UMI Sushi & Seafood

Very clean and organized, friendly staff, tons of options to pick from and wicked kid friendly! I loved that they had pizza and other toddler typical foods so my picky son could enjoy lunch as well! Food was great. Price is a little high but as expected for seafood! I think people seem to forget the economy we’re in now. The price is more than reasonable! We will be back a ton. Highly recommend.

This is one of the most interesting buffets I’ve been to since moving up to Maine.
They have your typical stir-fry dishes, like beef & broccoli, green beans, chicken & bell peppers, button mushrooms in oyster sauce, etc. They also have the usual things you’d see at a Chinese buffet: peel & eat shrimp, mussels on the half shell, boiled cajun crawfish, fried sesame balls, chicken on a skewer, lots of cut fruit, some cake slices/cake rolls, salad, random “American” foods like pizza, fries, and mac & cheese, and assortment of ice cream. I admittedly didn’t try the sushi because I’m rarely a fan of buffet sushi, but everything looked good and nicely plated.

But it gets interesting where they throw in a lot of traditional Chinese items on the buffet, leaning toward Hunan and Sichuan styles of cooking and flavors: dry-fried and hotpot style braised pork belly (similar to Hong Shao Rou), and chili fried shrimp, spicy cabbage stir-fried in chili oil with chili peppers and sliced pork belly. And back near the sushi bar, in between the pickled ginger tray and edamame, is a row of traditional Chinese cold meat dishes: Sichuan poached chicken in chili sauce (Ko Shui Ji, for those interested), sliced roast beef (similar to Fu Qi Fei Pian), spicy wood ear mushroom salad, and even cold spicy chicken feet. (FYI: For folks who’ve never had that style of food before, it’s not meant to be gobbled down quickly so that you can grab the next plate. It will absolutely taste bland if you don’t plan to taste your food!) It’s not drenched in sauce like how a lot of Americanized Cantonese foods are, because it’s meant to be savored to taste the complex flavors brought out from dry-frying the aromatics (normally, I eat this kind of food with a bowl of rice, or with bar snacks/appetizers and a beer).

I think it’s a very unusual menu decision by this restaurant to serve this kind of food, in a culture that often consumes quickly and moves along quickly onto the next plate. I think a lot of folks will end up missing out on the more subtle flavors in some of these dishes and the experience of a traditional Chinese family-style buffet meal where you linger over food with friends and family. I’m not sure how long this current approach will last, but as someone who doesn’t have much community or any family in the area, I really appreciate it!

Other note: The people here have been really nice and quick to refill our drinks, and the general manager even came by to ask what we thought of the food items! They were very friendly to the senior folks sitting behind us too, and overall seemed very welcoming (kind of a nice change from the previous buffet that was in this location).

We came during lunch ($18 buffet, +drinks +tip&taxes), so no idea what it’ll be like for dinner, but hoping to find out soon!

Went for lunch and food was surprisingly decent. Their sushi was fresh and not dry. Server was very nice. Hope to try their dinner next time. Heard they have lobster and crab.

Maines newest and best Seafood buffet. We all missed great wall but this place is even better! Good things are worth the wait!