Umami
523 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow
Tel: 0141-724-0680
Closes 10pm.

So the waitress is polite, pleasant and very welcoming but still steers me towards a shelf table attached to the wall. Uh-uh, I suggest, looking round at plenty of better and completely empty options.

How about this then, she says, pointing to an awkward two-seater for lepers right on the corner of the kitchen.

Uh-uh, I say again nodding at the big fat empty four-seater with panoramic views in the corner. The penthouse table dum-dum-dum.

“That one”? she says. Yeah that one, I reply. Okay we agree. I sit.

Moments later I hear an exchange taking place in the kitchen and suddenly another waitress is beside me suggesting it really would be warmer (no, it wouldn’t) back down at the ugly side of the restaurant.

In the end? I stay put. With the solemn promise that if a bus tour pulls up on this freezing Tuesday November night and all of the four-seater tables are suddenly needed in the rush, I’ll move.

Not a good start you may think. But actually, say 30 minutes later, as I finish another fried tempura California roll, yeah fried in tempura and so a hot but fine lace work of batter round it, the waitresses and I will be chatting away like old pals.

Super fun, smiley and inquisitive they are too. Students at Glasgow University, all the way to the dark side of this earth from China for masters degrees in education. I’ll hear about their families, homesickness (not much yet) their hot and dusty cities and the somewhat surprising fact that they love Glasgow. Wow.

Oh and also that house special crispy duck roll I ordered was a good shout but… it contains incidentally: cucumber, sesame, leeks, seafood sauce (uh?), seaweed sheet is all rice-wrapped, and blanketing juicy, crispy and substantial nuggets of duck meat.

The but? Most people, Xian and Leona tell me anyway, order the green dragon roll (eel sauce, fly fish roe), the black dragon roll (bbq eel, eel sauce, tobiko) or the spider roll stuffed with soft shell crab. Ah. Next time we agree.

Umami then? A Japanese restaurant run by Chinese people, as so many are? Hmm, never really worked that out, but it’s certainly Japanese in feel. Cartoony murals on the walls, hanging flags and lanterns on the ceiling, a clean, spare vibe throughout and Rina Aiuchi I Can’t Stop My Love For You belting from the sound system - amidst other Japanese hits that Shazam “hang-on-this-is-tough” can’t quite identify.

There are actually more people working in the semi-open kitchen when I walk in tonight than there are sitting out on the restaurant floor, but it is the deadest part of the week in one of the deadest months of the year.

Despite this the place is buzzing with life mainly because those kitchen staff are a-bantering back and forward with each other as the food is made. I can’t understand a word, of course, but it somehow adds a warm relaxed layer to the atmosphere.

They certainly do sushi, and I will learn the chef spent ten years sushi training, and not just the slightly left field hot/ cold pieces I have already enjoyed either, but much more mainstream sushi too.

But baby it’s cold outside, too cold for sashimi/temaki/maki or even the futomaki. The caramel roll and the kushiyaki I don’t even have time for, so the closest I will get is a frankly delicious maguro tatuki. Or raw belly tuna, seared oh-so momentarily on the grill and served still warm with a yuzu dressing that I’ll end up dragging my ebi katsu through I find it so delicious.

Those ebi katsu? Prawns in breadcrumbs, three for £5.50 and probably the weakest thing I’ll eat just being generic torpedoes of deep-friedness. But what do I expect at this price?

Neither would I order again the pumpkin korokke at £6.10 (no idea why it costs more than the prawns) as the sweet, gooey and pink pumpkin filling is covered in the same heavy commercial crumbing.

That’s it from this evening’s world of duds though. They will refill my mug of green tea with water when I drain it, for free. They will ask me if I want a doggy bag for my beef brisket curry after I cheat, eat all the proper moist and melting chunks of brisket from it, and leave what is a substantial amount of curry sauce and fried rice.

They even won’t demur as I continuously take spoonfuls of that fine, light miso soup as we chatter away. Nice people then, pretty interesting food, give it a go.

Menu: Pretty photos, unusual combos, crispy duck special roll anyone? Fried in tempura California roll, beef brisket curry. Somehow familiar but different Japanese food. 4/5

Service: The best thing about the place, charming, friendly and very fun waitresses interested too in what they’re doing. 5/5

Price: That crispy duck platter is a meal in itself at £15, the curry likewise at £13, and the California sushi at £8.50 are good value. 4/5

Atmosphere: It’s a little box shop-front restaurant off Charing Cross but somehow they filled it with good vibes. 4/5

Food: Cooking is clean, fresh and light, those crispy ducks were enjoyable, the California fried too, try the spider roll or even green dragon if you want to get out there. 8/10

Total: 25/30

Ron Mackenna reviews restaurants for The Herald. He always pays his own way and never announces his presence at the restaurant. He also never accepts invitations or freebies – which is why you can trust his reviews.