Umami Japanese Barbeque in Vineyard makes you the chef of quality meats
A bowl of meat options, including pork belly, available at Umami Japanese Barbeque.
Meat and vegetables cook on a grill at Umami Japanese Barbeque.
A plate of cold options, including fruit and gyoza, are shown on a plate at Umami Japanese Barbeque.
Labels for food options are shown at a buffet table at Umami Japanese Grill.
A plate of meat options, including pork belly and wagyu beef, available at Umami Japanese Barbeque.
My wife and I, as residents of Vineyard, have been itching for new stores and restaurants in our little, yet rapidly growing, corner of Utah County.
Vineyard has, for some time, had a Dairy Queen, a Great Harvest Bread café and the Chinese joint characteristic of any small town. This is not to knock any of these restaurants; I’m probably one of Happy Dragon’s most frequent shoppers. But I would like a little more variety than just Beijing beef and Blizzards.
But in the last few weeks and months, more and more restaurants and shops have opened to great anticipation. One of these is Umami Japanese Barbeque, located just in front of the Megaplex theater.
Before diving too deeply into how I liked this item and my wife liked another, I want to first describe the concept of Umami Japanese Barbeque, because without a little understanding prior, your dining experience may turn sour.
Umami is a Japanese buffet and grill. At one buffet table are items and entries that don’t need to be cooked or are already cooked, like gyoza, edamame, kim chee and fresh fruits. I like think of this as an appetizer table, as I would be shocked if anyone came here for the sole purpose of filling up on miso soup or pineapple. Thus, I’m not going to focus that much on the options available on this table, as I feel they were not the highlight of my dining experience at Umami.
On the other table is the main course — the meats. An entire table is full of raw meats, like ribeye, chicken bulgogi, pork short rib, and wagyu top round steak. I’ll explain more on these mouth-watering meats later.
Once your plate is piled high with meat — and a pinch of fruit to pretend you’re keeping to that New Year’s diet — bring it all back to your table, which has a grill in the middle for you to cook your meat to perfection. Asian barbecues like this are becoming more commonplace, like E-Ga in Springville or Ombu Grill in Salt Lake City. It provides guests with the opportunity to be the chef for the night, which can be fun for some and intimidating for others. Don’t worry, the meat is sliced paper thin, making most cuts of meat the perfect temperature in a matter of minutes.
My wife and I had tried E-Ga in Springville previously, so we were fairly familiar with the cook-at-your-table concept, and once we had our plates, were ready to go. On my two trips to the buffet table, I chose the following meats: Tsurami (beef cheek), wagyu beef, spicy pork belly, ribeye, spicy pork roast, chicken bulgogi, Kurobuta sausage and Korean pork short ribs. The pieces of meat are thin and small enough that it’s practically implied that a few pieces of a large variety of meats fill your plate.
My wife selected many of the same items, with the one variance being spicy chicken.
About a half dozen, if not more, other options went untasted, including garlic shrimp, sesame pork belly and Boston butt.
Because you’re cooking your own meat, a lot of the control on the tenderness of the meat is really up to you. This isn’t to say you should make medium-rare chicken while dining at Umami. In fact, quite the opposite. If a piece of meat is tough and overcooked, it’s really on you. A perfectly tender cut of wagyu or roast pork with a bit of roasted garlic coated in sesame oil is your goal each time you place a new cut on the grill, making this a lesson in cooking as much as it is a dining experience.
Because the tenderness of the meat is mostly self-controlled, I want to focus on the flavors. It should come as little surprise that strong, savory umami flavors blanket your palate following each bite of brisket, pork belly and bulgogi. Each spicy entrée is coated in the same sauce, comprised primarily of zesty chili sauce and red pepper.
Of the meats in my dinner, I would have to say the spicy pork belly was my favorite, followed closely behind by the short ribs. Both were exceptionally juicy and self-cooked to a tender perfection. My wife agreed, and the only real misses we had for the evening were the chicken bulgogi and the Kurobuta sausage. The cuts of chicken bulgogi were frankly too fatty, and the sausage was fairly bland, and tasted much like any other sausage.
Three dips were available for the meat, though to be perfectly honest, go straight for the roasted sesame sauce, it was extraordinary.
The cherry on top of our dinner was the s’mores dessert, which included a plate of marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate, reminiscent of summer nights around the campfire. This time, it was around the table grill.
The lunch buffet is $16.99 per person and the more popular dinner buffet is $22.99. About 10 more items are available in the dinner buffet than the lunch buffet, including the quality wagyu beef.
We’re excited to have such a remarkable, unique dining option just minutes away from our home and are sure you’ll find it as delightful and entertaining as we did.
UMAMI JAPANESE BARBEQUE
Where: 568 N. Mill Road, Suite 107, Vineyard
Hours: Monday-Thursday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Prices: $17.99 or $22.99
Info: (801) 380-4446, umamijapanesebbq.com
Dining
