Umai in Newham

I keep hoping things change but no……. Completely overpriced. They serve the ramen in a cardboard pot that’s too high to use chopsticks properly. The char sui is sub par. The amount you get is so much less than if you got a proper ramen bowl yet they want to charge you £13! It’s a rip off. AVOID.

Popped in for a sashimi / sushi lunch after having visited a few times in the past. Almost put off by some negative reviews of late. Perhaps not the greatest food going but certainly cheaper than Yo Sushi, also in Westfield. At Yo you pay over £6 for a beer, but here at Japan Centre it's only £2.49 Worth a visit.

Used to enjoy the experience here. Not sure what has happened, perhaps a victim of Covid? It's seriously gone downhill. Items missing from our order, tasteless noodles, asparagus that you can't bite through. Guyoza a Japanese iconic dish, awful. Not a Japanese native in sight. So much unnecessary environmental waste. Not only has it become extraordinarily expensive, tables which used to be packed on the weekend are now empty at 7pm. I'm not surprised. Not at all worth the visit, nor the dent in my wallet. Doubt we we would return anytime soon. Such a shame.

Every time I come here I see something else that disgusts me. I have decided to boycott the place now and get some sushi from M&S which thankfully have installed a new counter. The hot food is excruciatingly overpriced and dripping with oil. The staff are slow and dopey at best. They can’t even string a sentence together in English. Once I found a hair in my hot food, they didn’t even apologise or offer a refund. After that I continued to purchase only sushi but after feeling thoroughly ripped off the last time when the cashier wouldn’t except my student ID -for reasons he couldn’t even articulate, I decided it’s best to stay away. I strongly advise others to do the same.

Who trains the staff here? Having to have to clear a space on the table and then clean it myself as none of the staff have bothered. It is the same every time I visit here. Even when asked, being told they are too busy! It’s overpriced and poor service.

Had a lunch with my mother and my baby today. We ordered 2 meals (2 x Ramen+ 6 xTakoyaki+ 2 x drink). Whilst waiting I noticed a lady staff who was making food but didn’t wear her mask the right way. We waited for a long time but there was no food coming. Until the cashier reminded the lady staff about our order, she then started making it. During the long wait my baby has lost her patience and started playing up. When the food was ready we couldn’t enjoy but had to entertain the baby whilst rushing to finish the lunch. I feel I have planned and timed things right but everything got messed up. In terms of the food, noodles were hard, small portioned, meat slices were cold, the soup was salty. The Takoyaki was lukewarm not hot, with seafood in so they tasted horrible. Overall it was a terrible experience. For £30 we could have had something else in the food court which is more enjoyable.

First at all, it is almost impossible to find. Downstairs, probably in one of the worst areas of the shopping mall. Second, few tables with a lot of people hunting for them (we were looking like a group of bloodhounds). You order at the counter, food is freshly prepared, but I would not recommend. It is nothing special for a Japanese eatery, atmosphere is not relaxing, packed with people and merchandise, prices are high for what it is. I would almost define it an expensive Japanese greasy spoon....

Came here this week to try out the prawn tempura udon, was delicious and the student discount on top was great! Very sweet staff, had a great udon and went home full :)

don’t know where to start really, noodles were undercooked and the pork was so fatty and flabby, the tempura bites we ordered were greasy and gross, the food was cold when they brought it (they microwave everything), waiters looked like they had no clue what they were doing, tables weren’t cleared so we had to do it ourselves, and it was overpriced on top of everything! The place is in serious need of a manager, never ever going back...

That moment you need to clean the table from the previous customers just to have a space to eat your ramen... And that after you been waiting for 15-20 minutes just to get the food done 🤣 meanwhile you are listening to the staff arguing how long their break should be. Understaffed. Japanese management in UK, sad sad story. Otherwise tasty soup with ball of stuck noidles. Guys get some Chefs on board and start hiring, such a shame!

I went to Umai during my last visit to the Westfield shopping center in Stratford. As expected from Japanese Center there are plenty of japanese drinks, snacks and foods. I ate ramen, gyoza and drunk a tea for a total cost of £16. Ramen were nice (if you go directly to a shoryu ramen store for the same ramen will taste better) but the gyoza felt a little bit old. Overall I would suggest to come to Umai to eat/buy something only if you're already in the shopping center. If you want deliscious ramen or buy japanese snacks you can definetely find better places.

I heard about this place regarding a good ramen. Didn't expected to be true. The food is really good, but the supermarket is a bit pricey. But it's a good place for a quick lunch or snack.

Unfortunately this seems to be the only place in Westfield to get ramen. The sushi is so, so, a little overpriced. The ramen however has gone down hill in the the last 3 years. The broth now seems to be thickened with something that gives it a processed taste and the last few times the noodles have been so undercooked to render them inedible. The main problem is the staff. Either there is such a high turnover of staff that no-one knows what they are doing or they do not provide adequate training.

First of all the prices of the food is fantastic in comparison to similar restraints - I picked up some Sushi for £2.80 where as Waitrose opposite had similar going up to £5 and not as fresh. Gyozas again half the price of what you’d pay at somewhere like Yo Sushi. The Ramen was lovely, the broth was great - overall an enjoyable eat. It is quite busy and hectic but that’s ok as the food it great.

I regularly visit this resreraunt and have never once been dissapointed by the food or service, as a wheelchair user the space and table service was superb abd Toni the sushi chef went the extra mile to ensure my visit was comfortable and enjoyable, cannot reccomend this resteraunt enough! Excellent

Lots of excellent products from which to choose, and a very helpful sushiman (Tony) who was happy to prepare a specific sushi order for a pregnant lady (me).

Was at Umai today to pick up some sushi and ended up having one of the best ramen in town. The sushi chef Tony was wonders with his friendliness and knowledge and recommended the perfect roll that was so fresh. He also informed me that their Tonkotsu ramen was authentic Japanese as can be and not like the other noodle shops. It was truly amazing with the tender pork belly and lush pork broth . Will be back to taste some more of the other items I saw on display at the ramen counter. Highly recommended

I ordered take away... just wanted some ramen... they messed order up twice... staff were vacant and unhelpful... got food home... it was terrible... and made me sick the following day. AVOID...there is a tonkotsu not far... wish I had gone there.

I visited Umai when passing through Westfield Stratford and stopped for a snack from their fresh food counter. I ordered the okonomiyaki stick - which I enjoyed when purchasing in the past - and a crab claw out of curiosity, as I had never tried before.

I waited over half an hour for sticky rice with curry sauce, and a bland piece of breaded chicken on top. It was easily the worst Japanese food I have ever eaten, and tasted like something I might eat in a chippy on a Friday night. And it cost £8.70! Avoid this place like herpes.

Quick bite- don't bother, food is not fresh and tasteless, pretty sad as was looking forward to this as an overseas visitor to centre

So I've always wanted to come down and try the food here as I always pass it when going to waitrose, any me and a friend went to grab a quick lunch, we ordered a chicken katsu and chicken karage over rice with some additional I guess toppings as they said.... Just so you know all their hot food items is just reheated food from god knows when, the curries were OK and nothing special at all, the chicken was kinda stale and sad.... The toppings we got were spring rolls, egg omelette.

We were visiting the London stadium and thought we’d stop for something to eat before entering the venue.

I live locally to this store and often pop in for sushi on my way home as it's reduced close to closing. It is always super tasty and fresh whilst not being too pricey (£3 for 4 big california rolls). My brother who also lives with me often gets the tempura vegetables and loves it. I've had the katsu curry once before and found it quite average though and it seems like most of the scathing reviews of this place are based around the hot food which I rarely get to be honest. The mini supermarket part of this store is awesome too and sells all sorts of japanese imported treats and goods albeit at imported prices but that's about what you expect for this type of fair. I don't understand the really scathing reviews on here saying that "this is the worst food i've ever had..." very dramatic and unfair in my opinion.

I visited Umai earlier in the year and bought a selection of different foods from their fresh counter. The selection is comparable to that available at the main Japan Center site in Soho and features a mixture of cold and hot items. I ordered a chicken hirata bun from the hot menu, plus an okonomiyaki stick, seafood kakiage, teriyaki chicken skewer and two seafood sui mai.

If you are in Westfield and are looking for a light tasty lunch why not try this place. Reasonably priced sushi nice marinaded tofu and bowls of ramen. It may not be the smartest place in glitzy Westfield being part of a shop, however I liked it

Great Sushi that went down a treat. Impressive selection and all Super fresh. Massive selection of drinks Good shop aswell.

Popped in for something different and had a variety of food we hadnt tried before..lovely place friendly staff..I still dont like tofu but you cant blame others..really enjoyable

I've tried the food here three separate times, giving them the benefit of the doubt thinking maybe I'd just been unlucky the previous time. Sadly after this third time, I can say they are consistently awful! In addition I've almost been overcharged twice!

It is a shame Shoryu Ramen allows this branch to represent their brand. Although advertised as a Shoryu Ramen restaurant on their website, this location offers only three picnic tables if you want to "dine in". When I went they had two tables completely empty of people, but they were covered in dirty dishes. I spent about 15 minutes discussing what to get and chatting with my partner, and they did not clear away any of the dishes during that time.

Odd for me as I'm never short of an opinion Dear Reader but in this instance I'm a bit stumped

Saw the advert for the Ramen Noodles and felt like trying it out for lunch. Was decent, maybe a little too salty, but definitely not worth the 11,50£. This is all I had for lunch. Half an hour later I don't feel so well and this lasts the rest of the day. After work I need to go and here it is, as liquid as when I ate it 4 hours earlier. Needless to say food safety isn't there top priority and I understand now why they made it so salty. 1/5 Will never eat there again.

En ningún sitio satisfago mejor mi añoranza por la auténtica comida japonesa que en el Umai. Buena comida, una muestra variada de lo que puedes comer en Japón normalmente en el día a día, más allá del archiconocido sushi. Estuve en el rincón dentro del Japan Centre en Shaftesbury avenue. Se puede comprar para llevar o comer allí, cosa que he hecho varias veces, aunque hay muy poco sitio y puede ser incómodo por la falta de espacio , especialmente si son más de dos personas. Aun así lo recomiendo.

A very new place on the lower ground floor of Westfield, went there for lunch with two Chinese friends and they were definitely happy. You can have pretty great noodles, miso soup and fried tofu for £10. It's definitely a solid shopping centre restaurant.

ジャパンセンターの店舗が入ったカンテイーン。いつも、ラーメンやら調味料を買いに行くついでに、店内で食べられる寿司やうどんを食べて帰ります。お惣菜も売っていますが日本のデパ地下とは比べ物になりませんが、それでも、海外の食事に飽きたら個々の軽食は非常にありがたい。レジでお会計を済ませるのに長い列ができるのは改善の余地あり

Umai Noodle bar is located in Westfield Stratford City and opposite Waitrose. It's a Japanese type of delicatessen that sells handmade sushi, tempura, gyoza and curry. It has a small food hall that sells authentic Japanese food and drinks.