You, Me, Yeah? At Umeya!

Ok, the title isn’t that good of a joke. But it made chuckle, and I felt clever when making it up, so please indulge me. :)

And once again, I’m re-reviewing a place I’ve blogged about before.

Umeya.

I kid you not, this is the restaurant that offers the best Japanese-style sushi in this area.

No fusion. No fancy gimmicks. Just sushi, done extremely well by hard-working chefs. There’s even a page on the back of the menu that shows you how to properly eat sushi.

Use regular (not low-sodium soy sauce). Not all sushi needs wasabi. Miso soup is drunk straight from the bowl, without a spoon.

And nigiri should be lightly dipped in soy sauce fish side-down, so the flavor of the fish isn’t overpowered by saltiness.

Just being in Umeya makes you feel like you should use proper sushi etiquette.

My dad agrees wholeheartedly. And for him, that means starting off with a bottle of good sake.

Then eating a fish head.

Don’t be grossed out. It looks disturbing, but the head is actually the richest and most delicious part of the fish – it’s actually a delicacy in many countries.

And in my family. The Tai Kabut0-ni was devoured in a few seconds amongst the 6 of us. The sauce was sweeter than I thought it’d be, but helped cut through the fish’s oiliness. We only a got a few bites each, but this was just a starter!

You know, to get our brain-juices flowing and help us decide what to order.

I guess everyone were feeling the same brainwaves that day, because everyone except me (that is, my grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, and sister) got the Sushi Omakase, the chef’s choice of various sushi.

And I, being the different and unique individual that I am, got the Healthy Choice prix fixe. Yeah, the same thing as I got last time – it’s a good deal!

Everyone started off with the House Salad. Might not look like much, but this little bowl seriously has the best the salad dressing I’ve ever eaten. HOW DO THEY MAKE ITTTT???

My 2nd appetizer was the Agedashi Tofu. Super-soft tofu, fried and soaking in broth with mushrooms and bonito flakes, this was just as good as the last time I had it and savory in all sorts of good ways.

The sashimi part of my prix fixe included several slices of the more popular fish: salmon, tuna, white tuna, and halibut. The white tuna was my favorite – it’s not very traditional of me, but I love the contrast between the seared outside and soft, raw inside.

While I was eating my sushi, everyone else’s main course arrived at the table.

Ta-dah!

This square plate is filled with more sushi than a normal can possibly eat in one sitting. But because my entire family are sushi lovers, everyone ate everything on their plates (and then some).

The awesome thing about the omakase is the sheer VARIETY of sushi. Salmon, tuna, toro, tamago, uni, squid, eel… It’s a huge selection of nigiri JUST for you.

Soon after my family started working on their omakases, the waitress came with my sushi plate.

Similar to the omakase, but with less variety, this was a standard plate of nigiri and maki. But the rice at Umeya really makes the sushi – it’s springy and separate, yet somehow holds its shape… When you eat it, you can definitely taste the difference between the properly-made rice here, and the gummy mess you oftentimes get at other restaurants.

Slowly but surely, my family ate our way through the overwhelming amount of sushi. You might say that it doesn’t look like much, but trust me, IT IS.

And since I had gotten the set menu, I had to take on the burden of eating this ice cream as well.

Desserts aren’t Umeya’s forte, but as far as matcha ice cream goes, this one was decent. I shared it with everyone and they all seemed to like it (maybe because I fed it to them? :D). It was a little hard at first, but thawed out to a nice smoothness with an ok green tea flavor.

So… That might’ve been pretty boring and repetitive.. Sorry…

But this blog isn’t just a way to show you the nice places I’ve been at. It’s also serves as a way for me to document my photography, so hopefully this wasn’t a COMPLETE waste of time or webspace.

Oh, and I’m going on a family vaycay to NEWPORT, RI this Thursday! WOOOT! Lots of pictures of seafood and beaches will be coming your way!

P.S. I changed my theme!! It’s about time, too. I think it’s opener and freer. ME GUSTA. How do you guys like it?

Umeya
156 Piermont Rd.
Cresskill, NJ
07628