Sushi Umi

This is for the boats ONLY (that is, the rotating boats of small platters that you can choose from downstairs). Amazing, delicious, and lots of variety. Too easy to spend too much money trying everything I wanted.

Went here on a Friday lunch. I checked in on Unilocal and presto I had a free miso soup! Soup is deliciously genuine Japanese taste. We ordered beef skewer and tonkatsu bento lunches. The beef is tender and delicious. The spicy and crunchy sushi is also great. Their salad is fresh. The service is fast. Recommended if you’re craving for Japanese food.

Stopped in for lunch and was pleasantly surprised. Very tasty, however call ahead because walk in take out can take extra time during the lunch rush.

I can’t blame anyone but myself. I saw the poor reviews and still went here since I did not have a lot of time and was craving sushi. I was optimistic initially since it was fairly crowded. They do the boat thingy downstairs and have regular seating up stairs.
I got the sushi combo with a few substitutes. I got the tuna roll with soy paper and double ngiri salmon which came out to $ 18.50. The sushi was very fishy, I was able to eat the ngiri but the rolls were way too fishy and i junked it. $ 18.50 for a few below average salmon ngiri… next

My go to spot after a rough day at work. Love the sushi boats. This is the kind of place you get quantity over quality but I am a sushi snob. This place is good though.
Quick lunch and a beer– and upstairs seating w menu options. I come here once a month.
Nice staff– okay sushi from boats. Happy hour must be wild.

Excellent service! Really appreciate how they handled a situation of missing food :)

This place is garbage. I dont know why I’ve gone here more than once.
The fish rolling around on the boats looks OLD. Like slimy nasty old. All the portions are tiny and expensive.
I tried their chicken teriyaki once and it tasted burned and nasty. The teriyaki sauce they gave me tasted funky and was so bad that I couldn’t eat the rice onto which I had poured it.
I’ve resolved never to go here again despite it being so close to where I work.

Had 3 rolls and 1 sashimi for $ 15. Smaller portions that I expected, but quality of the fish was good.

WHY?! WHY didn’t I read the Unilocal reviews first?
First mistake. I work across the street and walk by this place all of the time so I figured I’d try it for lunch.
BAD IDEA. I ordered ONE 49er’s roll and ONE small seaweed salad. With a $ 1 tip my bill came out to almost $ 18!
Seriously? My first thought was that the sushi must have been great but when I opened my order I noticed two things, the portions were TINY… (only HALF of a small cup of seaweed salad) and the raw salmon on my roll looked funny. Bummer. Not only did my salmon look funny but it was pure mush when I got it in my mouth. Gross! The seaweed salad was unlike any I’ve ever had before. Tasted like I was drinking pure ocean-​salt water.
I will never go back here again and will never recommend it to anyone. I’m not a picky eater but when it comes to eating raw food, I do not play around. Especially for $ 18!

I just left the restaurant about not long ago. First, I will say the sushi boats are okay, not good but serviceable. The problem is the service. I was overcharged for the plates; they mistook the cheaper ‘white plate’ for a more expensive ‘speckled plate’. Honest mistake, until I spent 10 minutes waiting for someone to come back to fix the problem, When they finally did they did not take off the speckled plate just ADDED another plate. I tried to tell them again but after another 10 minutes, I needed to return to work. I do not recommend the place, if you must go just make sure you are diligent about counting your plates and have the time to wait around when they overcharge you. I for one will never return, to many great options in the city to eat mediocre sushi and deal with being overcharged.

Love the sushi boats. Been here twice — near my work so I will be eating here often. Delicious — nicely made sushi comes by for your choice. Pay attention, though, because it may not come back by a second time! Attentive staff will bring your tea and miso soup if you like.

A perfectly adequate Sushi joint and Japanese restaurant in the FiDi. Although the place has a very small, cramped feel to it, Sushi Umi has two floors. The lower floor is dedicated to the sushi «bar» where conveyor belt driven boats float around a track and carry a wide variety of sushi and sushi inspired dishes to your seat.
The second floor is the proper restaurant, with tables and wait service. They’re connected by a stairwell towards the back of the establishment. On the second floor you’re given a proper menu, polite, regular service.
I often dine here at just the sushi bar/​conveyor area, where I can get a considerable variety of basic sushi rolls, chef’s specialty rolls, sashimi, nigiri and other crafts, each priced per plate. Although the cheapest plates are rare, so are the most expensive ones, so you end up with a lot of «middle of the road» cost sushi plates. My drink is refilled frequently, and I’m usually not left long if I need something from the wait staff.
Sometimes however, I treat myself further and go to the restaurant side — here you can order sushi, bento box lunches, soups and other full meal items you’d expect in a Japanese restaurant, and they’re all fairly decent quality. Likewise on the ground floor, the service is pretty expedient.
Speedy service, acceptable prices (a lil pricey, but it IS sushi in SF,) and decent food, this place *gets* business lunches. Given that their hours are almost entirely around the business work day, and it’s in the FiDi, I’m pleased.

I go here all the time on my lunch because it’s near my office and the sushi boats make for a quick lunch. The staff is friendly and quick and the sushi is good. Some other people on here have complained about the food not being fresh or making them sick, but I have never had any issues and have been here upwards of 10 times. If you sit at the sushi bar closer to the chefs, you will be close to where they put the sushi on the boat to go around, so you can snag it first. They stop making sushi for the boats at like 1:30, so if you go after that you’ll see the same stuff going around and round.
All in all, definitely not the best sushi in SF, but it is good for what it is — a quick lunch at a sushi boat restaurant. Gotta love that instant gratification!

Their upstairs sitting area is great. I would recommend ordering vs the sushi boat which is less than appetizing. It’s definitely my go to sushi place in the area and their staff is always friendly and consistently making sure you are satisfied. Word of caution: please make sure you have time if you go during 12−1pm as it is on the longer side of waiting time. I would definitely recommend for the neighborhood and lunch time crowd.

Hmm what to say about Sushi Umi? Not exactly the best sushi in downtown SF, but not the worst. It has its hits and misses, but it’s a quick and reasonable place to get your sushi fix. I tend to avoid the sushi boat of any place, let alone here, so your best bet is to go upstairs and order from the menu. Their sashimi is actually not too bad, and the nigiri are decent also. I don’t tend to get too many rolls, but they’re OK for the most part. Can’t eat Akiko everyday folks (unless you’ve got it like that).

My friend and I decided to come check it out for lunch. We sat at the sushi boat area and mainly just ate from it. They do a few things fairly well, such as seared salmon and their sashimi cuts, but I was not impressed with any of their rolls.
My biggest complaint is that it is quite expensive. The bill came to be $ 80 dollars (including tax and tip) and this is for lunch! I don’t think I’d come back again.

I was still hungry and somehow craving for sashimi after downing a burger (it was a small burger, don’t judge), and wandered into Sushi Umi. It was 2:30pm and the first floor was pretty empty except for some late lunch goers around the sushi boat counter. I was quickly greeted by 2 waitresses, handed a menu, and informed of their lunch specials.
After looking through the whole menu, I ordered the 9pc sashimi (salmon, tuna, albacore) to go for $ 13. Yes, it was $ 13 for 9pc so I did not have high expectations. Similar to a previous review on the sashimi, the pieces were tiny, but the perfect portion to get me full (after that small burger, of course ;D). I was pleased that all the pieces were decently fresh, not bad for a hole-​in-​the-​wall-​looking place. Overall, I enjoyed my meal because it was exactly what I was looking for, and I will return to try the rolls.

I assume this place must be housed in San Francisco’s skinniest office building. At least it looks like it from across the street, and this nondescript Japanese spot takes up the first two floors like some Ginza-​style eatery where it would be surrounded by identical sushi establishments. But this is not the Ginza, and there isn’t a geisha waitress in sight ready to walk on your back. No, this business couldn’t survive in Tokyo, and frankly, I’m surprised it’s been able to survive here since it’s just so unequivocally mediocre in a city filled with great sushi places. Only not in the FiDi and therein lies the conundrum for any office worker looking for a little fresh hamaichi to get him through a long work day.
I bypassed the sushi boats on the main floor (photo:
). I’m not a fan of the concept as it turns an artistic cuisine into a carnival sideshow. I’ll tolerate it if it’s good like at Warakubune on Church (review:
), but otherwise I prefer just a clean counter between me and the master. So I trundled up to the second floor which a lot of people don’t even know exists (photo:
) unless you happen to read the reviews here. The menu is sushi-​focused with a tempura bar and a few combination plates (photo:
). Since the sushi on the first floor looked like it has been on cruise control since Capt. Merrill Stubing took to the high seas, I decided upon the $ 12.50 Hamaichi Kama Deluxe Lunch (photo:
).
First came the miso in a decorative square bowl straight from the Crate & Barrel outlet store (photo:
). Somewhat lukewarm… and the broth was not cloudy all day. Then came the lunch plate. The hamaichi was a collarbone which had been grilled and marinated in ponzu and lemon juice (photo:
). The result was on the meh side since the edible portion around the collarbone is rather paltry no matter how well decorated it is with chopped scallions. The obligatory scoop of rice and mixed green salad were there, and then the saddest quartet of California Rolls I had ever seen. It looked like a prison guard had slapped them hard with a clubstick (photo:
). Lunch was a miss for me, and a repeat visit is not likely unless amnesia kicks in.
FOOD — 2 stars… the grilled carcass of a yellowtail is what you get if you bypass their sushi
AMBIANCE — 2.5 stars… shopping mallish, food courtish
SERVICE — 2 stars… spotty at best
TOTAL — 2 stars… back to J-​Town for me

Avoid like the plague! The sushi going around the sushi boat totally didn’t look fresh at all. The chicken teriyaki bento you can’t order a la carte just the teriyaki, and it’s yakitori not chicken breast or thighs. The main focus here is the sushi not menu items. The service wasn’t very helpful at all either. I guess this place gets busy only due to its cheap prices.
I hate Kamakura, but sad to say, I think I’d rather have a meal at nearby Kamakura then here.

All around a fan of the place in terms of sushi, udon, and service! I guess delivery isn’t the best from reading the other reviews, but eating in sure wasn’t disappointing.
There are always seats upstairs according to one of my dining buddies, even at the noon hour. The best tables are those closer to the window although be sure to look at the menu boards near the top of the stairs before heading to the other side — the handwriting can be tough to see!
I get udon with veggie tempura quite often for those that eat out with me at Japanese restaurants (yes, you can request only veggie otherwise this place gives ~4−5 veggies and ~2 shrimps). So, I can say that this place has an udon + veggie tempura combo that makes me pretty happy. The udon itself is chewy (although it’s not homemade for all you noodle aficionados, but for the price, I didn’t expect that) and the broth is savory. The tempura was really crunchy (double battered?) with very fresh veggies inside.
I must say that my co-​workers ordered a good variety of dishes so I’m able to comment on those as well. One ordered a hand roll (menu page 2, top right) plus a regular roll (menu page 2, top left) and was happy & full. Another ordered the salmon plate which they said was a really good bento ‘box’ (although it did come on a large square plate). And, another ordered one specialty roll and some nigiri. Be sure to ask how long the specialty roll you’re ordering takes — that can vary depending on complexity, so if you’re in a rush to get back to work, be aware.
Will be back to get my udon + veggie tempura fix when I’ve got an excuse to go out for lunch! :)