Umi... where ya been all my life?

This column is all about art - until I find a great restaurant to recommend to you constant readers (getting close to seven million!).... drumroll!!!

This place is out of control!!! In a good way! No... in an amazing way!

I am about to eat this little Alien

WOW!!! I've been to dozens and dozens of buffet style restaurants all over the world, and this new one in Rockville Pike, in the Greater Washington, DC region (or as locals call it: the DMV - a term that I invented) is taking buffet style to a new level.

We went for lunch - the son unit and I, around 2:30pm or so - I note this because I am told that there are usually long wait lines closer to real lunch/dinner hours.

It's an everything buffet, not just seafood: sushi, lots of seafood, lots of meats, lots of a variety of Asian cuisine (Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, etc.), fresh fruits, soups, ice cream, desserts (Asian and western) and a hot pot section that is even better and fancier than most specialty hot pot restaurants.

The service is impeccable, with an army of waiters! 

Our waitress was Fiona (pretty sure not her real name) and she was really good! Friendly and hard working! And ahhhh... suspect that Fiona is not her real name... cough... cough...

The sushi is constantly being made and is fresh and of a huge variety, including some that I'd never seen before, such as sushi with avocado stripes? It was DA BOMB!

As a "cobarde" for hot foods, these giant shrimp looked delicious but probably at the nuclear level of spicy!

There were at least three or four shellfish dishes for lunch! Mussels, clams, etc. There were also crab legs and full, whole crabs, snails, etc.

When I lived in Spain, one of my fave dishes were these guys below - an I am happy to report that the way that Umi cooks them is delicious!

There were also the usual, kinda, sorta dishes that tells you that this joint is the "real thing" as evidenced by the below splendor known as chicken feet... cough... cough...

And also an Asian take on escargots...

Desserts were also ample and diverse!

Go eat at UMI! 1471 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852

(240) 430-8000 -- Closes at 10:30 PM - Tell them DC ART NEWS sent ya!