Satisfy sushi cravings at McAllen’s Umiya

3 days ago 49

McALLEN — The holidays are right around the corner and with family in town or just spending more quality time with them, you might be looking for something else to eat after all the tamales, pozole or even turkey that was consumed Christmas Eve and the leftovers on Christmas.

For this week’s South Texas Flavor, I tried Umiya Sushi, a new Japanese restaurant located at 4400 N. 10th St. in McAllen that offers a wide variety of sushi rolls with a fun and exciting all-you-can-eat menu that is perfect for lovers of the cuisine or newcomers.

I know, a buffet might not seem too appealing, but just like my review on Zen Asian Bistro & Sushi, the food is made as you order, so there’s more time, effort and in my opinion quality that goes behind each plate.

Walking into the restaurant, you notice the unique lighting around the establishment. It’s a bit on the fancy side but don’t be intimated by the decor and cool lighting. You can go in super casual or a bit dressed up, I went in with blue jeans and a shirt with horses that says “Spirit of the Wind.” Yes, I was embracing my inner horse girl energy that day.

The environment is friendly and meant to have a good conversation over the possibility of overindulgence of sushi.

Speaking to the nice waitress, who gave excellent service, she said the restaurant has just been open for a little over a month. She said it was really busy the first month and has been on the comedown but going around 6 p.m., I was seated right before a rush of people filled the restaurant.

You could order specific dishes if you don’t want to eat too much but I recommend the all-you-can-eat option. For adults, it’s about $30 and for kids $18. A little bit on the pricey side and it could get expensive if you’re paying for a family or order some drinks as well but for what you can order and the things you can try, it pays off.

The menu offers about maybe 50 or so options of sushi rolls, which I’m sure has something for everyone. The restaurant also offers different options of soups, salads, appetizers, hibachi, teriyaki, sashimi and desserts.

I started a selection of some small, lighter dishes and ordered Miso soup, gyoza, fried rice with vegetables and spicy garlic edamame.

My go-to whenever I go to a Japanese restaurant are the Miso soup and edamame, and they did not disappoint.

The Miso soup looked like a bowl from a Studio Ghibil movie, all the ingredients detailed at first glance of it. The taste of the soup was great and had a good amount of tofu, chives and seaweed which is sometimes lacking.

The edamame was also good but despite the dangerous shade of red, it wasn’t that spicy but still had lots of flavor.

For the main dishes, I ordered a bunch of things. I got the gold point roll, hibachi steak, teriyaki chicken, the avocado mango roll for all my vegetarians out there, and a few pieces of sashimi.

All the dishes were good but some stood out from the rest.

My waitress recommend the gold point roll which is salmon tempura, avocado, topped with snow crab and eel sauce. It was delicious and had a nice crunch on the inside and outside of it.

The avocado mango roll was surprisingly good and mixed well together.

The hibachi steak was another dish that stood out. Coming out steamy hot, it was soft and tender and the sauce made it stand out.

The pieces of sashimi I ordered were the fish egg or Masago and smoked salmon, or Iburi Sake. I love sushi but have never really ate sashimi so I was a bit hesitant with the smoked salmon since it was just raw salmon on rice.

The taste was simple but complex. Eating it whole, you get a fusion of flavors from the smokiness of the salmon and the soft texture and the uncomplicated but tasty white rice.

Eating wisely to try more things for you all, I saved room for dessert.

I ordered a scoop of green tea Ice cream, Tempura oreo balls and cheesecake.

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As a matcha lover, the ice cream hit the spot and would have easily ate a few more scoops if I had the space.

From the fried options, the cheesecake was great. The sweet flavor and soft texture of the cheesecake covered in a fried outer shell made it delicious.

Overall, all the options I had were good and is easily worth the price.

Umiya Sushi in McAllen is open from from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and on Sunday, and from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

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