Umami Mongolian Grill

I’m so sad this place CLOSED! Sad sad sad! It was my favorite place to eat locally. The Owner Ted was so super nice too! I just feel so terrible for him, and wish him nothing but the best.
Where am I going to take everyone for my Birthday Dinners now? Or our spur of the moment dinner Mongolian style needs!!! Waaaa! I’ll miss it for sure!
I guess its back to the Mall for Mongolian at the food court. :(

Great deals
Great noodles
High quality vegetables & meats
The only thing that kind of confuses me is how you pay for it. But otherwise great I always come with my boyfriend after Knotts berry farmq

CLOSED? no problem! There’s a better mongolian BBQ 6 miles away from this location. its called
Ceasars Mongolian BBQ
11 803 Del Amo Blvd
Cerritos, CA 90 703
I may seem to be advertising ceasars but im not i just love that place
Ive been to umami mongolian grill twice and i had a super bad experience the first time. The way the chefs cook the food is way salty because they add soy sauce and water to cook your food instead of just water and the sauces you put in.

My first time eating here with my big group of friends. A lot of the guys chose to do the unlimited, all you can eat dinner for $ 12. The quality of the food was mediocre. The ingredients were fresh-​I mean the vegies. The meat on the otherhand weren’t very high quality… well maybe they were, but they ruined it by overcooking everything.
I ordered the lettuce wrap. The presentation, and quality of the ingredients was super! However, the seasoning and taste was less than average. They should taste their food before sending it out… It seemed like a waste of perfectly fresh ingredients… just salty and dried up.
The service on the other hand was excellent. The waitresses were on their game the entire night. Kudos to them.
This place has a lot of potential… just work on the cooking part, and I’ll be a returning customer!

Also was a fan of this place :(
They had great prices, great food, and great service…
I noticed the place was usually empty… I think they just should have advertised more :(

I just read from other reviews that this restaurant has been closed down for good, due to a lack of business.
So if you’re reading this review, this place is CLOSED and gone according to many other reviews. I haven’t checked it out myself, but I’m assuming this is true.
It makes me really sad because this Mongolian Barbecue place was delish! I was always incredibly satisfied. The décor and atmosphere were awesome too! Everyone was always so nice inside. You could do AYCE and get loads of food here. It was about $ 12 or $ 13 to eat AYCE, or you could choose to pay by the pound which usually ended up being around $ 7 or $ 8.
If you did AYCE though, you did get free Lumpia which you’d have to buy separately with a regular dish. The sesame flat bread that comes with all meals was delicious. I’m really sad that this business is gone. It was very clean, and nice to be there. The food was delicious and I always had huge portions of it!
It was good while it lasted! And all of my friends and I are very sad to see this place go.

One word: TED!!!
Ted is the owner and shows great pride in his establishment and friendly to all his customers.
The food was fresh, the cook (Steve) was wonderful! The all you can eat bowls are a great price! You do not leave hungry, noodles, rice, soup, Lumpias, and sesame pockets. Come on there is no going wrong! Go on and try it out!

Interesting concept… you can either weigh your food and pay by the ounce like it’s a cup of froyo or do the All-​You-​Can-​Chow special for $ 12. I am usually a pretty light eater so I opted for the one bowl weigh-​in, and was surprised to see that my bowl of rolled up meats and cabbage weighed $ 13. Huh? Who the heck would ever do the weighed option then? The cook then realized that he had forgotten to take out the weight of the bowl… okay, now my lunch is $ 7. That makes WAY more sense.
After looking at the menu online, it looks like maybe they got rid of the weigh option?
Anyways the bowl was tasty and I did like the variety of sauces available. They had a whole list of other appetizers, soups, etc that you can choose from which is nice for those who want options.
Not as awesome as Genghis Khan in Fountain Valley which still stands as my favorite salt-​licked restaurant of all time, but a comfortable second on my list in the OC.

We walked in, wondering what the prices were for the meals.
The two girls that worked there barely noticed us even though they were standing RIGHT in front of us.
When we asked about the prices and how everything worked, one of them answered the questions very carelessly. We didn’t want to eat there, but we were like «oh what the heck» and asked for a table.
THAT’S when she started being nice, and told us what we had to do.
The food was OK; the guy who was making ours made it so salty.
It wasn’t such a great experience.

The boyfriend and I came here for dinner after spending a day at Knott’s. We ordered the $ 12.25 special which comes with all you can eat, sesame pita pockets, lumpia and soup. I always find these places silly because the bowls are so small. At the mall I would understand because it’s not all you can eat, but here, you would think the bowls would be slightly bigger because the meat pieces are frozen in rolls so you can’t really fit much.
I really like the sesame pocket… I haven’t seen that anywhere else. The lumpia and the soup were forgettable. Service was fair — not amazing but not bad.
As for the bbq bar — It was adequate. I could seen how if I had gone to this place before Fire + Ice in Anaheim, I would be estatic at all the choices (beef, lamp, chicken, pork…) However, Fire + Ice has more veggie choices, more sauce choices, pasta, rice, noodles, hot dogs. it’s actually overwhelming. The best thing about this place, though, is the freshness of the ingredients… much appreciated.
If I lived in the area, I would probably come maybe once a month, but since I live about 30 minutes away, I’m not willing to make the drive like I am to say, Rowland heights or Arcadia… or even 3 hours for a tri tip sandwich in San Luis Obispo =)

Mongolian BBQ is one of those places where you can create a masterpiece or a complete disaster, depending on how you build your food. This place has quite a bit of options so it can be somewhat challenging. If it’s your first time here they are quite helpful in helping you choose, and also have some chef’s recommendation (see their menu) on what sauce combinations to try.
You have your choice of going for single-​bowl serving for $ 8.95 or $ 12.25 for AYCE. Single serving is enough for me but if you’re not good at stacking your food or want to experiment with different combinations, go for AYCE. The lunch comes with soup and sesame pocket bread. The soup is just ok but I really like the bread; nice and chewy.
You start with the meat station which has lamb, pork, beef, and chicken. The meats are somewhat frozen and rolled up so be sure to push them down with tongs to create more room in your bowl. This is essential for those getting single serving. Then you have your choice of toppings and veggies, but I actually skip over to sauces and drizzle them over the meat. This helps flavor the meat and also melt them down a bit. I use a combination of hot sauce, fire sauce, garlic sauce, and the house sauce (kind of like bbq sauce). I like mine spicy so I put about 5 scoops of hot sauce but I wouldn’t recommend this for most people. Then I add toppings and veggies like bamboo shoots, broccoli, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, etc. Then I add some more sauce on top of the veggies. I skip the noodles but most people like this so try them, assuming you have enough room in your bowl.
When you’re done with your bowl, take it to the grill station. You have your choice of white or brown rice and they will cook the food for you. There are some other sauces at the grill station in case you want to add more after your food is cooked.
Overall it’s not a bad place but I can’t give more than three stars because the meat always comes out a bit too tough and chewy when they’re cooked. I’m not sure if this is due to choice of meat or due to overcooking.

hey umami! you’re okay! Not too bad, not the best but you’ll do in a pinch.
the quick:
sparse establishment, it’s missing that finesse of décor. very straight forward
put it together yourself, whatever you want, endlessly
doing it yourself can be good or bad
the only sauces we didn’t like were UMG, hot & curry.
I love mongolian grills. The flavor, the choices and it’s all good. The one at Westminster Mall has always done it best for some reason. I’d been going there since high school. Thanks to a half off coupon, we checked out Umami.
The place is fairly big but everything seems to lack a bit of quality. From the staff to the setup to the décor. It’s clean enough but off somehow. But just make your way to the noodles, meat & veggies and you’re good.
The only issues are, with so many choices a novice might not know the best way to make their bowl. How many spoonfuls of each sauce to mix to get the right flavor. At Ghenghis Khan (
), they ask how spicy, then make it for you. There isn’t anyone around to really guide you here.
Avoid the soups & salads. They’re a waste of room in your stomach. They are not appetizing. If these are any indication, avoid the appetizers as well.
I was definitely full by the end and moderately happy. I haven’t felt a need to make my way back but probably wouldn’t mind but I couldn’t find myself paying full price for what I get here.

I couldn’t decide what to have for lunch. So I went through my bookmarked places and there it was Umami Mongolian Grill. I drove to BP and found the place immediately. It’s in the same general area as Knott’s Berry Farm. The interior is very modern and «non-​Mongolian-​esque» looking. Seriously, I was expecting to see a life size Buddha or a a gigantic painting of Ghenghis Khan, but no, the décor/​layout is definetely modern American Bistro style. I ordered the bottomless bowl for $ 12.25 this deal comes with soup, sesame pocket bread and Lumpia (eggroll). You can also get the 1 serving for $ 8+.
If you haven’t been to a Mongolian Bbq restaurant, the set up might confuse you a bit at first. But no worries the servers are very helpful and friendly. They have American servers btw, so no communication problem there. The flow map — server gives you a clean bowl –proceed to the buffet/​bar — select the meat desired (beef, chicken, pork, lamb) — select veggies — select sauces (depends on your personal taste, I like mine, mildly spicy, mildly sweet, mildy tangy, with a hint of sesame flavor) — then decide if you want noodles or not. I’ve seen people pile their bowls with so much stuff, seriously it looks like the leaning tower of Pisa… you can always ask for another bowl you know. — take your bowl to the grilling station, the cook will ask if you want rice (white or brown) with your meal.
The quality of the meats were somewhat… good quality imo, the veggies were fresh and the sauces were fantastic (find the right formula that suits your taste). The eggroll and the soup… eggroll= super yummy (dipping sauces: sweet/​sour and vinegar), the soup (I got cream of broccoli w/​cheese) = super yummy as well. And again, the servers are so friendly, funny and attentive. They will also push you to buy their cheesecake so if you still have room for dessert after a heavy meal, go for it. There’s plenty of parking so no problem there.
IMO: Very good food, reasonably priced, good service loved it!

Let me start off by saying that the owner of this place, Ted, is an amazing guy with a heart of gold. He is very friendly, helpful, and talkative. He will talk to all the customers he can (if he is there) and even gets on the grill to make some of the food.
This place is literally what you make it. Considering the price, and the fact that you can pile on your food till it looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it is well worth coming here and taking a look at it for yourself. They have tons of different types of meats for you to choose from, but I always stick with the chicken. It is thinly sliced, and you can add however much you like. I’m a huge meat lover, so I love as much as I can get. Be aware — the meat does shrink a bit when cooked, so add a little more than you think you’ll need.
You can go down the row of items and add what you want. Skip over what doesn’t look appealing. Just make sure you stop at the sauce portion of the row. This is where the magic happens. They have recommendations on a small board on the wall that kind of help you decide how to flavor your dish, but my boyfriend and I always mix it up. Add at least a scoop of each — we like a little more of the Fire Sauce and the UMG Experience. You won’t regret it!
Finally — PILE ON THE NOODLES! Pile them on so you have to hold the top of them to keep it from falling over. The cooks are used to this. They then ask you if you want brown or white rice. Or, you can always tell them you don’t want any. If you’re not going to eat it, then don’t waste it.
When you get back to your table, they have that day’s fresh soup on your table with some bread for you to much on.
This place is truly amazing and worthy of a visit. The parking is a bit rough, but just park in the Chase parking lot that is literally next door and walk over. There’s plenty of room there.

I first noticed this place last year when leaving the Knott’s Berry Farm parking lot and seeing its conspicuous glowing sign lighting the way to yummy eats. I made a mental note to check the place out which then got lost in the filing cabinet of my mind. Fast forward to last weekend. My wife was talking to her mom on phone in Missouri about a new Mongolian BBQ that opened up in the area. That in turn reminded me of this place so we headed on over to lunch.
I’ve been to many Mongolian BBQ places. Back in the 80’s and 90’s they were all over the place and I would go with my parents. Then most of them disappeared. Now they appear as crappy versions in mall food courts. I think Caesar’s in Cerritos is one of the only remaining originals. Umami brings back the joys of Mongolian BBQ with an awesome selection of fresh ingredients, friendly staff, and a pleasant dining room.
There’s two choices for the grill. $ 8.95 gets you a single bowl to fill up as much as you can. If you’ve got the skills to layer your bowl to maximum capacity then this is more than enough food. If you don’t have the Jenga like stacking skills than the $ 12.25 all you can eat option is right for you. It says on the menu Dinner only but they serve it all day. AYCE comes with soup or salad, lumpia, rice, and sesame pocket bread.
Meat choices are chicken, beef, pork, lamb, and even tofu for you plant munchers. Other toppings were bell peppers, white onions, green onions, bok choy, baby corn, water chestnuts, garlic, cilantro, jalapenos, tomato, pineapple, peanuts, almonds, bean sprouts, spinach, mushrooms, mandarin oranges, bamboo, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, celery, noodles, and I’m sure other stuff I’m forgetting. It was constantly being restocked and very fresh. Sauces included Asian style BBQ sauce, ginger sauce, garlic sauce, tropical, curry, fire sauce, and hot sauce (very spicy, use with caution).
I made two moderate size bowls. My first was beef and pork loaded with mushrooms, broccoli, bamboo, carrots, noodles, and loads of garlic. A mixture of sauces and just a single ladle of «hot sauce», not to be confused with fire sauce, created a fiery heat in my meal with a garlic punch to the face. Delicious. I loved the fact they served noodles here. They grill up really nice and go great with the food. If you want rice instead the cook will give you white or brown on your plate.
My second bowl I had lamb with white/​green onions and sprouts with a mixture of sauces, heavy on the heat. The lamb was so good, no gamy flavor.
The lumpia served here are frickin’ awesome. Best I’ve tasted. The beef filling had so much flavor and the wrapper wasn’t greasy. Per the owner this was his mom’s recipe. Speaking of the owner, Ted is such a cool and genuine guy. He spent his lunch break eating and hanging out with my wife and I. We learned about why he went into the business and his personal belief in providing quality over making a quick buck. It was fun chatting with him and we were surprised when he gave us some leche flan on the house. This creamy rich vanilla custard was a great ending to a wonderful meal! Per the owner this is also his mom’s recipe.
If you’re in the area and in the mood for some tasty eats, than I highly recommend Umami Mongolian Grill! Make sure you visit their website so you can print off coupons! They have buy one get one half, free drink, and $ 1 off.

It had been a couple of months since I was last here. Was craving some stir fried noodles. Whats better than going out and buying all the ingredients and cooking it at home? Well let me tell ya, get in your slick ride, hoopty ride, bike, bicycle, bus, skateboard or walk and head out to Umami!
Umami is still the best AYCE MBBQ place around. Clean, great staff and the owner is around going to tables and ensuring that your dining experience was good.
Well as always eyes were waaaay bigger than tummy and we ordered the bottomless bowl hahaha. Yeah we got through one round and that was it. Its $ 12.25 for the AYCE which is as many bowls of grilled yummyness and you get lumpia, salad and sesame puffs.

Then you take your bowl and go down the row of the meats (beef, pork, chicken, lamd), veggies and sauces to cook up your concoction. Make sure you ladel up at least 3 times. You take it over the grill and be amazed at how you were able to pile on all that stuff in the bowl.
It doesn’t take long to cook. They ask if you want white or brown rice and its all plated for you! I have mastered the sauce thing with lots of ghaaalic. My masterpiece today was beef, onions, green onions, mushroom, tofu, bamboo, sprouts and lots of noodles.
You have no cook to blame but yourself so get creative and try several flavor combinations.
It was MBBQ Yummy Goodness!!!

I’ve been on a Mongo BBQ kick lately and couldn’t resist when I drove past this establishment and saw it’s now a Mongolian BBQ place! YES! Made a U-​Turn and headed to Umami!
Umami’s has a nice welcoming look to it. The service is great, everyone is so nice and helpful! We ordered the AYCE for $ 12.25, this includes as many plates to the grill + sesame bread + soup + eggrolls:
It’s a pretty good deal… for all that food! The soup was average tasting, eggrolls were yummy and the bread was wonderful! Plus you can make it into a little pocket sandwich with noodles in it!
So if you are new to Mongolian BBQ here’s a short summary:
1. pick your meats (chicken, pork, beef and lamb)
2. pick your veggies and trimmings
3. pick your sauces
4. add noodles
5. take bowl to the grill, and this is where they cook it up for you!
The sauce is the main key… make sure you put enough sauce combinations in order to get more flavor in your dish. Plus if you don’t have enough sauce, the guy at the grill will let you know what you should add. He is the grill master so you must obey!
Now if your looking for filet mignon go to a steak house. If your looking for a complete satisfying meal Umami does the job! I will definitely come back when my Mongo BBQ itch comes back.

Just got back from this place. It was your standard Mongolian BBQ joint, price was def right, $ 13 for AYCE. I had 3 bowls of meat and was completely satisfied at the end.
This place is super good if you’re on a high protein low carb diet, you can basically consume a whole bunch of protein if you want, adding sauces to enhance your sodium levels for sure.
Not really sure I would go back, I had to add a ton of hot sauce to get any flavor. I guess I’m not big on the frozen curls of flesh as opposed to some nice marinated beef.
If you like Mongolian BBQ this is def for you. Totally satisfactory.
I’d give it 3.5 if they allowed that.

This is a new Mongolian Beef joint, they still a have a «Grand Opening» banner sign outside the place for how long now? but hey within a year it won’t be brand spankin’ new any longer.
The «Umami» name is kinda catchy come on «Umami Burgers!?» Well this place caught my attention and trying out Mongolian beef bbq is always fun to eat because you customize your own bowls, but this place is nothing like your typical Genghis Khans you get at the mall’s food court (well almost) at Genghis Khans some of the servers can get stingy on noodles.
Here you can put as much noodles as you want and i mean you add noodles yourself !!! you still get your traditional toppings like: chopped carrots, broccoli, onions, lettuce etc. etc. oh and i can’t forget to mention the meats: beef, chicken and turkey, but on top of that, you are the one that adds the noodles! So beware of balancing your bowl more qty means building mud plies that would incline you to push down your meats and veggies (Im speaking for those who wants a trucker’s meal)
so crazy with it !!!
In addition to all your customizations you can make your own sauce fixes!!! yes that’s another cool addition when making your own BBQ preps. Sauces you get are mild, medium, hot and infused fire sauce! you also can add some sesame oil with that as well. At the end of the counter there is even a chart on the wall on how you would want it make tasty.
I made my bowl like molten green lava! I got my standard toppings with the infused green fire sauce, and i’ll tell you what that sauce was mighty hot !!! it first gave me the hiccups and a teary eye, but after awhile that would go away and it didn’t stop me from finishing my plate. The taste really depends on you on how you fix your sauce toppings.
Overall this place is worth a hit, i like the fact that you do all the dressing but not the grilling. They even have chef’s recommendations on a chart on how to make a flavorful Mongolian BBQ plate. I would make sure using the Mongolian pita bread pockets and stuffing it with noodles because its just how its supposed to be. The noodles were OK i would suggest less sesame oil because you already get that in the noodles, so try to avoid an unbalanced taste.
3.5 stars !!!

Umami defines great food in terms of taste, quality and exceptional service. I was here on 12÷30÷10 and I was amazed by the assortment and varieties of ingredients the place had for Mongolian BBQ. I go to a lot of Mongolian places in my area like Great Wall in La Habra, Mad Wolf in Fullerton and Caesar’s in Cerritos, but this restaurant has better quality and fresher ingredients. Unlike Mad Wolf, you can get the meat yourself for lunch hours and they have lamb, chicken, beef, and pork.
The place is spacious, clean, friendly, and most importantly has flavorful food. I love the take out containers because it’s round and has a sealed lid. I had horrific experiences with the standard white take out containers because the juices leaked through the holes if it wasn’t leveled in my car. The lunch takeout comes with your own creation of Mongolian BBQ, soup, rice (white, brown), and a pocket bread for around $ 8.
There isn’t anything negative about this place. It deserves 6 stars instead of 5. Restaurants with both outstanding service and food are hard to come by these days because usually one category lacks. That’s not the case with Umami. There were two businesses that failed before Umami took over. One was a Baja Fresh and the other was Buffalo Grill. I know for a fact that Umami is here to stay for a very long time.
The management at Tokyo grill (a couple of doors down) should take a couple of customer service 101 courses here.
I know I shouldn’t use absolutes, but this Mongolian BBQ establishment is perfect.