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The restaurants of the Big Burrito Group tend not to disappoint.  Last night, my wife and I went out for her birthday.  She loves sushi so we wanted to try Umi and the $75 "omakase," a multi-course chef's special.  Unfortunately, Umi shares a building with it's sister restaurant, Soba, and we ended up seated at the wrong establishment.  We already had drinks before we realized the mistake, so we decided to stay and try out the pan-Asian cuisine.

To start, my wife ordered the seaweed salad, which she really enjoyed.  I just ordered the garden salad, having tried seaweed many times and not finding it to be pleasurable, but was disappointed especially considering what I paid for it.  For the entree, my wife ordered the tuna.  She absolutely loved it.  The fish itself was of good quality, perfectly cooked and she really enjoyed the seasoning.  She also enjoyed her sides of, if I remember correctly, ginger rice and kimchi.  I ordered the duck breast which was served with baby broccoli and sweet potato dumplings.  My first impression of the duck was favorable, but it grew boring fast.  The broccoli was excellent, but mostly because I really enjoy my food on the spicy side.  Overall I was disappointed with the cost-quality of the food.  For what I paid I would have expected much better.

In general, the Big Burrito Group doesn't disappoint.  In graduate school, functions were often catered by Big Catering.  In fact, my wife's 30th birthday "fiesta" was catered by them and they are a pleasure to work with.  I've eaten at Kaya in the strip, Casbah in Shadyside, and Mad Mex in Oakland.  I've also shared appetizers and sipped wine at Eleven in the strip.  Of those restaurants I particularly enjoy Mad Mex.  They have an incredible lunch special, somewhere around $7 for a bowl soup (or salad) plus a burrito.  They also have great happy our specials on their Big Azz [sic] Margarita.

In our vain attempt to find good shush in da Burgh, my wfie and I still plan on trying Umi and the $75 a person "omakase."  But I don't think I'll be going back to Soba.  If I'm going to spend $100 for two on dinner, I'd much rather go to Point Brugge or Legume where you get a much better product in a much more intimate setting.