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2017-09-26
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A delightful venue halfway down Hollywood Road - ideal for a special night out. We made our way here on a weekday evening and can only rave about it. The setting is serene and the food exquisite.You’d be forgiven for walking past Umi without noticing it, tucked away behind a sliding door opposite the Man Mo temple, but enter and be prepared for an evening to remember. We were greeted by sushi master Yukio Kimijima and invited to sit at his counter. It sits only ten at most and from then on we we
You’d be forgiven for walking past Umi without noticing it, tucked away behind a sliding door opposite the Man Mo temple, but enter and be prepared for an evening to remember. We were greeted by sushi master Yukio Kimijima and invited to sit at his counter. It sits only ten at most and from then on we were in his hands. The menu is omasake, delicately crafted to take you on a culinary journey of japanese delights, so we ordered a bottle of sake and observed in anticipation as he got started.
First came our appetisers: a fragrant and generously garnished truffle dried-rice, fresh halibut (this was one of our favourites!), wild shiitake mushroom, and sizable abalone with liver sauce
By now we’d had a chance to chat with Yukio, learning more about the dishes but also about the man behind them. Yukio follows in the footsteps of three past generations of sushi masters. We enjoyed hearing about how he grew up in Tokyo, observing his father prepare sushi, and chuckled when he recounted the stern rebut he received when he first attempted to help and took the initiative preparing some of the fish. Sushi is an art which must be honed over decades and Yukio has spent the rest of his life perfecting the craft.
Next came the sushi - and a quick tip if you’ve not had traditional one-on-one sushi before: the dishes will be prepared in-front of you and placed directly on the counter, leave the chopsticks aside and pick them up with your fingers! Each of the ten dishes was delicately put together and garnished to highlight the flavours. Each slice of fish is incredibly fresh and generously cut. The marinated seabass with its smoky undertones rocked our socks off in particular whilst the fattiest of the tuna cuts, oh-toro, makes my mouth water just reminiscing about it.
As our evening neared to an end, we were presented with our final three dishes. The miso soup was tasty, but the uni handroll, liberally filled with the freshest and most palatable uni I ever tasted, has made me cast away everything I thought I knew about uni. Waow! Finally, a smooth and rich dessert of juicy fresh mochi with matcha coated chocolate truffles.
A truly memorable evening - do yourself a favour and give these guys a call when you’re next looking for somewhere to book!
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