Umai Mi in Newcastle upon Tyne

We used to visit this place regularly when it first opened. This evening, we wanted to grab something before the Theatre, and were surprised to see this restaurant very quiet so dropped in. Ordered food and my oh my this place has gone so far downhill it's unbelievable. First plate arrived garlic ribs, which appeared to be deep fried!, no side plates provided. Tasteless, full of gristle and closest they had been to garlic is when they had been wheeled down the veg aisle in the shopping trolley. The next plate arrived char sui bao buns, again no side plates offered. God only knows what the red watery juice was that soaked the buns and ran out all over the table when taking a bite. Grim is too good a word to use here!!!!! Final dish the california rolls, still no side plates offered but we did get soy sauce. The sushi had a bizarre chewy texture and very little taste. When paying the bill the waitress asked if food was OK, after seeing the uneaten food left on the table.i was very diplomatic in my response and she told me she would let the chefs know! All in all a horrible food experience, save your money or go elsewhere.

Ordered via uber eats. Food was late and the noodles were stuck together. Neither ramen dishes had any taste. Beef was dry and absolutely tasteless. Was extremely cold by the time we got the food. Absolutely shocking for the proce paid.

Average food, efforts had to be made to get service throughout meal, we ate food while waiters mopped floors with bleach cleaner so felt like we were sat in McDonald’s. Were placed right outside so basically sat in a shopping mall avenue as opposed to what looked to be a quiet and nice atmospheric restaurant vibe inside. Starters and mains came almost at the same time which always gives you the impression they want you in and out, which must have been the case considering they were stacking chairs and mopping floors even though it was at least 45 minutes before closing time. Two stars I feel is a generous reflection as we would have been well with our right to up and leave amidst the stench of bleach.

I've been here a couple of times now for lunch, The food is beautiful with plenty of choice, beautifully presented it's not the cheapest place to eat but it's well worth the price, you can dine in and also take it away as everything is packed into a sturdy container. It's extremely busy at lunch time but half an hour either side there is plenty of places to sit indoor or out. Highly recommend a visit.

Food and service were great . Will definitely come back again

Originally I had in mind to go to good old Wagamamas, then I came across this place, UMAI Mi, with its vibrant Japanese theme and menu I decided 'why not?' The service was quick, friendly and the waiter was very informative. There were many, many choices on the menu that I haven't seen before, great if you're looking for something new or that bit different! The food itself, I went for the soup consisting of a rich (beef shin ramen) and creamy pork bone broth/soup stock, beef, vegetables topped with an egg. It was rich and full of flavour. Great value for money, too! Highly recommend!

Really nice food. Only reason it didn't get 5 stats is all our food came out separately and my wife waited over 5 minutes for hers after mine and our kids food had come out

Sushi was the worst ever. We threw it in the bin. Serious waste of money.

Great food! It arrived very quickly, staff were very friendly too. Highly recommend coming here. Chicken katsu curry and pork dumplings were absolutely delicious.

The crispy beef starter was lush so imagine my disappointment when the blandest ramen came out. Would go back for the crispy beef still

Food is delicious and not priced to expensive

Stunning food and plenty of it Joanne the front of house was very attentive,pleasant and polite, also explained everything to us and made the ordering process so easy. Food, like I said, was spectacular and large portions too. Prices are what you would expect to pay if not a little cheaper.? For food and drinks. Very good value for money and we will be back.

Amazing food and super lovely staff! I love all the vegan/vegetarian options and the prices are reflected in the portions and quality of the food. I came here with my dad and we both thoroughly enjoyed our meals. Compliments to the chef & staff :)

A good portion for a fair price, they have a great variety of Asian food including sushi and rolls.

Been here several times before and it’s always been great. However yesterday we visited and the service was absolutely appalling. After ordering our drinks, we sat waiting for around half an hour with the menus in front of us and not one member of staff came over. Eventually, a member from our party had to go and find a staff member and ask if we could order our food. We didn’t receive an apology from any staff for our wait, and we were not impressed at all. When we had finished eating, we then had to ask for the bill and waited another 15 mins to be able to pay. It’s very disappointing as normally the service is great, but yesterday the staff were really poor.

Delicious food, good price for a sit down restaurant considering the portion size. Will be coming back

Hadde en enkel lunsj. God mat, og god service.

Gone really downhill. Regular for years with family of 7. Went as a couple for the first time in a couple of months. Had to sit outside in full view of the mall rather than inside with the cosy views of Newcastle as inside 'was closed' Prices have been massively hiked up. Service not at all friendly. Won't be back

Loved it here Fantastic food Would highly recommend

The chashu pork for the ramen was clearly boiled, the rest of the food was great though

My friends and I were down from Glasgow for the day and as the queue was too long for "Fridays" we came in here. So glad we did 💕 The three of us had the sizzling hot plates, two of us had the pulled beef with Umai mi gravy sauce and jasmine rice and it tasted amazing. Another friend had the chicken, with garlic sauce and noodles which she said was delicious 😋👌 Oh and we had a portion of chips between us which had a right kick to them. I hope you open a restaurant in Glasgow as the three of us would definitely visit it.

Every time we’re in Newcastle, we make a point of coming here. The staff and food are exceptional, the sizzling bowls are what I get every time.

Great food and drink selection, just a tad pricey

As an Asian fusion restaurant located in the mall, it is average. The sushi is nothing special, the salmon is not that fresh, but overall they taste OK. We also ordered the crispy duck pancakes, it’s not that bad, although the ducks are too dry and too chunky, and cucumbers a bit too soft, and the pancakes are obviously was bought from supermarket, not steamed or warmed or anything like that(basically the pancakes a bit cold when they served the pancakes). Jasmine pearl tea was quite good, even taste better than I thought. Anyway, this place is place is as same as I expected. The environment is quite nice though, but food quality could be better.

Joanne our server was so polite. I have Alzheimer's and it was hard for me to choose my food. We got our drinks after that we just started laughing. The meal was really nice and the staff came over ( Manager) and we had a little bit of banter. We will be back. Great fun with Joanne x Many thanks.

路过顺便吃午餐。服务很快，味道也很不错，还看到有不同的优惠套餐，很多年轻人都是组队来吃。价格也不贵。

Nice and fast professional service from all the staff. A real pleasure to eat here. Great tasting food.

Really enjoyed visiting this laid back Japanese restaurant. Staff were really friendly and the food portions were tasty and HUGE.

we had some 4/5 small plates and i was so excited about trying lotus root but that was sooo salty and fried chicken wings was also salty because of the spices they put as a garnish on top .we left most of the food. Not going again for sure.

Turned away at 9pm despite the website advertising their shutting time being 10pm … evidently if they’re not busy enough… they change their hours and shut early … money driven business don’t keep customers happy …. Sometimes a good business loses a little bit in a day to reap greater benefits on other days … reputation is everything

OK first off, the bad stuff... It is in a mall... However, after that all pretty good. Good selection and reasonable prices. Service was a great because we met what felt like the whole team... The Italian fella was our fav as he was very friendly and the (Polish?) hostess who seated us.. and Joanne who took the bill and asked us to leave this review (I said it was going to be funny but I may have let her down). The food was good, esp my sushi but didnt come with ginger (which is just weird)... and the dumplings were great tasting but could have done with one or two extra pings (add garnish guys?!).... I would say worth checking out... A nice newcastle spot (even if it is mall-ridden).

Middle of the road food. Service was great. Very average place and a bit pricey for what it is.

We came at a time where it wasn't busy so this might be different depending on when you go but we were seated immediately and food came only a few minutes after we ordered. Food was delicious and hot and freshly prepared. Comfortable seating and nice lighting Overall a great experience, 10/10

The food was so delicious! I won't give it 5 stars because some of the waiters were not really kind but anyway.. I really enjoyed my meal !

I arrived there by my own at 21:20, but i was rudely told that they closed.

We came here for some lunch (as Wagamama’s was far too busy!) and it didn’t disappoint. We had a table straight away and the menu has lots of variety. We ended up having a sharing platter with a few small plates. Very tasty and reasonable price. Thanks to our server Joanne!

Underwhelming. You know it’s bad when you’re sat wishing you went to frankie and benny’s opposite instead. Nothing unfortunately seemed or tasted fresh. Yes it was ok, it was edible but sushi from Tesco tastes fresher- sorry!

This is one of my favourite restaurants. Sushi is amazing. We came for a celebration of my sons GCSEs and the staff are lovely. Food never fails to disappoint.

Consistently great food, great staff both friendly and on the ball, my go to place

We had a lovely meal with our daughter, son in law and twin 2y old boys. Joanne our waitress was very pleasant and professional, nothing was too much bother. The food was excellent and we will definitely be eating there again.

Went for restaurant week. Though there was a restaurant week menu on and plenty to choose from, but we were still hungry and ordered more off the main menu - so it still cost quite a bit. Taste-wise, it's average for japanese food in the area. Sushi was tasty enough but the sashimi wasn't that great. Service was spot-on though :)

What a fantastic find on our mini break to the North East. I wish there were more of these restaurants around the country as, if this isn’t my new favourite restaurant, it is certainly up in the top 2/3. The menu has a fantastic range of Asian dishes, we were spoilt for choice. The dim sum and non-soup ramen were delicious. Thank you to Joanne and her colleagues for their excellent and friendly service. We will have to come back to Newcastle, if only to go here again, thoroughly recommended to anyone.

Wonderful food, attentive staff and gorgeous decor. All in all a fabulous birthday experience 🥳

The restaurant looks nice and fancy. The staff is not bad too and food arrived fast. I totally don't understand why they dont give the chopsticks in the Asian restaurant. And for ramen and sushi I had only fork. Em..how they are expecting me to eat futomaki with the fork it's a huge question for me. The same works for ramen, it's just not made for fork come on. Ramen it's another tragedy. As a big lover of ramen I was eating it everywhere all over the Europe and this was just the worst ever. It was bland as hell it's like someone just put a bit of spices in the water. Not any creamy and thick structure of tonkotsu.its just was nothing. Bamboo tasted like it was just boiled without solt and was very weird. The noodles were suuuper overcooked. It looked like overcooked spaghetti which is falling apart when u r trying to catch smth because they are so soft. Futomaki were nice,can't complain about the taste. Well I don't recommend to take the ramen here if u have ever tried a normal and reach one . So I would not visit it again.

It was the first time we have eaten at this restaurant and I think it will be the last. I don't have much complaint about the food itself. My daughter enjoyed her sushi but I have never encountered such rude service. I hasten to add this was just one staff member and not everyone who was working there. We were stunned and could not believe we had been spoken too in such a rude and condescending manner. We had never visited before and didn't know anything about the dishes on the menu. This particular woman was downright nasty. She spoilt the whole experience which is a shame. We were made to feel stupid. Not the type of individual you want working in your restaurant.

Amazing food! lovely staff, will be back.

Visited for a late lunch with my sister and friend. Great food and excellent service from Elli! Thank you very much we will be back!

I never had such a terrible noodles in my entire life. Noodles were extremely over cooked that they tasted as water. You can tell that is not authentic cooked food but the food comes pre made. For the price I expect much higher quality.

Food is amazing and the service is great. Best sushi I have ever tasted. We will definitely be returning.

The food here was excellent and the servers we experienced were superb. However, we had an awkward wait of over 5 minutes when my main meal had arrived and my wife's had not. The servers noticed us looking round to see if it was coming and members of the kitchen also spotted us not eating and it was only when we asked someone why we had not been served together that they prepared and brought her meal.

Just wanted to say that the California Roll is terrible. Chicken Katsu roll was great though.

Well ive eaten here well over 20 times. Food service fantastic never let me down. Then today very poor service. Very poor attitude form the lady, tell me we can Only sit at tables outside. We wanted to sit inside like we always do. She said we cant and turned us away. There was only 6 people in restaurant, if you can turn people away business must be good. Me and my family wont return. So disappointed 😞

Won’t recommend the char sui ramen! Taste and smell was very strong. They literally just boiled the pork and served it. The char sui had no taste and tasted very bland.

Me and my partner found this place by luck, very nice staff & The restaurant itself has a really nice atmosphere. The food was absolutely amazing! Will be going back here as soon as I can!

The food is really good, we love the chicken and King Prawn fried rice. Portion sizes are good. We struggle to eat a side/starter and mains. Service is good, staff are friendly and helpful. The restaurant is in Eldon Sq, so the outlook isn't the best. But it is a great place to eat after shopping or before a theatre visit and we never had a need to book.

Overpriced for what it is, but the service is good and the food, except for the fish bites, is tasty. The sushi options are also better than that of yo sushi.

Food was nice not busy at all got a table straight away .Plenty to choose from the menu and reasonably priced

The food is really nice but the prices are absolutely ridiculous now! Almost £10 for a small eats dish? Nearly £15 for the sizzler dish which is basically rice and meat, although very delicious! I understand the overheads in Eldon Square must be astronomical. I think they need to move elsewhere before they price themselves out.

Joanne was amazing and made sure we knew just how much to order for two sharing! Great place for a catch up with friends and some sharing food !!

We ordered the black pepper beef udon noodles and shredded duck udon noodles. Both were bland and oily with little to no flavour. The black pepper beef strips were overcooked and full of gristle making them inedible. Overall for £40 was a big let down.

Always visit here for a meal whenever in Newcastle. Lots of choice on the menu and special offers on certain days (such as wing Wednesday!). Really good value for money and the portions are massive so always leave with leftovers!

Excellent HOT food - extremely good quality ingredients, good ambience in restaurant and staff are fantastic - especially Joanne who was very helpful with my 16 month old grandson who absolutely devours the food here !

The service from Joanne and her colleagues was superb. My 8-year old son really enjoyed the chicken noodles and I loved the chicken in black bean sauce. It was a lovely meal, we will definitely be back.

Very fast service and delicious food, will definitely be back

Loved it, been twice and had the king prawn and chicken fried rice and then a pulled beef hot plate. Both were amazing. Probably on the high side price wise but overall worth a visit

Amazing service by the staff and incredibly delicious food - favourite place by far in Newcastle to go for food!

Amazing food, love this place so much I went twice in one day! Poke bowls are banging, then amazing ramen noodles and DUMPLINGS to die for!! Yum yum yum! Thanks to our fabulous waitress JOANNE who put the cherry on top of our lovely evening!...

A wonderful birthday meal we were recommended to by Nudo who weren't serving til later. I'm so pleased we went here. The cocktails were dangerously good, and the food was an umami blast, especially adding some chilli oil to the broth. We chose udon noodles and I had a miso broth with pork Belly, while my partner had bone broth with beef shin. Both were excellent 👌 will definitely be back, and Uri, the waiter was friendly and fab

Very bland and boring food. Poor service too. Won’t be coming back

Went out for a meal with my partner. Food was lovely and service was great, we had a nice time. Only thing that spoilt it was the sound of shouting and noises coming from what seemed like the kitchen, mainly sounded like a girls voice....

The food here is impeccable! It's a firm favourite and love going. Service is amazing and quick. 100% recommend

Excellent food, excelent service BUT! No soy sauce! Only a gluten free? Why can't they carry ordinary soy sauce as an option? So byo soy sauce

Honestly was not impressed:( The food was not very good and lacked seasoning but the portions were very big. Will not be returning as there are better places cheaper.

Food is good. Service good. Nothing bad to say

First visit here today and the food was amazing. My daughter even commented on how nice it was. The service was brilliant aswell. We will definitely be returning thank you very much.

Delicious food with very quick service and food came quick too. Staff and manager were very kind.

Great range of food well presented.

Staff were very helpfull explaining things on the munu to me and the food that i ordered was spot on. The price was reasonable for the amount and quality of the meal i ordered. Situated in a shopping mall is not the best for atmosphere but it was as good as any of the other restraunts arount it.

Visited at the end of March 2023. Very impressed with the portion sizes - the child's katsu would have filled some adults nicely. Staff were attentive, polite and provided a swift service. Would visit again.

We've been here a few times now and it never disappoints. Lovely food and really helpful and friendly staff.

Absolutely amazing food here! I didn't take a picture of our main meals which was the Prawn Chilli soup noodles and the Belly Pork ramen which were both absolutely amazing! The prawn noodles are VERY spicy so wouldn't recommend for those who only like a light spice. The soup in the ramen was said to be the best he had tried! The sushi rolls were amazing, the best I've tried in Newcastle. The drinks are a bit expensive but doesn't effect my rating as drinks are around that price in every restaurant. They do daily deals Mon-Thurs and today was 25% off Japanese Ramen Noodles which is a great deal! The staff were very kind and accommodating. They did everything they could for us and gave great recommendations! The manager was lovely as were all of the other staff we encountered. We were told one of the people were in training and I must say he was AMAZING for still being in training! The other man we were served by was super nice when we ordered and made sure to let me know how spicy the noodles were which was appreciated as nobody wants to order something they won't finish. Will definitely be back to try out their other menu items and I 100% recommend this place.

2nd visit to Umai Mi. Can't go wrong with some Asian fusion food. Laege variety of dishes and cooked by Chinese cooks. Had the Hotplate with Char Sui as the protein with egg noodles, though I should have picked rice instead. Maybe next time. Overall a other satisfied meal and would visit again

Food was lovely, but experience was ruined by the rude waitress, she acted like she didn’t want to help at all!

Food was very average especially for the price.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was very calming and inviting, which immediately set a positive tone for the meal. The service was quick and efficient, and the staff were excellent. As for the food, we ordered the chicken cutlet donburi and beef ramen, and both dishes were absolutely delicious. They were like comfort in a bowl - warm, flavorful, and satisfying. We also tried the bubble tea, which was a refreshing and delicious accompaniment to the meal.

not as expected. quantity was really less. tried katsu curry which was ok.

The food was really good, it was my first time coming but, I did have an allergic reaction and I'm allergic to nuts. There could have been a cross contamination across cooking nuts within oils or other sources. As a I said I had an allergic reaction which is probably due to cross contamination of nuts within the food that was cooked, please next time be careful. My family ordered everything without nuts so I think this might be a problem with customers who have allergies.

I came to this restaurant with two of my friends ordered sharing platter for two which was very small and TUNA maki rolls. Food came duck on the platter came cold after asking three times the TUNA maki rolls didn’t come while waiting for 25...

If anyone who finds this comment wanna eat here and don’t mind the raw fish then I will recommend the salmon. It tastes good for me, because after waiting for 30 minutes everything can be tasty. ☺️My last meal in UK was really impressive, thank you for telling us you were sorry for your carelessness, but don’t be sorry, be careful, then there will be less poor reviews😘

Absolutely the best! Me and my partner are regulars and i can honestly say we have not been disappointed once and that speak a lot! Sushi is top!

I have waited for almost 30mins and u tell me u have lost my order??? Theres nothing for making up and all I get is a simple sorry about that😅😅😅. It was the last meal I treat my friend because she is about to leave UK and all I get, instead of 2 dishes I get only 1 and 30min waiting for nothing, thank u so much for that!

Fantastic food it was amazing, would thoroughly recommend

Better experience than last. Totally worth visiting now ! Lovely scran

Either I got really unlucky, or the food here is simply nowhere near the standard of other Asian restaurants nearby (Waga, Butakun, St Sushi, Manaza and Kimchi Planet are all excellent). Went for the Restaurant Week 3 course meal, but ended up cancelling the final course because I was not impressed with the starter and main. I went for the garlic pork ribs (very dry, not much meat, tastes like pork scratchings), and the tonkotsu beef shin ramen (tasted vaguely fishy and nothing like any tonkotsu I've ever had. I couldn't even go at the noodles. Legitimately the only bad ramen I've ever eaten.) My partner has a tofu curry rice dish which was pretty tasty, and some salt & pepper tofu (which was decent, but I've had much better from local takeaways for a fraction of the price). I give an additional star because the staff were pleasant and helpful, and after my feedback they agreed to give me a partial refund, which is really nice of them. Thank you for that. I certainly can't complain about the service here. I'm sorry to say it, but I wouldn't recommend this place. I had initially hoped to try the main menu sometime, but tonight's food really put me off the idea of paying more here. Especially when there are so many top tier Asian restaurants nearby.

Had the 2 course deal in restaurant week, only £15 per person Great flavour a lot of food, could no where near eat it all Chai Su pork was fab and the duck donbouri perfect Pleasant staff made us welcome

Great food and value for money with the 2 courses for £15. Friendly staff. We come often and never had a bad meal yet.

Thank you for such a delicious ramen soup in a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere. Here I ate one of the best ramen soups I ever had, I would rate it with 1000 stars. The restaurant is tastefully furnished with great attention to the details. The background music creates a very pleasant and relaxing atmosphere. The staff is unique, all were kind, attentive, empathetic, and prepared in their work. Thank you all for this wonderful lunch!

Great food and cocktails as usual. Will definitely be back again soon

The Katsu chicken curry is absolutely delicious and the portion is huge !!!! The staff are friendly and very welcoming. No problems whatsoever the two times I’ve been :)

Absolutely lovely. . Chicken katsu with Chips are amazing.... Chips are the best ever.. loads of vegan options.. sizzling hot plate yum, sweet and sour chicken very tasty.... Chips are the best tho ❤