Lina J.
Yelp
Awesome Korean-Japanese fusion concept that I've visited multiple times (lunch, brunch, dinner, late night). Admittedly, I have felt like the quality has gone down from when it opened. I love the rotating menu, but at my most recent visit, the salmon sashimi dish was super disappointing. The salmon sashimi was partially frozen stiff - a huge no-no that I was surprised wasn't QC'd.
That being said, their Guajiros collab was some of the best food I've ever eaten in Cville. If they do another collab, I will camp out and be the first in line. Ultimately, I feel like taken all together, the menu items are hit or miss. It is truly a hit most of the time, but for the slightly overpriced pricing, the misses are just that more disappointing. I do think the food is inspired from a place of authenticity. However, from a cultural aspect, charging extra $ for banchan is almost egregious. To be fair, most Korean restaurants in the downtown area do this, too. But literally mention charging for banchan to anyone who lives in NoVA and Elliott City and they will be offended.
Aside from food, I love their quirky interior with multiple figurines and nods to Korean and Japanese culture (peep the vintage pachinko machines). And I actually love the QR ordering system, it is just very streamlined and easy to use. Love that there's a late late night option, Cville seriously needs that.
All in all, I'm really glad Umma's is here and thriving. I am hoping that the misses I experienced were just off days. I will be back but I can't deny that my initial enthusiasm has waned. Despite this, you'll still catch me checking out their weekly rotating menus and IG posts for their super creative dishes!