Umi by Hamasaku

Wow, this place is fantastic! An izakaya sushi restaurant, all the meals are meant to be shared. There are some interesting elements that help make this restaurant special. The rice is a mix of white and brown, that although sounds strange is quite delicious. There is no imitation fish a crab meat on the menu. The uni is fresh, and they'll tell you where it came from that day. They serve barracuda, which I've not seen in SoCal. The place is small, but has ample seating. There are a handful of tables outdoors, and a very small sushi bar located in the back of the restaurant. Restrooms are located at other ends of the restaurant, and getting to them would be a little tight on a wheelchair. The staff are wonderful, they'll start by asking if it's your first time there. They're helpful but not pushy, and feel genuinely interested in you enjoying yourself. The menu is inventive, the food incredible. I highly recommend the barracuda, light but meaty, with a great open fire by the beach flavour. Other favorites are the sticky rice dishes, the Blonde roll, and the Maine Lobster handroll. And how great is this - the handrolls are izakaya style, so you make them yourself at the table! The amount of materials provided enabled me to make four good sized hand rolls in a single order. Umi is a great place to go. I highly recommend it.

Great first meal in California. The sushi and fish were very fresh! I was introduced to the concept of crispy rice tots. The roasted cauliflower was amazing, flavorful and salty. I loved the Twilight roll... I could have eaten so many pieces!

Tasty Japanese restaurant. Plenty of great sushi, bento and ramen options. Ramen was definitely a little on the salty side, but generally the food tasted good. Definitely recommend the desert parfait, it was delicious!

I couldn't make it to Hamasaku, so settled for umi. The sushi is really too notch and in fact even the hand roll that came with the deluxe sushi meal was really good! However, everything else was 'Meh', the soup that came with the meal and the shishito peppers that I had ordered can be avoided.

Great food, great service. I've tried a couple of other sushi place in the area and this is still my favorite. They have traditional type sushi and also American style sushi. Really like that they've added to their menu since they've opened. Never been disappointed by any of my choices and their quality have remained consistent in every dish.

This place is awesome. Super fresh sushi. Delicious Oysters. Great rolls. Good for the money. Great quality!

Pretty high quality sushi/nigiri. For $23 you can get 8pc of chef's choice nigiri, miso soup and side salad. Not cheap, but the fresh fish/scallops are worth it. The rice kept falling apart when I picked up the nigiri though.

This was our first time and from the moment that we walked through the door, we could tell this was going to something special. We were seated in an ideal location and wait staff very attentive, even though the restaurant was quite busy. The was excellent, fresh, and server had top notch suggestions. We will definitely be returning often.