Umami Cafe

YOU have to have a coffee shop in a business building. If not then there would be a lot of zombie workers. I had to drop off samples to a client and I needed a pick me up. I decided to check this place out since it was on the bottom floor.
Service: They were really slow when it wasn’t busy but the lady was very nice and kind.
Coffee: MEH it wasn’t that great. I got the white chocolate mocha and didn’t even drink it all. I ended up throwing it away.

New management, new menu. Change can sometimes be bad.
When I first visited Umami Café a few years ago, they actually served food and drink as advertised in their name, «Umami Café, Japanese Coffee Bar.» They had a variety of bentos on display – it was like the food court at Shirokya but fancier.
The place has the same name, signage, and look, but the food is completely different. Gone is the delectable assortment of bento boxes, which greeted customers as they entered the shop. The display racks are now bare, which led me to ask if they were open.
The woman working there motioned to the corner of the shop, where an assortment of food was laid out, buffet style. I should have turned away when I saw the picked-​over food in aluminum foil chaffing pans. But, I was hungry and walked from downtown.
I tried the glistening fried rice, what looked like beef teriyaki, and slices of pork. All the food was not warm enough. The rice was greasy and hard from sitting out too long… do I need to go on… it was all just terrible.
I left a bit sad knowing how great the place used to be. It reminded me that I need to patronize the places I like more often. I hate to think that my not returning here more often contributed in a small way to the old managers and staff having to leave the business to someone else.

Delicious food and amazing service!!! We came in and my guest is allergic to gluten and they weren’t dismissive at all, instead, very accommodative while they were busy serving lunch to others! The chef came out an not only offered to help but personally grilled some uncoated port and built her an amazingly delicious, healthy and gluten free lunch at the same price per ounce as all the other amazing selections… Lots of Aloha Here!!!

I love the Italian sodas that they serve and the breakfast/​lunch buffets that they have are wonderful.
They really know how to pick you up when your down from the fact that you need to be at work.

I just went to Umami Café to pick up some coffee. I ordered two drinks — one iced chai large and one small thai latte with non fat milk. I did not get into the nitty gritties that some people do with their orders. So I assumed it would not take too long and it would be correct.
There was no one else at the café. They had two people working the counter that day. But it took them about 20 min to get my two drinks ready.
It took one of the ladies about 10 whole min to ring up my order (she did not know if they served thai lattes, when it was obviously on their menu) while the other lady struggled trying to figure out how to make both items.
My first chai drink came out white as milk and then I asked her if this is indeed a chai or not? She drew a blank stare and then proceeded to remake it. When we received the drinks — it was still very white and tasted like warmed milk with droplets of ice in there.
I seriously question whether or not these people were qualified to make these drinks and I will never take time off from my busy day to get a coffee drink here ever again.

My friend took a bunch of us here thinking that they had dollar hand rolls every first friday, but they changed it to hawaiian food and they have squid luau and I was soo happy, but it was salty, and I just wish it was sweeter, more coconut milk taste. Only because squid luau is my favorite, and thats how I like mine.
Besides that the ambience was nice, there is outside seating. The hawaiian buffet was weighed. So about 80 cents a pound I think.
All in all a good place to have lunch, and a nice spot to eat outside away from all the hussle n bussle of downtown.

I wish I could retract my earlier review, because I feel like I oversold this place and they are now nothing like that glittering jewel I thought I’d found.
But it’s important to see the dramatic change from a place that really had so much potential and seemed to be doing everything right to a place that’s now, frankly, a disappointment. What little food they do serve now (gone are many of the varieties of bento they used to serve) is subpar, and it seems to be deliberate. The food service seems to be an afterthought now, an adjunct to whatever it is the rest of the kitchen is churning out food for.

I’ve been here a handful of times for coffee. It’s ok sometimes but recently I had the most horrible mocha. It was WAY oversweetened (and believe me, I love sweet). I managed to swig down half of the cup (while trying not to let too much hit my tastebuds) and the rest I had to throw away.
Quality control people!

When this place opened, they were really good… lots of choices, good food, good value. I especially liked their hamachi kama bento and the other bentos with the 9 different items (looked like a tic-​tac-​toe bento box). I had to go early to make sure I had all the options available, but it was worth it. It was easily going into my weekly lunch rotation for once or twice a week, but then something happened
I don’t know what it was, but suddenly the prices went up a buck or two and the bento selection and availability went way down. In vain I went back three or four times thinking that it was just something out of the ordinary, but walked out each time after being disappointed.
I go back every so often, perhaps once a month to check in, but I have to say I’m disappointed because things were so good at the beginning

OMG… they started a special for first fridays of the month. A chef will personally make your sushi handroll for $ 0.99 each!!! Yes, that’s $ 0.99 each!
I had six rolls: spicy ahi, salmon, crab meat, negitoro, natto ahi and kim chee beef. they were delicious and fresh! can’t wait for next month!

What happened to you, Umami Café? You used to be our office’s favorite lunch spot for Japanese bentos. You used to have many delectable bentos to choose from, as well as good quality hand rolls and smaller donburi-​type items. I LOVED the Kamikaze bento, which I hear you have to pre-​order at least a day ahead. What made you change so drastically since I last visited a couple months ago…
The other day I arrived around 11:45 with a few co-​workers. We were looking forward to all the yummy bentos and handrolls. Imagine our surprise when we walked in and… the table was nearly empty! The only things available at the moment were some chicken katsu bentos, 3 crab handrolls, and 5 shrimp tempura handrolls.
What the!!! Last I checked, 11:30 am — 1:00 pm is the typical lunch rush. Why wouldn’t they have more food ready at that time? Other customers who arrived shortly after us looked puzzled as well.
We checked with one of the workers, and he said they’d have garlic chicken and teriyaki chicken bentos ready soon. From the many times I’ve picked up lunch from Umami, I knew that the garlic chicken would be worth the wait.
Got back to the office and… was very disappointed. It’s completely different from how they used to make it. It used to be breaded, fried, and tossed in a tasty garlic sauce with just a hint of sweetness. This chicken had NO FLAVOR! I had to add shoyu to make it edible because otherwise it would have been tossed, and I hate wasting food.
I would normally get some spicy tuna rolls, but was told that they always run out early in the morning. If they routinely sell out of a popular item so far ahead of the lunch hour, doesn’t it make sense to increase the ahi supply in order to make more for the lunch crowd? Hmmm, I don’t understand…
On a positive note, their drinks are still good and the cashiers are friendly. I also noticed that they’ll be doing some new specials, like a First Friday live handroll station. Maybe this will redeem them a bit?
Oh Umami Café, I’m sorry but we’ll have to part ways for a while. Please go back to how you used to be in the beginning, and I’ll gladly return!

Didn’t even know this place existed!
My mentor took us here to talk and have lunch. Its a really nice and clean restaurant/​café bar. The prices for food aren’t that bad either at about $ 6 for a really nice sized bento. I was expecting only japanese bentos however! I was surprised when I saw a pork adobo bento. (it wasn’t really adobo but it was delicious!)
I also got an iced vanilla latte before I left. The barista gave me 4 shots of espresso in my dink! I think its the standard amount that they pour into iced drinks… but I’m not too sure. Gave me my coffee fix for the rest of the day! Tho it didn’t taste as I expected it to, the vanilla over powered the coffee flavor.
The good: Nice clean place. With a very generous amount of food in their bentos. There is a lot of seating outside the café as well as a small sorta sectioned off area if you can get to it. No reservations required.
The meh: coffee wasn’t as good as I expected… I got nothing else lol I liked this place a lot
Definitely coming back to try a hot coffee drink.

Umami Café is a super cute «Japanese» café located in Harbour Court. I noticed that they serve food as well as drinks, and when I say food I don’t mean little pastries and sandwiches that most cafes and coffee shops serve (not that they don’t have that because they do) but they also serve bentos: D I was super tempted to buy a bento but knowing that I was in a rush to get to school, I knew I wouldn’t have the time to eat it.
However, I did try their peach iced tea which was pretty good, as far as iced teas go. It was iced tea with peach syrup which canned peaches in the tea. It would have been nice if it was fresh peaches but I didn’t really expect for that.
Nevertheless, I expect that I will definitely stop by for another peach iced tea next time I park at Harbour Court… and maybe I’ll try a bento too :]

Made a return trip yesterday and sampled another bento. This time it was Dynamite Chicken with Fried Rice. While I did prefer the saba bento, I found this to be a tasty substitute.
I also had to try the Green Tea Financier — holy cow; this thing which looks like a small muffin, but has the consistency of a pastry is to die for. It tastes evilly scrumptious, a definite must.

This place is bento heaven! If you come around 11:30am, they have all these bento combinations. You can get bentos with cooked food or chirashi (sashimi over rice). Their prices are reasonable. I don’t think any of the bentos cost more that $ 8. The cheapest bento is around $ 6.
If you work around the Bishop Square area, it is a bit of a far walk. But they have a nice seating area outside the café. It’s super quiet and clean.

Gooooood. I will drop by Umami in the morning for an awesome green tea latte, the hot counter person, some pumping beats, and a decent bento… its a different vibe from the usual coffee shop.
The green tea lattes are super creamy, sweet and yet a bit bitter, which is everything I am looking for in a green tea latte. Ha, this may be the way I want to get my calcium intake from now on though. The red velvet cake as shown in one of the pictures is the moist smooth cake that I’m looking for in a red velvet… I want a red velvet to be ‘velvetly’ naturally. And the fact there is not a whole lot of frosting either is a plus because the taste is not this overwhelming blast of sweet to your tastebuds. As for the other sweets, they are okay… salt chocolate cookies are ok, muffins are ok, the anpan is ok… usually I just grab something if I’m hungry because its too difficult to go to another place after.
If you’re looking for something savory however, they have some mean bentos. There’s a good breakfast bento of chicken, sausage, bacon, eggs, and rice, and some other Japanese bentos such as ahi/​natto. Ha, and while it may seem like a strange breakfast, usually I’ll pair my green tea latte with some spicy tuna handrolls. So indeed, Umami is a Japanese style coffee shop… Japanese sweet drinks and japanese foods for your day.

A friend and I tried this place on a whim today which is always a fun thing when you discover new food places to eat at for lunch in downtown! From where I work, this place is a little bit of a journey but to me it’s well worth it.
What’s unusual about this place is that it’s a fusion of a bento/​sushi place with a café where they serve deserts, lattes, coffees and other drinks. Definitely not what I expected but a good combination with the way it’s been done here.
I also like the overall ambiance of the place and think it’s located in a fairly nice location at Pioneer Plaza, although hopefully they stick around since this looks like a pricey place to have a shop. My friend and I arrived a little after 12-​noon-​ish, so they were moderately busy but there was enough space to move around and still a decent selection of food to choose from. They have handroll sushis, sushi packs, bentos of chicken katsu & karaage chicken to other specialties of the seafood and sushi variety.
I had the chicken katsu bento & spicy tuna handroll which I thought were decently tasting and good portions. The price I paid which included an italian soda was also not bad, coming in at ~$ 10 which is good considering what I got. Anywhere else in downtown, and you’d be looking at paying at least $ 12 – 13 for all of that.
If you get the chance and have enough time, go check this place out for something a little bit different. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

My favorite place to eat in Downtown!
I go at least once a week and everytime I go back I always see something else that I want to try next time (aka dessert, sandwich, new bento, drinks, specials, etc.)
The service is awesome and the staff is really nice.
I enjoy everything from the hand rolls to the bento boxes. I also tried the butter cookie and its gooooood.
They also have water for you on the side and good shoyu for the sushi (green packet ones) and if you need they got tonkatsu sauce on the side as well.
I think they put some things on sale around 2pm just like Marukai 20% off, but I heard it gets cleaned out fast by people close by.
I will mos def keep going to Umami Café weekly!

I was excited to try this place out since Satura Cakes vacated this spot, but my experience here made me wish otherwise so I could have their caramel crunch instead.
Umami Café still looks like Satura Cakes, but now filled with more people eating bentos and sandwiches outside.
I got to Umami Café a little after 12:30pm and the place was practically wiped out. They had minimal selection so beggars can’t be choosers if there’s no selection at all. What was left was random assortments of musubis, some eggplant concoction and chicken hekka. They did have sandwiches available, but I wanted to experience what all this rave was about for their bentos. So I ended up buying the eggplant and chicken hekka. Yeah. it’s a bit much for lunch but I just wanted to taste what they had to offer… or what was left of it.
Anyway, the eggplant dish was pretty gross. Mushy and not that tasty. What a real disappointment. Chicken hekka was alright, but I had to warm it up to make it palatable and edible. It was super cold when I took my first bite. What? Can’t they make it within the lunch hour? Seems like it was made two nights before and sat in the refrigerator until they served it. Bleah.
It’s debatable if I’ll go back here again. Maybe I’ll go earlier to see what other selections they have to offer. BUT… c’mon. if you’re gonna sell something, at least make sure it tastes good. Not everyone is going to be able to get in line early enough to snatch the prized goods… so why not just make consistent good food for any patron at any time of day?

The recently occupied Satura Cakes is now UMAMI CAFE !!
If you work in downtown or just love eating a variety of very affordable Japanese style Bentos, Umami Café will be one of your new favorite spots to eat at. This business is located on the bottom of the beautiful Harbor Court Building.
From what i remember, Umami Café has a variety of bentos, hand-​rolls, Dons, and also, some sandwichs and croissant sandwiches which i thought looked very tempting but haven’t been able to try just yet.
Bentos:
Ranging in the $ 5 — $ 10 range and included items such as Salmon, Saba, Korean Chicken, Garlic Chicken, Miso Butter fish, Teriyaki Chicken, and a few others i cant remember at the moment.
Hand-​rolls:
There are also a few $ 1 hand-​rolls that include Spicy Ahi, Shrimp Tempura, California rolls, and a few others.
Dons:
Spicy Ahi Don and a creative, mixed vegi Don, Fried Rice
Sandwiches:
Ranging from $ 2 — $ 6
Salmon BLT
BBQ Ruben
Tuna Salad Croissant
Turkey Panini
Ham Panini
Turkey Club Panini
Egg Salad Sand
Tuna Salad Sand
Lobster Sand
Desserts:
Pros:
— Lots of seating in a cool, breezy area
— Clean
— Great Variety of food
— Affordable
— Delicious
Cons:
— A little small on portion size
Overall i rated Umami Café 4.5 stars. i really like the food and everyone who works here is very helpful, nice, and can work fast –pace, which is comforting especially when you are on time constraints due to your lunch break.