UMAMI ASIAN CUISINE
Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★★
District: Bellevue
Authentic Asian Cuisine & Sushi
Perfect For: Date Night; Upscale Dining; Casual Dining
Standout Dishes: Sushi Lover; Sushi & Salmon for 2; Dynamite Roll
Keen Zheng’s resume is one that few in Omaha can match. After he caught the sushi bug, Keen spent over a decade in New York City working at some of the city’s most renowned sushi restaurants, including several with Michelin stars. That included a stint as the right hand man of Jiro Ono, the Tokyo chef who stars in the Netflix documentary ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi” and is generally regarded as one of the best sushi chefs in the world.
Fantastic as his work history is, I don’t know any of it to appreciate Keen’s food at Umami Asian Cuisine. All I need is one bite of this impeccable sushi and I know I’m in the presence of greatness.
You would never guess you were passing greatness if you drove by Umami, housed in a relatively small, humble building in Bellevue, just south of Bellevue University. Fortunately, nearly everyone who visits Umami leaves singing its praises, generating some incredible word-of-mouth marketing.
The restaurant offers a completely unique experience. Its menu has an abundance of sushi rolls, as well as sushi and sashimi pieces, all of which are prepared by a team of chefs in plain sight.
There are also traditional Chinese, Thai, and Japanese dishes, three different curry options, and a few hibachi grills. You could come to Umami several times and have a vastly different experience during each.
If all that selection isn’t enough, you can simply ask for the chef’s opinion. Chef Keen changes the sashimi menu every couple of days based off what fish are most in season and interest him, and he and his team are happy to make recommendations.
The best way to experience Umami might be through the Sushi Lover, a platter with a Spicy Tuna Roll and nine pieces of sushi, chef’s choice. All the fish is ridiculously fresh—it tastes like it was swimming a few hours ago. The flesh is firm, but with an elastic, pleasantly chewy quality, and Umami allows it to be the star. A dollop of sticky sushi rice is all that’s added to each piece, as the restaurant lets the fish do the rest of the talking.
Your experience could be different every time with this dish, but these are some examples of what you can expect:
- Hamachi Hara: this yellowtail belly is so rich and luscious it’s like eating a pat of butter. You barely even have to chew to consume it.
- Otoro: this fatty portion of the tuna belly is so rich it practically melts when it hits the tongue.
- Soy-Marinated Salmon: the soy gives a burst of umami to accent the silky salmon flesh.
- Scallop: sweet, mild, and delicate, it has a very pleasant chew.
Even the simple spicy tuna roll is excellent, as the tuna is rich and savory and breadcrumbs add some texture to the creamy consistency.
If you have a dining companion, the Sushi for Two allows you to expand on this concept, but with 16 pieces of sushi and three rolls. It’s a wonderful option for date night or a fun experience with a fellow sushi-loving friend.
The servers are extremely friendly and walk you through each piece of fish on the plate. On one occasion, our meal included a sampling of tuna, salmon, yellowtail, and much more. It looked so delicious that I couldn’t decide if I wanted our helpful waiter to slow down and walk us through everything on the plate or get him out of there ASAP so we could start feasting.
If you want to get the rolls themselves, Umami has no shortage of options. With more than 50 sushi rolls on the menu, Umami allows you to be as basic or adventurous as you please.
The simple rolls are still delicious, especially when dipped in the delicious soy sauce. If you want to try some different things, consider the Lobster Salad Roll (tempura shrimp and mango, topped with lobster salad and mango sauce) or the restaurant’s nod to Nebraska, the BBQ Omaha Steak Roll, complete with a crab mix, avocado, crispy potatoes, and seared steak.
The Dynamite Roll, with a crunchy deep-fried exterior to contrast the smooth cream cheese, salmon, and crab inside, is a fun examination of texture and form.
While there are dozens of appetizers available, you can’t go wrong with the Pork Gyoza. These dumplings are pan-fried to achieve just enough of a texture contrast while still maintaining the doughiness that makes dumplings so pleasant. They’re packed full of flavorful pork, and the provided dipping sauce is tasty enough to drink from a straw.
And each entree is accompanied with a bowl of Miso Soup and a Side Salad. The former features a umami-rich, slightly salty broth, while the latter employs a tangy, sweet in-house ginger dressing to give the lettuce a nice pop.
The beauty of Umami is it allows diners to choose their own adventure, and they do everything so well. Want sushi? Craving the hibachi experience? Need to please a family with familiar Chinese takeout classics? Umami offers all these and more, and it does them so well.
That being said, I cannot imagine coming here and not getting sushi. The fish is of such high quality and prepared both simply and with great care. This is the type of place I’m happy to sit at the counter and say, “I’ll have whatever you suggest, Chef.”
Because based off his resume and my wonderful experiences at his restaurant, I know Keen is going to take great care of me.