So, to honor this trip and keep myself sane since I am so freaking excited for it, this post is about a great find in San Francisco my friends treated me to not too many days ago where the Japanese Food that was offered only got me more eager for my trip.
This place was AMAZING! The fresh sushi, variety of savory appetizers, and delectable entrees had me so entranced by their flavor that although I ended up taking my family there for dinner the following weekend to get some more delicious Japanese grub.
So what is this place I keep blabbing about without even actually talking about it? UMAMI. You can find it on 2909 Webster St, San Francisco, CA 94123. It's not as casual as a small sushi bar in a downtown small city where you can just drop by for a quick bento box (especially since it's only open for dinner) but also not that fancy that you will be dropping $30 for a single hand roll, it's a good middle ground of deliciousness
Since I went twice in the same week it means I was able to try a few different food items and especially since I raved about how good it was to my parents, my Dad was more than willing to try out a good number of different plates and they were legit. Let's start with them appetizers.
Ahi "Poke" Tacos
Within a fried golden wonton shell these awesome mini taco things had yellowfin tuna with yamaimo, avocado, tobiko, & cilantro sprouts and were gone in just one bite where I could fit like two of them in my hand and although I've never been too big of a fan of raw fish this was very tasty and I figured if I'm going to Japan I needed to keep an open mind and it paid off
"Kobe" Steak Tartar
Another plate I was hesitant to try at first but kept an open mind about after my friend was raving about it as we looked through the menu on what to order was this treat which is masami ranch ""washugyu" steak with spicy miso-mustard, toasted peanuts, fresh wasabi & a QUAIL EGG and served with taro chips. Needless to say this uncooked meat concoction was a little scary to try at first but carried a LOT of good flavor I've never felt combined in such a way before.
"The Original Umami" Sliders
These little guys were obviously mini burger sliders with but with spicy aioli, crispy shallots, & gingered pickles on these soft delicious steamed buns
Edamame Hummus
I think this one is self-explanatory and absolutely delicious
Potstickers
By now, in the world we live in most people have tried some potstickers at least once in their life and these included chicken & shitake "gyoza" dumplings with rice vinegar red chile dipping sauce & spicy sesame kimchi and although these are smaller than some of the ones I had had before, these are definitely of the Top 5 potstickers I've had before.
Yep, those were just the appetizers we've tried at this place so you can see how starting off with these awesome dishes only got me excited for what the main course would come to bring.
NOW IT IS TIME FOR THE SUSHI
So I'm not gonna lie, I don't remember which roll is which and I probably should have tried to remember them better somehow but for right now these are the rolls I know we ordered but I just don't know which are which so just kind of look at them, appreciate how delicious they look, and trust me that they were good. Here's the names of some we ordered and what was in them but I can't exactly tell which is which, maybe you can
- Dojo - Snow crab & avocado/bbq eel, eel sauce, tempura flakes, tobiko & scallions
- Midori - salmon, negi albacore, jalapeno, & avocado, tempura flakes, tataki sauce
- Bakudan - snow crab, spicy tuna, shiso & avocado /tempura style with sweet-spicy aioli, tobiko & eel sauce
- Pretty sure there's a Spicy Tuna Roll in there too and the last one is a Shrimp Tempura Roll, both are more of Classic Rolls and good too but the place is known for their Specialty House Rolls so definitely go for those
By now we must be full right? But then the waitress creeps on over, slips us the dessert menu, and further ruins any ideas of being healthy for the day ... but who can blame them, because you do not want to miss out on these desserts.
What we tried for dessert that I had not seen anywhere else and were absolutely in love with were the new take on what a roll could be as UMAMI offered these awesome Cookie Dough Rolls - yep, you read that right.. instead of seaweed, rice, and raw fish, it was basically bits of heaven, cookie dough, ice cream, and everything nice in the world
The Classic
My favorite of the desserts we tried (which says a lot since between both visits I tried everything on the menu), this had Vanilla Bean Gelato within a rolled sheet of chocolate chip cookie dough drizzled with caramel, chocolate sauce, and topped with chopped peanuts
S'mores
Mocha chip gelato wrapped in graham cracker cookie dough and chocolate sauce this plate was also good since it also was topped with a toasted marshmallow and a light addition of smoked whiskey, although it does not taste like a traditional s'mores dessert, I still recommend it
Caramel Apple Bread Pudding
Obviously this isn't a Cookie Dough Roll anymore but it should still be mentioned because it was bomb. This one is prepared and served with Vanilla Gelato and a Black Sesame Tuille (that wafer thing) and is acceptable when eaten separately but make sure to get a bit of the pudding, ice cream, and crumbs all in your spoon to get that full blast of flavor - so worth it
Creme Brulee
A classic dessert at any restaurant that is more than just a casual dive and it is just as good here as it is in most other places but carries a different twist to it. With tapioca pearls at the bottom and mascerated berries, this dessert actually ended up tasting a little bit like Froot Loops in our opinion which was really good, so we approved and finished it off very quickly
It's easy to say my family and I will be going here again in the sometime near future whenever we want to treat ourselves or if we ever have some visit come and want to try some good food but basically this place got me really excited for my trip to Japan, filled me up to the brim with food, and somehow even inspired me to write probably one of my longest and most detailed posts so I am not just writing about this place just because, it really is good.
Maybe I should not have written this before lunch though because I am really hungry and craving sushi now
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