A kind thank you to Angela Yalda from AYPR for inviting us to Yume Sushi. It'll be L taking over as a guest poster in this post.
Courtesy of mr.C, I was invited along to a tasting of Yume Sushi because what can I say, me + sushi = glorious fistpumping and content tummy. |
| The quirky decor - we were luckily early enough to take a full shot without looking too strange. |
Upon walking into the store, the decor definitely captures my attention. I love all things eclectic, and the furniture just screams Quirky (yes, with a capital Q mind you!). The tables remind me of primary school with the splash of colour and paint - the only thing missing would be all those fingerprints from finger painting. According to the owner of Yume Sushi who came by to chat with us during our meal, the furniture was actually designed in Australia, made in Korea and flown over.
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| More fun furniture - adds so much personality |
For those who have ever found themselves complaining about their chair whilst dining out, well, here you have quite a selection to choose from. Would you like the spacious wooden chairs, the contoured plastic chair, the metal bench or a plastic stool? Heck, there's even baby chairs - that's how accommodating they are with choice of furniture! So go on, be adventurous and ask for that baby chair! |
| Organic crockery |
Enough with my decor ramblings, now onto the food. Food, glorious food, they say! First came out the customary miso soup and soy sauce, in awesome crockery (from New Zealand and made organically). The miso soup was warming and delightful. I mean, come on, it's miso soup! We also ordered a sushi and sashimi platter as well as the brown rice lobster rolls to start us off. However, as you can probably tell, the space did get a tad cramped. So just a fair warning: if you plan on pigging out (even if it's just for two) ask for a bigger table (or relocate as we did, courtesy of the hospitable staff).
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| Sushi and sashimi platter |
Our platter had quite a variety of sushi and sashimi. And it was amazing. The presentation was lovely, however, it was the food that stole the glory. The sashimi consisted of kingfish, tuna, salmon, scallops and scampi. Omnomnom. Moving onto the sushi, there was 3 baby rolls with cucumber, an assortment of nigiri (grilled eel, grilled salmon, prawn, tuna, kingfish and what I call tofu nigiri but is really called inarizushi.
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| Sashimi omnomnom |
The sashimi was super fresh, which is probably the most important thing. The slices were nicely portioned, which resulted in ease of gobbling up. If you don't believe me, ask mr. C who unknowingly gobbled up both slices of the kingfish sashimi without realising. *shakes my head* The tuna was honestly really good. I'm not the biggest fan of tuna sashimi (because salmon sashimi has me in the palm of its hand) but I really liked it here. The salmon was fresh and cut with precision and care. The scallops were very sweet and yummy, though I still prefer cooked scallops. The scampi was quite interesting because I've never had scampi raw, yet it has that distinctive sweetness but with a slimier texture than its cooked counterpart. It's something you should definitely try because I ended up really liking it. |
| Platter Combo 32.9 |
The grilled eel was delicious, with a lovely charred taste to it which complemented the sweetness of the marinade. The grilled salmon was also lovely. What I loved about the nigiri at Yume, was that it revealed the efforts of the chef. The cuts of the sashimi were so precise that it simply encompasses the rice. Not to mention, the handfuls of rice were moulded with such consistency. I was super impressed. I finally got to try the kingfish nigiri and that was simply amazing. I honestly, without any reservations, loved this platter. I could literally have had it all myself (though in retrospect, I probably did have most of it since the chef came out at this opportune moment and I stealthily nibbled while mr. C chattered away). |
| Little Lobster Rolls 18.9 |
The brown rice inside out lobster rolls was quite anticipated because it's somewhat a speciality of Yume. From what I know, there aren't many, if any, other sushi restaurants that use brown rice. However, after trying the brown rice inside out lobster rolls, I can somewhat see why other restaurants steer clear of it. The texture of brown rice is a bit harder than white rice and to those unfamiliar with brown rice (like myself) it would take a while to get used to. However, it's good to note that brown rice is healthier than white rice, not to mention that it would be more labor-intensive (for the chefs, not us diners of course). |
| Wagyu Beef Teriyaki w noodles16.9 |
The next dish we had was the wagyu beef terriyaki noodles, which was underwhelming. The wagyu beef was dry, the noodles tough with the sauce slightly too sweet for my taste. I did like the bonita with the noodles though. |
| Wagyu Beef Teriyaki 14.9 |
The last dish we had was the wagyu beef misoyaki, and it was a perfect example of a wagyu dish well done - especially since we had it right after the wagyu beef teriyaki noodles. It arrived on a hot plate with a sprinkling of vegies (broccoli!). The meat was tender, melt-in-your-mouth-fatty and just so good but they should probably ask for doneness preference in the future. Despite being quite full by this point, my chopsticks kept reaching out for more meat (such a glutton) and broccoli.
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| Chef Daniel Byung |
Daniel Byung, who is the executive chef of the three Yume Sushi restaurants, popped by for a chat as we were eating. We talked about his experience - 25 years - and the labour that goes into each of the tiny pieces of sushi we so easily gobble up. Whilst he was soft-spoken and humble, the more we spoke, it was evident that he was truly passionate about his craft and was hard working. Starting his day at 6am, to venture out to the fish markets and select the fresh fish for his three restaurants, and finishing up at a mere 12am. That said, his attention to detail definitely scores well with me and at Yume, I believe it's the little things that count. Geddit, sushi, little things... yeah...
For those who are lucky enough to live close by, there are takeaway options as well. For those who are a trek away, I'd opt for the North Strathfield or Drummoyne stores. Considering Daniel owns and selects the fish for all three stores, I'm sure the freshness of the sushi and sashimi platter would impress.
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