With Myrtle being shut down, it was somewhat of an ordeal to locate Umami. We finally called and walked about a 1/4 mile from where we parked. Oh well!
We were slightly confused but our server later confirmed this place Shady Park is really three places in one...two restaurants and one bar/lounge. Interesting...hope it works out for them!
We were here for the noodles (as were most of the patrons, it seemed). It'd been a while since we had Asian food (like two WHOLE days) so we were excited. However, given where we were, we went in cautiously...
Ultimately, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of both Damato's and Umami's offerings with the exception of a couple things. In the lineup:
Vegan Chop Salad: REALLY good. Can't even notice the "veganess" of it. The breaded vegan chicken was delightfully meaty and moist.
Shoyu Ramen: Broth was good. However, the fried chicken topping hubby got was THE WORST. It was stale and dry and hubby ended up picking it all out of his bowl to not eat. They're better off using the vegan chicken.
Spicy Tan Tan: This was my choice. I got it with the pork belly which they confidently nicknamed "crack" as well as the soft boiled egg. I also paid for the spicy garlic paste. This dish was probably the best out of all we ordered. The soft boiled egg was done well and the spicy garlic paste even had a little kick to it. The pork belly was pretty good, too. (Not "crack-like" addictive, though.)
Squid Salad: Not sure if this is house-made; it generally isn't at most places so I don't hold it against them. However, it seemed to be fishier than usual. Wonder if it was old??
Our server was super nice and friendly, cute to boot. She checked in on us regularly and got us everything we wanted.
Bonus points for having an Addams Family pinball machine...50 cents per play ended up being actually 5 full games.
Only complaint: It was warm. It was a warm day and it wasn't super pleasant eating ramen in such a warm room. We weren't sweating through our clothes but they need to have more air in there.
Totally hit the spot so we were happy.