Umami - Lawrenceville

Sunomono

u·ma·mi

o͞oˈmämē/

noun: umami

1. a category of taste in food (besides sweet, sour, salt, and bitter), corresponding to the flavor of glutamates, especially monosodium glutamate.

If you aren't familiar with how to describe the umami flavor, you are not alone. It's very difficult to discern. I would describe it as that salty sensation you experience when drinking really good Japanese green tea despite the absence of actual sodium. To a finely trained palate the same sensation can be experienced when eating all sorts of meats and vegetables, but is likely often confused with saltiness.

Umami was kind enough to provide us with a private room for our happy hour but the tables in Umami's party room are just awful. They are situated below the floor and getting into the both is intimidating for a rickety old man like myself. I'm always inclined to lean on the table as I bend down to enter the booth and this creates a sensation of absolute terror as the tables are not bolted to the floor.

The food is worth the visit, even if the seating is uncomfortable. During my two trips to Umami I've tried every item on Robatayaki menu.  The chicken thigh is a steal for $2.5 and some of my other favorites were the shrimp ($2.5), chicken skin ($2.5) and king trumpet mushroom ($3).

On my first visit I sampled the chirasi, this time I ordered the Sunomono. A raw fish salad with cucumber, rice vinegar, shrimp, striped bass, wakame, salmon, octopus. It was absolutely lovely, I only wish it had been a little larger. However, I thought it was appropriately portioned for the price ($12). 

The only real disappointment during my visit was the gemimacha tea. I love green tea, but I just can't make myself like gemimacha no matter how hard I try.  The crisped rice adds an astringency that I do not enjoy. I certainly can't blame the restaurant though as I ordered green tea without properly inspecting the menu.

Sake Sushi - Southside

$5 Sashimi

Everyone loves a new sushi restaurant. Sake in the Southside is the sushi-only component of the larger restaurant chain Saga. The main difference is that Sake does not offer hibachi, but they do offer a variety of hot dishes in addition to sushi.

The main selling point of Sake is the pricing. On Mondays they offer a variety of discounted specialty roles for $7.50. (Please note that they advertise Monday as a half off special, but it is really more of a 32% off special based on the normal pricing.) However, everyday of the week they offer a specialty happy hour menu featuring various appetizers in the $5 range.  I tried the sashimi appetizer (pictured above) in addition to the octopus salad, house special tuna jalapeno sashimi and fried tofu.

The house special jalapeno sashimi is honestly where it's at. Thinly sliced tuna topped with jalapeno and some siricha. I also really enjoyed the octopus salad. Some items I think you can skip on the happy hour menu are the coconut shrimp, fried tofu and edamame. I'll never ever understand why people go out and order edamame. I just can't grasp why anyone would pay to be served a bowl of steamed soy beans. If you just make the damn things at home you can save the 900% markup you pay to have the restaurant throw beans in a steamer and put them in a bowl.

SAKE BOMBS

The high point of happy hour was learning how to take sake bombs, compliments of the house. (Thanks Calven!) I'm honestly embarrassed to admit that I was never taught how to properly do a sake bomb. Here's how it works. You place a shot of sake on chopsticks placed on top of a glass of beer. Someone yells, "sake sake sake" and then you yell, "bomb bomb bomb." After that everyone pounds on the table like an angry samurai and it makes the sake fall into the beer! Amazing, yeah?