October 7, 2008
great japanese restaurant for sushi or otherwise
Yume-Ya has many things going for it:
Open until 11pm (which is the reason we ended up here in the first place) in an area where most restaurants close by 10pm at the latest.
A great selection of non-sushi dishes. While most Japanese restaurants offer the usual teriyaki and udon dishes, Yume-Ya has a large selection of interesting Japanese dishes that you don’t see normally in America.
Very friendly sushi chef. We came late in the evening when the restaurant wasn’t very busy. The chef (and the waiter for that mattter) was very nice to everyone and chatted with people sitting at the bar. He asked us how we liked the sushi and offered recommendations for rolls when we couldn’t decide which one we wanted.
All in all this is a surprisingly good restaurant in a random strip mall. The prices aren’t dirt cheap but they aren’t extravagant either. They don’t skimp on the portion sizes, the fish is fresh and tasty, and there’s a variety of dishes on the menu and on the specials board.
Dishes I tried:
Ochazuke with Eel
Really great ochazuke (a simple “soup” of rice, green tea, and a few other things). Nice portion, good flavor, and it had yummy little crispy balls (not sure what they’re called) that added a good texture.
Spicy Tuna Roll
Generous with the tuna, just the right amount of spiciness (for my taste anyways).
Negi Hama Roll
A good yellowtail roll. Nothing particularly special but nothing bad about it either.
Yume-Ya Roll
I don’t remember everything in this, but it included salmon, tuna, scallop, and another fish or two. I was skeptical of the scallop as I’m not a huge fan of it, but it was done perfectly in this roll. The texture and taste of the scallop were a great balance to the other fish and the sauce that was used. The roll is also quite generous with the fish and they were all of great quality.
Kanpachi Nigiri
Kanpachi is always my litmus test for a sushi place (though many places don’t have it regularly) since it’s my favorite fish. Yume-Ya certainly didn’t let me down. Their kanpachi was quite fresh and had a great texture.
justin
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