Bars & Pubs, Catering Companies, Restaurants, Sushi Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants
$$, Bar Scene, Group Dining, Happy Hour, Late Night Dining, Private Rooms, Open 7 Days
Umi is a premier Sake house located in the heart of Belltown. Our restaurant is a unique & sophisticated twist on the Japanese Izakaya style drinking & dining. Our restaurant is designed in a way that mirrors a Japanese country style house complete with a "back porch" as well as a "front porch". We offer over 45 premium sakes that are highlighted on our menu with many different Pan-Asian, Japanese, Sushi & Raw Bar dishes. Our extensive wine list and top shelf bar will compliment any menu item. We encourage you to place your large group reservation online & look forward to seeing you soon!
Bada is a unique bar and restaurant for a place like Seattle. We dont have a whole lot of posh, stylish places here, and this is one. Picture what a room would look like if it was a Mac computer and there you have the Bada Lounge. It gets packed at night, though theres no dance floor. Dont show up here in your fleece-customers come dressed nice, so you should, too!
Posted 04/26/05 | Report Abuse
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located in the hip/trendy belltown area of seattle, bada lounge is my favorite bar next to the "hidden" zig zag bar. the entrance almost feels so grand because it is a spacious walk toward the scene. the atmosphere is upbeat. never is there any negativity. just people surrounding you who want to have fun. on monday nights, there is karaoke. and there were a lot of song selections!!! on some other nights, there is jazz band playing. quite an enticement to the ear!!!
Posted 04/05/05 | Report Abuse
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The Bada Lounge is one of the coolest places to chill, eat great food, have great drinks, and listen to Seattle's top DJs spin. Start off with the Tuna Poki and move onto the Star Anise Glazed Pork Chops. Oh, they are so damn good! Drink a Pearl Diver or a Bangkok Sunset while you listen to Michael Antonia, King Midas, Sureshot, or DJ Nasir.
PROS: Ultra cool place to chill out.
CONS: None
Posted 02/17/05 | Report Abuse
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The happy hour is the best deal in town, both early and late, but the real treat here is the overall fish quality. Truly, if you're going to judge a sushi restaurant, it only makes sense to talk about the fish! Try to find bluefin toro or uni anywhere else in the city that tastes better; I couldn't. For people that aren't accustomed to the more unusual sushi delicacies, the selection of wild rolls and 'izakaya-style' appetizers are excellent as well.
As far as the sake goes, the menu reads like a small novel, and describes the bottles well enough that even a total novice can choose something with confidence. Something like 55+ sakes at all different price ranges. I hope to try most of them as time goes by. ( Try the Okunomatsu ginjo or Kanbara as an introduction to great chilled sake!)
The service is friendly and well-informed, and the decor is comfortable (live trees inside!) although a bit unfinished looking in places.
Overall great quality at a reasonable price! I'll be back.
Pros: great food, good ambience, friendly service
Cons: ummm
Posted 11/30/06
Great place for those of us who actually have to work past 6pm. Will is the most attentive bartender there is to be found in Seattle. I highly recommend the Hot Sake as well as their Ginger Sake Martini... The Happy hour menu even has a veggie roll for the non-meat eating customers. My friend and I have become regulars.
Pros: Ambience, service, food & drinks
Cons: Parking
Posted 11/24/06
I love this place! It's great for after work drinks, a date night, or just hanging with your friends. Umi has some of the best sushi that I have ever had in Seattle. And their sake cocktails are oh so good. I suggest the lychee sake cocktail. Oh so good!!
Pros: Great food & Ambience
Cons: Parking
Posted 11/21/06
OK- I can see why people think so. The ambience is ok. And food isn't bad either. But there are certain attitude there that really turned me off. Not only the staffs but the customers there are acting like they are the rockstars. It is almost lame. This is becoming more and more common to all the hip (or hip-wannabe) designed restaurants in town that they really need a good service to make it a cool place..... Too bad because food is ok and not a bad deal. Hope it will get better - we'll still give a try.
Pros: Happpy hour bites deal
Cons: People, service, sake
Posted 11/07/06
I went on a Friday night with a group of 6, and had trouble from the beginning. Apparently they had no idea how to plan out seating, because for about then minutes after being seated, the wait staff stood and pointed at us while giving us looks and discussing something. They finally came over to tell us very rudely that they needed to move us to make room for a bigger party. Since our drink order was already taken, it took and extra ten minutes before our drinks were served at our new table.
Overall, it seemed like they sat too many tables at the same time, and their wait staff wasn't prepared for that much work. Food was brought out after a really long wait, and then one dish was wrong (gyoza instead of miso soup!?!), one was forgotten, and all were staggered out in a bizarre manner. The overall meal took a painful 2 1/2 hours.
In the end, the food was great, but I would suggest going at off-hours in the hope that they can actually pay attention to you.
Pros: Great selection of sake and mixed sake drinks, great food
Cons: Terrible service, especially maitre'd
Posted 10/14/06
We went for dinner with another couple on a Saturday night around 9pm. We waited 10 minutes before anyone came to take our order. Then our friend's noodles and roll was out ages before our sashimi and vegetable sushi was out. Our friends politely waited and finally we just said go ahead and eat! We asked our waitress where our food was and she said "We're busy". Our food TOOK FOREVER and no apologies, our waitress hardly came to check on us AND she forgot our eel! Rude! The food was very tasty and the water boy was very attentive, ha ha. But there are too many really good sushi places with great service, I'll stick to those, thanks.
Pros: Good sushi, attentive water boy
Cons: Unattentive waitress, sashimi took forever!
Posted 10/08/06
This place is so wonderful. Happy hour is the best! You have to try the "bad boy roll" and the crispy prawns. It's a great date spot too, especially when you sit in the back, it's an indoor zen garden. Very relaxing ambiance.
Pros: Happy hour
Cons: Parking
Posted 09/27/06
Happy hour here is great!!! I've been here a number of times and happy hour is consistently good. Hours are 4-6 in the bar area, 4-8 only in the front (too quiet in front), and 11 - close. The bartender works really fast and he's great to watch. The regular dinner menu is pretty spendy for what you get so I would only come here for either just drinks or just for happy hour. They've decorated the place very nice and draw in a good looking and young crowd.
Pros: great happy hour times.
Cons: parking
Posted 08/25/06
This place has it all. We went there for happy hour. The prices were low and the quality and quantity of food was high. We ordered garlic shortribs, lemongrass chicken, and 5 sushi dishes. This was all under $40. Great for sharing. The atmosphere and ambience was fabulous and music was great. As we left we made reservations for Saturday.
Pros: Food, Service, Prices
Cons: None
Posted 08/22/06
I was originally shooting for happy hour because I read a good review in Japanese community newspaper on the other day. Although I was stuck in bad Fremont traffic and couldn't get there in time, I enjoyed their food all the same. I just loved how they decorated the building into different sections here and there. And you have to see their bathroom if you can find it! Go there and experience it yourself. A few dishes were bit too spicy for me, but I am sensitive to spicy food anyway, so it doesn't count. I hope they keep their quality the way it is. I wish I had more chance have a conversation with a sushi chef (I sat at a bar), but his voice was quiet and the distance was farther than usual sushi bar. Next time, I will bring more friends and would like to sit in a tatami room!!!
Pros: good food for reasonable price outside of happy hour
Posted 08/20/06
My oh my. Great bargains on happy hour, not so much for the drinking set but WOW is that some quality sushi at a great price! We expected smaller sized rolls for the meager price of $3-$5 but we got full size rolls with top quality ingredients. Our only (minor) disappointment was in the yellowtail sashimi plate, as the fish could improve in quality and perhaps freshness. Eel roll was our fave.
Still, all in all, we were very happy with the wonderful rolls, and the sushi set A was served to our neighbor at the bar. It looked great!! Don't miss the garlic short ribs... dee-lish.
Pros: Happy Hour Specials! Garlic Short Ribs! Full-size sushi rolls for cheap cheap!!
Cons: Lack of Happy Hour drink deals... though the mojitos smelled/looked awesome at reg price
Posted 08/16/06
Don't get me wrong, what was done ambience-wise in lieu of Bada Lounge was a big improvement for Belltown in the world of restaurants, however, with Wasabi Bistro and a few other nearby competitors, I was sadly, not impressed with the food. I gave it a couple of shots ordering different items on the menu each time. The staff and service is great, the atmosphere is quite appropriate for it's location, but the food was a sheer disappointment. I ordered a beef appetizer that was very much raw when I was told it was cooked medium. The chicken appetizer I ordered the second time, was much spicier than what I was told then too! As helpful and nice as the wait staff was, perhaps more sampling needs to take place for an accurate description of their menu. For now, I'll stick with Wasabi when I need that sushi fix though perhaps in months to come, I'll give it another try.
Pros: Ambience, decor, friendly wait staff
Cons: Food not yet fine tuned
Posted 08/16/06
I'm not sure what westseattlesally is talking about. I've been a huge fan of sushi chef Billy Beach for years and would follow him anywhere. Not only was the O Toro sashimi the best I've ever had anywhere in Seattle but his sushi menu is extensive and creative. We tried some of his new Maki Rolls, like the Ocean Roll and also had some of our old favorites, like Spicy Hamachi Roll and everything was perfect. It's clear that Umi will be a great success because of it's excellent menu, extensive bar list and beautiful decor. Umi is an oasis in the heart of the bars and clubs of 1st Ave and chef Billy's touch brings the whole experience together. I can't wait to go back with more of my friends!
Posted 08/02/06
In the light of day, this place shows all its flaws. Cheaply constructed, poorly painted, it gives the impression they slapped it together in a few weekends. If you are looking for a trendy place to have cheap edible sushi after you've had cocktails somewhere else, this is it. It does have some nice spaces inside, which when dimly lit, are appealing. The sashimi was pretty good, but we found that they may try to hide less than perfectly fresh fish in their over the top rolls. My ginger sake cocktail was interesting, but a little too sweet. Have one for the novelty, then move on to their extensive sake list. The sushi "chef" was bizarre--very inattentive, and he mumbled when he spoke. He seemed inexperienced---had he trained anywhere before this? He lacked basic knowlege about the fish he was serving and other sushi establishments in Seattle. Service was not great---in a half empty restaurant. I will not be back--I will go to Saito's, Nishino, or Mashiko next time instead.
Posted 07/19/06
This place is great! The decor is amazing, yes, but the sushi is super fresh and very tasty. They're specialty rolls are very creative and so yummy. But seriously, the cocktails and sake cocktails will amaze you. Who is the bartender? He/she is really talented. Every one I've ahd has been perfectly concocted. Every time. I recommend the lychee lemonade or the shisojito. The cucumber or mint sake cocktails are amazing as well. Oh and happy hour is fantastic... portions are the same as those on the regular menu and you won't be disappointed with the selection.
Pros: food, ambience, cocktails
Posted 07/13/06
Was very impressed with the whole decor and overall ambience of the restaurant. Being a sushi critic myself, I was very skeptical on trying out a new restaurant. The presentation of the food was an A+ on my book, and besides from the look, the freshness and the quality of the sushi/sashimi blew me away, which gave that a A+++. The menu had a wide rage of different Japanese foods which I appricate and besides that, the sake list was just unbelievable. I have never been to a Japanese restaurant that provided the amount of sake that Umi has to offer. They have over 40 different premium sakes which all goes well with the different foods that are showcased on the menu. Just like wine, you could pair sakes with different foods. Its good to see that Seattle finally has a restaurant to showcase the true Japanese eating experience. See for yourself, I guarantee you will not be disapointed. Kampai!
Pros: Ambience, Food, Service
Cons: Parking
Posted 07/06/06
I tried Umi for the first time last night, and was completely impressed. The makeover of Bada is fantastic...lots of wood for an understated elegance departing from the former IKEA showroom-trying-to-be-LA atmosphere. All of our servers were not only attentive and polite, they were genuinely friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. I can only rave about the food, beginning with the miso soup that was rich and dotted with mushrooms. We inhaled a delicious shrimp tempura roll and Belltown roll (featuring scallops and avocado) and divine salmon sashimi. Others at our table enjoyed ginger chicken and items off the fresh menu including the unique Mango Tango roll. Whereas I am not knowledgeable about sake, the sip I tried ($10 per glass) was sublimely sweet and chilled. I -do- know about wine, however, and on the server's recommendation we tried the Japanese Grace Koshu which was a treat! If you're interested in a unique dry white, I encourage you to have a glass. My only (nit-picky) criticism of Umi is the bizarre restroom entry...the door is shingled identically to the surrounding wall, making the entrance nearly indistinguishable! Other than that, the place was flawless and I look forward to returning ASAP.
Pros: Appealing space, superb sushi, lovely service
Cons: Hidden bathroom doors
Posted 06/23/06
This sake house boasts an impressive, soothing, clean interior with top-notch food. The atmosphere is incredibly comforting, yet trendy. The menu is creative, extensive and so delicious: the sushi rolls are very tasty, and the sashimi is fresh and scrumptious. They offer a terrific selection of sake and cocktails. The Bartender, Will, is very helpful, friendly, knowledgeable, and provides excellent service. I am so impressed with the ambiance; you feel like you are in a real sake house -- there's no other restaurant like it! The environment is so inviting and subtley stylish. The Happy Hour specials are awesome -- great food for a great price. I highly recommend visiting this venue and you'll want to keep coming back!
Pros: Great food, terrific environment
Cons: None
Posted 06/12/06
