House of Umami Ramen

I ordered the fried rice and asked if it could be made with gluten-free soy sauce. I was told yes. When it came to my table, I asked my server twice to confirm it was made with gluten-free soy sauce and no teriyaki sauce. She gave me attitude and told me no sauce was used at all. While I was eating, she came back and told me they had actually used regular soy sauce. I explained I have a gluten allergy, and she should never have confirmed it was safe if she wasn’t sure. This is beyond careless. Staff should be properly trained to handle dietary restrictions — this isn’t a preference, it’s a HEALTH RISK. Completely unacceptable. I will not be coming back.

House of Umami is a decent Japanese restaurant. The ramen was good but not great. I had the samshu and it wasn’t particularly well seasoned or well cooked. The ramen as a whole was not super well seasoned. I just happened to find out from my server that you had to pay to make it more spicy which I did, but I’m honestly not sure what the flavor profile would be if I hadn’t done that. The drinks and dessert were just fine as well. The service was also fairly mediocre. Our server did not seem to have a great degree of knowledge about the menu. My wife has a gluten sensitivity which allows her to eat some things that aren’t strictly gluten free on a restaurant menu. She asked our server some fairly basic questions about why a dish wasn’t gluten free and he had seriously lacking answers. At most restaurants servers are more than happy to check with the kitchen but this server didn’t even offer that. His general demeanor was also just okay. The restaurant is a nice space which is themed well. Definitely enjoyed the vibes. Overall even though this place is decent it’s hard to recommend when there’s other local Japanese and other asian restaurants. If you’re willing to make the drive Slurping Turtle in Ann Arbor is much better.

Great food, love the gluten free options called out on the menu