perfect for couples or those wanting a fine dining experience. I believe as it gets busier on Friday/Saturday nights the place will become busier with patrons. There was a good selection of cocktails on their menu as well. I tried the Spiced Cider, which was quite nice and not too sweet or strong. <br/><br/>Service from the staff was excellent, very polite, consistent with topping up our water and asking if everything was alright without being too intrusive. <br/><br/>The menu is small and large shareplates, so we got a few plates to share upon recommendation by the head chef. <br/><br/>The food arrived at a good pace and presentation was immaculate! Taste was also up to standard and did not disappoint! Portion size was generous and the three of us was very full by the end of the meal. <br/><br/>Definitely recommend! This new style of share plate dining is great for gathering with friends and family, or couples alike. And even if you don't want to 'share', the small and large plates are equivalent to your entrees and mains! Or you can just order a whole heap of small plates to try as many items as you want to from the menu! <br/><br/>There will be a new menu coming out next week, so keep an eye out for that! Umami uses local and seasonal produce so will update their menu on a regular basis.<br/><br/>

I had the pleasure eating at this fine establishment recently and enjoyed everything from service from the lovely staff, the food and the drinks I would recommend anyone in Brisbane who enjoys fine dinning to try Umami out. It's the only Restraunt in Brisbane that competes against Melbournes restaurants!

We went with a group and had chose a number of dishes to share. The chef also suggested a couple of dishes to match. Food was amazing with really unique presentation. Definitely something different. Add in a few cocktails from the bar made for a top night. Will be back.

Was looking for somewhere to eat on Saturday with a few friends when we stumbled across this gem of a place. We had a quick look at their menu to see if we should eat here & there were starters on there for like $4 & mains for $20 so we decided to give it a go, judging from the venue we though wow this looks classy. Had a good little bar were we could have a couple of drinks. The manager came out & recommended some dishes that were crowd pleaser & explained to us it were share plates. We decided to get some of the favourites & tried out a couple of different dishes as well. The food came out in spectacular presentation which we did not expect seeing how cheap the dishes were, it was like fine dining. The food was amazing & atmosphere was really cool. Definitely will come back & will be telling my friends about it.

Very well presented food. Taste wise the bao and the beetroot/taro dishes were amazing - I will go back just for them. Good wine (and Suze with dessert was a treat). Okay service and nice ambience.

We dined here recently after reading an article in the weekend edition. <br/><br/>I was not as impressed with the food as much as I would of liked. It looked really amazing and the taste was there how ever it didn't really work in my opinion. For what you pay also it isn't really good value for money. <br/><br/>For the bad news, the service was appalling we got told what to order in a very rude manner, I felt very uncomfortable the entire evening. Keep in Mind this is all coming from the owner?? Or manager ??. <br/><br/>All and all in very dissatisfied, the venue looked like it had potential but the service unfortunately ruined it for us. We won't be back any time soon.