Yumi Restaurant
YUMI…Beautiful food for us beautiful people…
When I first drove up to Yumi and saw their sign, I thought
it might be an Asian wordplay on “yummy”. And when I saw the
Yumi logo, which looks like a lot like an Asian style 3, but
which I presume says Yumi, I thought it might be a sign for
“triple yummy”… And readers, I’m here to tell you that “triple
yummy” is right on the mark for Yumi.
But Yumi, as their website tells us, means “Most Beautiful” –
and that’s absolutely and totally on the mark too. Every dish we
ordered from the big and interesting “Neo-Asian Cuisine and
Sushi” menu, which is “strongly influenced by South East Asian
cuisine”, was presented in a truly beautiful manner and was made
from truly beautiful ingredients too. And as you’ll soon see, we
ordered plenty.
The fifth person in our group had missed her connection from
NYC…so as we waited for her, we decided to start with the chef’s
sashimi special of the day…plus an order of ShuMai for our non
sashimi-eater. The daily sashimi special, as our family of sushi
fans well knows, is the best test of the quality and freshness
of the ingredients an Asian restaurant keeps in its kitchen –
and it’s also the best test of what the chef is capable of
turning out. And beautiful it was, in every way: three pieces
each of five kinds of fish – in gleaming, pristine condition;
yellowtail, striped bass, tuna, salmon and fluke. Each piece was
beautifully sliced and folded, and separated by thin slices of
lime or lemon, stacked high on an artistic arrangement of thin
twigs, ornamented with a fresh orchid flower and accompanied by
“Three of Chef Shuenn’s Signature Sauces” in bamboo-stalk cups.
They were all delicious ones, but most of them we kept for
later, since all the sashimi really needed was the tiniest drop
of soy sauce and a touch of wasabi. Almost too beautiful to dig
into, but “dig we must” - and did, to our total enjoyment.
By the time we finished, we figured our latecomer was due in
five or ten minutes so we ordered up a selection of sushi rolls,
focusing on their list of specialties and selecting for openers
the Shuenn, Green Dragon, Ocean Ave. rolls and a Shrimp Tempura
and a Mame-Spider roll for our two diners who are not on a raw
fish roll; one by preference and one because she’s expecting. As
with the sashimi, the ingredients were top flight and the
presentation was beautiful: The special sauce for the Ocean Ave.
roll was both a culinary and an artistic masterpiece – don’t
miss it. And most important of course, the rolls were absolutely
delicious.
We were planning to try several dishes from the tempting array
of “small plates” on Yumi’s large and interesting menu, as well
as several pan-Asian main dishes, all of which sounded both
delicious and intriguing. But after our first round of sushi, we
decided that this would have to wait until another night. More
Mame-Spider rolls please…and a Spicy Tuna roll…and some salmon
sushi too were in order, we decided…and some Live Scallop
Hand-roll, another of our favorites that tests the quality of
the sushi-makings on hand. “A little salad and this would be the
perfect meal” one of the ladies observed, and so it was. The
Yuzu Romaine lettuce salad - served in a crispy bowl made from
parmesan cheese - and the salad with tender, lightly grilled
squid and Asian spices – left us completely sated, and
completely satisfied, with no room for another bite.
The wines we brought added greatly to our pleasure too. Each one
was distinctly different, but each enhanced the sushi in its own
special way. We started with a very light Pinot Blanc from
Austria, a Trimbach 2002 from Alsace. Next came a delightful
Sauvignon Blanc from De Botoli – in Australia (a great value for
the money too). Last but far from least was a 2001 Newton
unfiltered Chardonnay, sporting 14.9% alcohol; quite a contrast
to the other two light wines. Not only was it delicious with the
sushi (the age helped a lot we think) but, even though quite dry
now, it served very nicely as dessert.
We’ll definitely be back to Yumi- actually this was our family’s
third trip - and next time we promised ourselves we’d pass on
the so far irresistible sushi and head straight to the small
plates and main dishes, to focus on the pan-Asian angle more
intently.
Yumi
1120 Ocean Ave
Sea Bright, NJ 07760
www.yumirestaurant.com
BYOB
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