Umami Ballard

Okay, so the food was overall not great. I used to go to the Everett location when I lived up there and loved it, so this was a bit of a disappointment. I got a poke bowl with salmon, tofu, carrots, crab salad, and cucumbers, and a blueberry mochi donut. Both the salmon and the cucumbers didn't seem fresh at all, the tofu was not seasoned or fried or treated in any way, just cut into cubes and tossed on top, and the crab salad also had no dressing or anything (it usually has some kind of mayo or something). The blueberry mochi donut was considerably better than the rest of the meal, but couldn't do enough to save it. I hate to give such a bad review, but I'm really bummed and just hoping I don't get sick from the little bit of salmon I did eat.

For fast ramen, not bad! The pork was not super soft and fatty, but there were ample portions and I came away full and happy. The noodles had a good firmness. The egg at first was cold, but the broth was very hot so dunking the egg down for a bit fixed that issue. Not the easiest place for parking.

The man in the kitchen is cooking and touching everything with NO GLOVES, Ive been in here for 20 minutes now and haven’t seen him wash his hands once. DISGUSTING business and it needs to be inspected ASAP

i got a poke bowl with the poke salmon, tuna, and crab salad and literally could not stop throwing up after eating it, it gave me horrible food poisoning. do not buy food (or at least the poke) from this place.

This place is solid for what it is. They have an interesting selection of Japanese inspired poke bowls & and Ramen (which I haven’t had and can’t attest to the quality of) but their menu is pretty good and there’s a diverse set of food items you can engage with. The one individual that I always see working in there is a very nice person.

First time visit, it was really good! I got Boba just to try out and it was really good. I was a little sad my stomach got upset, but my girlfriend’s stomach didn’t get upset after drinking it so I was probably just me. The atmosphere was good and has very friendly people inside. It was a fun little experience, didn’t get there food because we weren’t planning on it, but it looks amazing.

I added the garlic to my ramen and it was full of clove skins. So everything that it got stuck to was inedible and I had to throw a good bit of it out :( very poor quality ingredient handling

It's just incredible how all of the ingredients (both fish and side dishes) tasted and looked NOT fresh. Crab salad tasted like it was rotten. Fish was dry, chewy, smelly, looked much darker than normal, and omg it tasted unsafely bad, like if it had been in the fridge for a while. I've never tried anything worse than this. I spent $30 per poke bowl and I couldn't eat it. The staff was nice about that, though. I showed them that I was about to throw away the full bowl of poke that I couldn't have eaten, and they issued a full refund. I guess the service is nice. Maybe I just got very unlucky, but still very sad 😔

Amazing food. I can't stress enough how good this places selections are. It's not the most high end quality food you'll have. But for what this place does do, it's soo good. Only downside is I feel like I maybe found this place too late. They're never busy and I hope they don't go out of business since I just moved to Ballard! Spacious and cute aesthetic as well inside. Only negative is the parking. But that's common seattle!

Tasted pretty good! I ordered the passion fruit tea with boba. Could use more boba. No one else was there.

We got takeout and it was all excellent! The packaging was very good, though one of the boba cups did break once we had it out of the bags and all (not at all their fault - more of a freak accident I think). The food was excellent though. I also loved the option to do combos and that the vegetarian combos were clearly labeled online. We would definitely order again and then come back.

Food is decent! Comes in to-go containers even if you eat in, they feel compostable but are not explicitly marked so unsure about it. Vegetarian ramen is hard to come by so like most places they have 1 non build your own option. The vegetarian shoyu is loaded well with toppings, but I do wish there was a creamy vegetarian option! The broth was okay, not the most flavorful. The tofu was cold but the rest was hot, so just let it sit for a minute to warm it up. The spicy snow crab salad was also loaded! It comes cold and could have used more spice so I asked for sriracha on the side. The watermelon boba tasted more like bubble gum and was pepto pink, I asked for it less sweet which was helpful but probably won't be getting boba here again. Mixed tea drinks do not have adjustable sweetness. Didn't see good parking. Since it's slow I got the one spot that is left of the building on 15th (6 spots, most were taken likely by staff), but probably reliable most busy days. Staff was nice!

It's alright here, foods pretty good, that's not really the problem, it's mainly the service. The place is clean and well kept, but the food can take a VERY long time, it's pretty inconsistent but a lot of times you will be the only one in there, yet the food can take unnecessarily long. I don't know if it has to do with the cook being constantly high, or if it's just their productivity in general. I will say, their Thai tea is darn good.

There has got to be something in the Umami water because their stuff is truly addicting! The shrimp tempura on the poke bowls is perfectly crunchy (even after walking 15min to get back home) and it's also slightly sweet and all around delicious. The tuna is also amazing and I love that the bowls are hefty even if you only get a couple of free toppings. The taro boba tea was so good too! I got it with half sugar and I think that or 1/4 is the way to go if you're not wanting something super super sweet. The ramen is also incredible, though I think the poke bowl is for sure my go to now. I also appreciated the custom take out bag that came with my order, it came in clutch immediately by helping keep my food dry from the rain.

A cute little sushi/ramen restaurant in Ballard. The staff was extremely helpful and friendly. I built my own ramen (the ingredients are on the simple side) and my partner had a menu option of miso ramen and tempura shrimp which were very yummy. Didn't love the Thai tea, even though it's not really the place for it.

Umami is a great place for some takeout in you're craving poke or ramen. My husband opted to build his own poke bowl, which allows for one protein selection and three sides. He had the salmon with tamago, seaweed salad, and corn on top of the brown rice. The fish tasted pretty fresh and the tamago was sweet and delightful. I do wish you could add more toppings though. I ordered the traditional tonkotsu ramen with bok choy, sliced wood ear mushroom, and green onions. The broth itself is not like a traditional japanese tonkotsu broth - it actually tastes more similar to a chinese pork bone broth since there was also an herbal taste to it. I still enjoyed it regardless however. The veggies I ordered were fresh and the noodles were nice and chewy. I give it a 4/5 since the ramen wasn't what I expected from a tonkotsu ramen though.

Really excellent poke with very generous portions and fresh fish! The bubble tea was tasty as well, and I'm excited to go try more of their flavors. The service was great and everything was boxed and bagged so neatly for our trip home. Will definitely be back!

The food was outstanding! The ramen had a delicious flavor. The pork was cooked nice and crispy, and I loved the shrimp tempura. The noodles were good, but I did prefer to have a little bit more. The mango bubble tea seemed to be made with a different type of mango base than what I am used to, and I actually liked it more than most boba places!

Very nice service, but the chashu was stiff and flavorless and the broth lacked the silkiness that you want in tonkotsuj. Egg was perfect. I also kind of wish they didn't have so much packaging, but... shrug.

To start, Umami has parking (small lot but convenient for picking up to go orders). I've been to Umami a few times and it's always been great, but decided it was finally time for a review! I ordered pickup for 4 poke bowls and they were all ready right on time and everything was exactly as I ordered! The fish was tasty and fresh and I loved the unique mango sauce. I had the spicy salmon and Hawaii ahi, which both were great. The bowls are also generously made with lots of food and toppings. The customer service was friendly and efficient. I also decided to last minute get a lychee green tea with strawberry boba and it was delicious! It was not too sweet which can often be the case with boba so it was nice and refreshing. The person working also surprised me with mochi donuts which I had just learned they have! The donuts were super good with ube being my favorite. All in all great food, fair prices, great customer service, and super convenient. I'll definitely be making it back more often!

Excellent poke, salmon tasted pretty fresh. Also got the gyoza which was super good! Highly recommend.

Recently opened in the ballard area. Ordered the chef special spicy miso, tempura shrimp, sweet potato fries, mango tea and tiger tea. Place is small so not a great place to have a big party to come for lunch or dinner. Good spot for solo or a partner place to enjoy a quick meal. You can build your own ramen but decided to get the chef special spicy miso which has green onions,bamboo,egg,pork and kimchee. The broth is good and the ramen noodles were good. The pork was a little tough and i am used to the pork just melting when you bite into it. I honestly think the kimchee sorta ruined the broth taste. So i would recommend when ordering this not to mix the kimchee in the ramen. Other than that, for $14.95 it is good. The shrimp tempura and sweet potato is just basic. Nothing special. It is good. Mango tea and tiger tea was pretty good. Overall 4 out of 5.

This place wildly mishandled allergens, it's dangerous and I recommend you stay far away. I have anaphylactic allergies to shellfish and tree nuts. I put that in my order note: "allergic to shellfish and tree nuts, please ensure no cross-contamination." I picked up my take-out and went home, only to find what I thought was crab salad on top of my poke bowl. I called the shop and happened to get to the guy who made my dish, and I asked him about the mystery topping. Initially he said it was all good and fine for me to eat, but after a few minutes of back and forth he finally said "ohhhhh, yes yes yes, I forgot the corn, I gave you snow crab instead". No apology, no offer of a refund, nothing! I went back the to ask for a refund directly and the guy gave me a super hard time, grumbling about how you can't just get your money back every time you don't like something. To that guy and the rest of the staff at Umami: I shouldn't have to tell you that anaphylactic allergies are deadly business. Thankfully mine aren't as severe as some, but I still would've had to use an epi-pen and go to the hospital if I hadn't noticed the crab salad. You should know that as restaurant owners and cooks! Please get your shit together before you kill someone.

Yummy chicken and boba tea! So glad I don't have to go to my favorite place in China town that makes similar chicken

Amazing food! The boba and sushi burrito are my favorites, but all are delicious. The service is amazing, and the staff are great. The whole restaurant really sets a great mood and aesthetic. It's also accessible and is near Ballard High, so it's easy to get to and eat for high school and middle school (Salmon bay) student. Overall an outstanding place, would 100% recommen. Thanks for reading!!

Really enjoyed the high quality of food here. Tasted fresh and healthy. For a person of my size the portion looked a bit smaller but I left full and happy

I ordered the poke bowl from Umami Ballard. First off, it took 30 minutes to make which I usually would be mad about however I ordered brown rice, spicy tuna, and spicy salmon. What I received was white rice with greens, normal salmon, and normal normal tuna. I was enraged, they had half an hour to make a normal poke order and failed. As well, the boba was bad and because they were out of tapioca they gave me lychee.

Delicious food and bubble tea. The quality is also great, but for the amount you get the price is pretty steep. Otherwise, excellent.

We came here because we really wanted ramen- and the place we originally wanted to go to was closed. Omg are we so happy we came here! Not only do they sell ramen- they also have poke, Appetizers, bubble tea and smoothies too. We got the build your own ramen, poke, and 2 teas. The ramen was so delicious- the noodles were nice and chewy, the miso broth was flavorful, and of course you can't go wrong with your own selection of toppings! My partner loved the poke he made and practically inhaled it. I think this is going to become our new go-to ramen spot!

Love this place! Great service, food (you can customize your ramen and poke bowl) and amazing selection of teas! Great addition to Ballard !

Second time coming here and everything has been great! Love having this within walking distance. The shrimp tempura was amazing, the passion fruit bubble tea was fantastic, and we will definitely be back again for the ramen (probably quite often). So glad to have this in the neighborhood!