Umi

We were here on Saturday night. Food was excellent. We sampled a lot — plum wine, unfiltered sake, sashimi, rolls, salad, seared yellowtail, edamame, and it was all delicious! We will definitely go back soon. It’s refreshing to find a great Japanese Restaurant in the area!

Umi is small, but great. The many partitions around the cozy space help maintain an air of intimacy and is tastefully decorated.
The food is really good for such a varied menu! I ordered a grilled salmon with miso sauce appetizer and an unagidon (grilled freshwater eel over rice) and it was perfect. At most places the unagi is just a prepackaged affair and this is common in Japan as well. Well not here, I got freshly grilled unagi with a slight char and the slight tinge of vinegar in the sushi rice it was served over gave the perfect balance to the richness of the eel.
Prices are reasonable and portion sizes are prefect. Unfortunately my idea of a reasonable portion size may be a bit on the small side.
If you want to go on a weekend make some reservations or plan on going somewhere else cause you’re not getting in with how small the space is. Definitely one of Hickory’s well kept secrets cause this place is pretty hard to find. Eat here if you get a chance.

I have moved away from hickory, came to visit and this place is still open! It is by far the best place for Japanese food. Their sushi is always fresh, sashimi is alway fresh. It’s a smaller joint, where you have to make a reservation to guarantee a table but it’s well worth it. The prices are not make too for the quality you get.

The best authentic Japanese food in NC. Be sure to make a reservation because it is small.

It is a huge huge surprise to find this authentic Japanese restaurant! The decoration makes you feel like you are in Japan! The owner & chef is a couple from Japan, they are very nice and their service is absolutely top-​notch!
As an expert in Chinese and Japanese food and already tried 100+ different Chinese and Japanese restaurants in US, I have to say the food they provide is very authentic Japanese. Even the portion of the dishes is pretty small (if you ever went to Japan, you will know the portion of food there is always small). But, this could be a disadvantage in US.
If you are pretty hungry, I will not recommend the ramen because the portion is too small to fill you up. I do recommend the Sashimi Dinner, 5 – 7 selections of sashimi on the soft sushi rice in a nice bento box! The Botan Ebi (Sweet Shrimp NIgiri) is very fresh and worth to try. $ 6 for two pieces is a resonable price!
Pros:
Authentic Japanese food
Top-​notch service
Quiet and nice atmosphere (Only 5 tables)
Cons:
Small portion of food may cannot fill you up
Reservation may needed (Only 5 tables)

We decided to eat at Umi Sushi because of good reviews on Google, Unilocal and TripAdvisor. We went there on a Monday night which was not busy but I made a reservation anyway. This place is decorated nicely and the service was great. We ordered soft-​shell crab for appetizer and it was $ 8.50 for one piece. A tad pricey but it was good. Sushi was a lot skinnier than what I’m used to but it was wonderfully made. Really small portions. The house salad was good too. The dressing was different and not the usual ginger dressing that Japanese restaurants. I could see how this place would turn away people especially on the weekends. But I imagine you wouldn’t need one during the weekdays.

Only 3 stars because the service was amazing!
Cons:
Only 5 tables-​make a reservation-​no walk in
SMALL SMALL Portions– more for your money at Sakura!
EXPENSIVE!!!
Very let down because it was so built up!!!

There’s a reason this place is Hickory’s only 5 star Unilocal rated restaurant. Simply put food and service.
A husband and wife team cooking and serving real Japanese food. Best and freshest ingredients they can find.
There is only room for about 20 people. So reservations are a must! They seat only whom they can feed for that night. Never anymore. Each time I’ve been here, someone without a reservation is turned away. They also discourage doggie boxes for fear the food will not taste proper reheated the next day!
We’ve eaten here about a dozen times and each time it gets better. I am finally writing a review because last night was over the top good! Thanks to a fellow Unilocaler putting up the pic of the grilled squid! A freakin mazing.
If you like «real» Japanese food and impeccable service, UMI is a must go to!

What an amazing find in Hickory, out of all places!
A friend of mine made us a reservation in this little, pretty place, I would recommend to do the same as there are about 7 small tables.
First of all I would like to say that we eat sushi all over the world and also try to go to Japanese restaurants as sushi is nowadays offered in almost every Asian restaurant, it always makes me kinda sad when I see Thai/​Korea/​Sushi restaurant signs.
So we were very pleased with this original Japanese place.
The drink menu is quite extensive lots of wines, several of them also served by the glass from all over the world and a good selection off different sakes, I decided on a non filtered one and it was very tasty.
As appetizers we had the grilled squid and Piri Piri Yellow tail, when the squid came out we literally gasped, it not only looked but also tasted so good.
Then I chose to take a sushi roll (and forgot the name) with marinated tuna, it was great presented and had a very good taste, I often judge Sushi places by the Tuna, if you can’t get real pieces of it, only ground like in spicy tuna rolls or deep fried it is usually not a very good place because they buy the tuna cheap. At Umi the tuna surly was a winner, lightly marinated, soft and still great own taste. For a main I just got the sashimi dinner it came with a great Miso soup that had a perfect Miso cloud when I opened it. Normally I don’t really like samplers but here the fish was just so nice and fresh and the sushi rice I decided on wasn’t freezing and slightly sweet. My partner had Ramen, very tasty broth with smoked salmon on top (interesting) good noodles, not too soft.
The service was super friendly and attentive, a Japanese lady that refilled water promptly and had her eyes everywhere.
Oh and serving water in a glass is just plain nice, I hate these plastic cups .
We for sure will be back, compared to other nice sushi places the prices are very reasonable.

I haven’t had Japanese food like this since I lived it Japan! This was very nostalgic for me and I would 100% recommend it to anyone visiting Hickory. I loved the food, atmosphere, and the folks who ran the place. Thank you so much!

This place is a true gem. It’s very quaint and you are instantly taken to a relaxing place. There are only a few tables so reservations is very recommended. The service and sushi were incredible. Extremely fresh! The place is run by Japan natives and is a family operated restaurant. We can’t wait to go back!

Umis is a Hickory area gem. Wonderful authentic Asian food, charming décor and attentive staff. Don’t be put off by the strip mall location. Small size and limited hours do call ahead and make a reservation.

This is definitely my favorite Asian restaurant in the area. Quite authentic and excellent service!

Pretty good! I didn’t know what to expect for NC sushi options. The salmon nigiri we ordered was still a bit frozen, and ended up a little slimy– seems like it was frozen and defrosted a couple of times. The rolls were good, unique, though some of the cuts of fish on top were very inconsistent (ranging from small slivers to large hunks of fish). Overall, we would go back, though we would likely try some of the other food there. The restaurant itself is lovely, very calming, peaceful.

Limited seating and don’t go if you are in a rush. The service is top notch and the food even better. Sushi is some of the best we have had.

WOW! What a gem of a place hidden away in Hickory, NC of all places. This place is as authentic as you can get. I was bit nervous about how the service will be since the only person working was the Japanese lady, but she was very prompt and was very attentive to all the tables.
I ate…
– Hamachi collar — nice and meaty with good grilled tatse
– Hamachi — SOOO buttery; was my fav!
– Sake — so fresh! good color and perfect texure.
– Ikura — love the bursting flavors.
– Amaebi — the flesh was fresh and tasted as if it just jumped out of the water. The head was fried perfectly. I love hearing the crunch when I bite in.
I probably could have ate few more piece of sushi. Sushi pieces are fairly small but that is how they are supposed to be; with tiny amount of wasabi in-​between the fish and the rice.
The hot green tea they serve is high quality. I drank two full pots.
Total damage was about $ 40. Can’t wait to revisit is I am ever forced to go to Hickory again.

This place was nearly IMPOSSIBLE to locate on a Saturday night. There are no streetlights, no lit sign, and the parking lot is off to the side. Nonetheless, I am very glad I took the effort to get out of the car to take a closer look at the neon «open» sign I thought I saw. First thought when I walked inside was TINY. This place only has 5 available tables so I recommend getting a reservation.
I just returned from a trip from Tokyo so I have some high expectations with Japanese food and this place exceeded my expectation. I even made a request to get hamachi kama (which wasn’t on the menu) and they happily made it! The menu is very large with affordable items like their delicious ramen for less than $ 9 to the sashimi dinner for ~$ 21 which I’d say is cheaper than most other nice sushi restaurants. Even more impressive, this is a two man operation run a Japanese couple.

Absolutely love this restaurant! This is an authentic Japanese restaurant with a quaint but delightful atmosphere. My husband and I love their sushi and we have never been disappointed with our meals. They are great place for takeout as well.
The owners are always courteous when we call into or arrive at Umi. After my daughter was born, they gave her a beautiful book when my husband picked up our takeout order. I would reccomend to anyone who wants amazing Japanese cuisine and impeccable service.

This place was great. I was tipped by a coworker to call and get a reservation and so I did do go dine in with a colleague. They promptly called me back and asked if we could come by 5.45pm so we agreed and went in.
The place was small but the ambiance was very authentic. Service and food were wonderful :) Loved it. I really could not believe such a gem could be hidden here in Hickory.
I got sea weed salad to start and then had their sushi with Goat cheese and asparagus. (It was very novel and refreshing)
I got their vegetable tempura too and it was fine, nothing special. Overall, i enjoyed the good and experience. Come here to get the real Japanese flavor of food!
TIP — Make reservations, fellow Unilocalers.

Shhhhhh. UMI is the best Japanese restaurant in Western North Carolina.
FYI: the summary says, «good for groups.» There are only @16 seats in the entire restaurant, so I find that characterization misleading. This is a TINY quiet, elegant, restaurant. It’s more like private dining as a guest in someone’s home.
Japanese sushi, by a Japanese sushi master! This is the real deal madame et messieurs. You’d have to go to Jiro Ono at Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo Japan for better.
Scroll down and watch the trailer!
The pork tonkatsu is good, as is their saki. One will pretty much find everything outstanding.
Weekdays, one can usually just walk in for dinner, but for Friday and the weekend — reservations are a necessity.
Domo arigato, UMI.