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Reviews - UMAI Japanese Experience

Reviews

9.2/10

Excellent
684 reviews
Ambience
8.9
Food
9.4
Service
9.0
Real experiences from real diners
Ratings and reviews can only be left by guests who have booked with TheFork.

All reviews

  • Susan g.6 months ago

    9.0

    Very good owner and waiting staff.

  • Linda C.9 months ago

    10

    Excellent sushi, best we've had in Portugal. Highly recommended.

  • Daniela F.10 months ago

    8.5

    Bom sushi

  • sharon c.10 months ago

    10

    Beautiful family run restaurant frequented by plenty of locals. We couldn’t fault the service and it was some of the best sushi we’ve ever eaten - fresh, tasty and immaculately presented - and incredibly well priced. Do yourself a favour and go here…I guarantee you’ll want to return! Sadly we only discovered it on our last night in Loulé, otherwise we’d be booking again. The couple who own it are lovely and he prepares the food in the open kitchen and you can tell the fish is of the highest quality.

  • Lee R.
    Lee R.11 months ago

    9.0

    Hidden gem although the actual restaurant could be a bit “nicer”. Although quality of food more than makes up for it

  • Nigel C.1 year ago

    7.0

    We had the Degustação dinner menu which was an excellent way to try dishes other than those with a lot of rice. Sadly the atmosphere was lacking because the restaurant was empty. We would definitely go again.

  • Marcel S.1 year ago

    10

    excellent food! really very good! thank you Vitor!

  • Catriona T.1 year ago

    9.5

    Excellent quality at a great price. We chose the lunch menu and we'll be back.

  • Natalia P.1 year ago

    6.5

    The sushi is very good and fresh! However, the restaurant is freezing because the manager refuses to turn on the heater, which is disappointing. As a result, instead of enjoying a nice, comfortable meal and potentially ordering more, you just want to finish quickly and leave. We didn’t even order dessert because we were too cold. I visited this restaurant twice, once for lunch and once for dinner, and both experiences were the same. It’s a shame because the sushi is excellent, but the atmosphere is very poor.

  • Christopher v.1 year ago

    10

    attentive chefs, outstanding flavours and good value.

  • Steve I.1 year ago

    10

    Second visit in a week and the food was wonderful again!

  • Susan g.1 year ago

    8.5

    Really nice restaurant .

  • Gian Luigi P.1 year ago

    9.5

    everything delicious

  • Emidio H.1 year ago

    10

    Everything was absolutely perfect. This was hands down the best sushi I’ve ever had in my life! I highly recommend visiting—you won’t be disappointed!

  • Barry T.1 year ago

    9.0

    Loved the food and the variety of the food

  • Natalie s.1 year ago

    10

    Great food we had the tasting menu excellent value just a shame they didn’t have tuna don’t like the white fish But everything else delicious

  • Marcel S.2 years ago

    9.5

    The food was excellent. The fact that you have access only online is a bit annoying. If you are not familiar with the many different Japanese expressions it would be helpful to have better images of the food... But what counts in the end is the quality of the food which was excellent!

  • Gregg L.2 years ago

    9.5

    Surprisingly good. Nice place. Nice people. Really good sushi.

  • George S.2 years ago

    10

    We have dined at Umai several times since they opened. The fish is always super fresh and the talent of Vitor and his staff is authentic Japanese. Try the Umai Experience for 2. - 45 pieces of love in your mouth. Highly recommend. Obrigado Vitor.

  • Andrea A.2 years ago

    9.5

    Nice little restaurant. Tables are quite close to each other but the amosphere is quiet (although I was not there in peak hour). The quality of food is awesome. One of the best Miso soup ever tasted. Also special rolls are excellent and some of them really not common elsewhere, with the right mix of sweet and savoury. I've enjoyed the experience. It's definitely worth going back.

  • Jenny N.2 years ago

    10

    The food was delicious and the ambiance was good. The restaurant owners were delightful and skilled. Our son had recommended the restaurant and we weren’t disappointed.

  • Nuno F.
    Nuno F.2 years ago

    9.5

    Great food and service.

  • Dawn A.2 years ago

    10

    Fantastic food, great value and very friendly service. Will definitely be back.

  • Philip H.2 years ago

    9.5

    Outstanding quality sashimis and sushis; the best in the Algarve. Tiny restaurant where everything is prepared only after you have ordered. Extremely talented and creative chef. Delicious meal each time.

  • Rowena C.more than 2 years

    5.5

    Very very slow service

  • Vítor T.more than 2 years

    10

    Amazing sushi, highly recommend. Service was slow, but they apologized as they were recently understaffed. Will definitely be back for more!

  • Eva P.
    Eva P.more than 2 years

    9.0

    Top.

  • George S.more than 2 years

    10

    Outstanding in every way. Vitor, the itamae has Japan certified knife and chef credentials. The fish is exquisite. Let him do omakase for you. You won’t regret the experience.

  • Elena S.more than 2 years

    9.5

    This was a very pleasant experience. I read about the chef and the reviews were positive so we decided to give it a try( we don’t live in Loule so we needed to combine it with our chores in the area). Vitor’s knife skills are impressive, the fish was prepared just right for sashimi, and the presentation was beautiful. It seems that Vitor is constantly trying to improve his menu and probably still need to tweak a few things but this is not your ordinary Algarve sushi. Compliments to the chef and best of luck! We are definitely coming back for more!

  • pedro H.more than 2 years

    10

    Great service, amazing food. I recommend it

  • Lea R.
    Lea R.more than 2 years

    4.5

    Staff was nice. Otherwise it was one of the worst food experiences I have had in a long time. Guacamole was bad, chips were stale, and we had a hair in our dish. We can forgive the hair but serving stale chips with store bought avocado spread and calling it guacamole is an unforgivable sin. The ramen was awful, broth was made from a bouillon cube, there was frozen broccoli in there, udon noodles, and an actual hard boiled egg. Basically everything wrong, and to charge €13 for that was truly absurd. The poke was okay but also ridiculously overpriced at 15€. Even w 50% off on fork we felt like we paid way too much. Overall it's unfortunate as the staff was nice and we were hoping to enjoy the food. We regretted the experience

    UMAI Japanese Experience

    OLÁ Desde já agradecemos pela sua Visita ao nosso restaurante. Temos a acrescentar que os produtos usados nos nossos pratos são frescos e de produtores locais, não havendo assim nada pré feito nem de pacote ou algo semelhante. Todos os nossos pratos, exepto o ramen que tem uma preparação longa, cerca de 4 horas , os restantes são preparados ao momento com rigor e profissionalismo pelo qual somos conhecidos. Ramen normalmente é composto por um tipo de macarrão, uma sopa com caldo à base de ossos de porco, peixe ou frango, e temperados com uma base tarê (molho) que da sabor ao caldo base, para a confecção da montagem do prato, e os adicionais podem variar dependendo da região do Japão e do restaurante que vende o Ramen. Após este esclarecimento aguardamos com expetativa a sua próxima visita! Cumprimentos A Gerência

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