A Thursday Lunch at Yume Kitchen

Rich and I had Thursday and Friday off last week to celebrate our 5 year anniversary, and the last one before we get married next year, which is scary but also exciting. As we have a wedding to organise we decided not to do anything too big this year and so on the Thursday I decided to take us for lunch and Rich had planned a surprise meal for the evening, which was rather fun as I had no idea where we were going.  For lunch I finally decided we should check out Yume Kitchen on Cotham Hill, we love Japanese food and I don't really know why it has taken us so long to check it out. 

menu peek

A small but lovely and light restaurant where you can pick up sushi on the go or sit in and have a leisurely lunch whilst watching the people pass by. The menu is more extensive than I thought it would be with sushi, ramen, wok fried noodles and little side dishes of tempura. It was rather grey and damp outside so I ordered a green tea to warm me up and Rich picked a bottle of Sapporo, one of his favourites. On the food front I had already decided before I sat down that I wanted ramen and some sushi, unfortunately they were out of pork ramen so i settled on the prawn tempura one plus a salmon and avocado temaki. Rich went for beef yaki soba, some salmon and tuna nigiri plus a side order of chicken karaage. 

salmon and tuna nigiri

temaki

As you can see the sushi was fresh and it tasted really good too, the rice was bang on the money and the fish lovely and plentiful. It only wetted my appetite for what was to come. I definitely would order more sushi when I return, it's nice to have somewhere near my flat that I can get a good selection of fresh sushi, I am a bit of an addict so it's good to be able to feed my habit easily.

tempura prawn ramen

tempura prawn ramen close up

salmon and avocado temaki

beef yaki soba

chicken karaage

The ramen arrived steaming to the table full of warmth and love it looked a picture. Rich had a generous portion of beef yaki soba which looked really delicious as well. The ramen was just what I needed, it was soothing and delicate in flavour, the tempura was really crunchy which was a nice contrast with the udon noodles. Ramen is just a lovely clean tasting invention that is delicious without being heavy on the stomach and for £6 it's quite a cheap and filling deal. The chicken karaage that Rich ordered was a huge portion for £4 but we felt though the flavour was good the batter was a little too thick for our tastes.

All in all Yume Kitchen is quite the little gem, you can pick up a pack of sushi to go or sit in and have a good value lunch to warm through the increasingly grey and cold weather. I for one am looking forward to trying some of the other dishes on their menu. To see what Yume Kitchen has to offer check out their website.

Early Evening Dinner at Nomu

The other week Carla  and I met up at the fairly recent addition to Whiteladies, Nomu. Nomu markets itself as a Japanese cocktail bar and restaurant, there were certainly a hefty list of cocktails on their drinks menu which were highly tempting. As this was midweek though I didn't want to go too crazy so settled for a G&T. It was a bit quiet in Nomu but it was only a Wednesday so Carla and I settled into a corner booth with menus and our drinks. Nomu offer an early bird special, 2 courses for £10 so I went for the edamame and yaki udon, whilst Carla chose the vegetable gyoza and pork with ginger.

edamame

vegetable gyoza

The edamame were plentiful, suitably salted and tasty enough for two to pick and nibble on. The vegetable gyoza we found a bit bland and not very well filled but this is something that could easily be improved on and I understand that this is something Nomu are currently working on. The service it must be said was really attentive and considered, the staff were very polite and ready on hand for any requests but not intrusively so.

Yaki Udon

pork with ginger

Our mains were tasty I particularly enjoyed my yaki udon the quantity of chicken and prawns was very generous, I for one can never resist a good plate of noodles. The pork with ginger was suitably gingery and delicate in flavour. So mostly I was impressed with Nomu I hope it starts to get busier because it deserves to do well, it's a great reasonably priced refuel if you are in a rush or relax with a number of cocktails if you are feeling more leisurely. Keep up to date with all things Nomu by visiting their Facebook page.

An Anniversary Celebration at Noa

Just over a week ago Rich and I celebrated four years together. After not the best month luck wise we decided to just go for a low key meal, saving the big celebration for next year. So we thought something light and quiet on a mid week, why not Noa. Rich had been a few weeks before with some friends and said how good it was compared to the first time we went a number of years ago, it seemed perfect for a mid week celebration. So I got dolled up in my finery and we headed for a pre dinner cocktail at Amoeba, where I always have a Thai daiquiri, one of my favourite cocktails of all time, fragrant but without being too sweet.

As we arrived at Noa at the same time as a new waiter was turning up for his first trial shift, he looked nervous, but I had every faith. We ordered a bottle of wine and decided to go for the set menu plus a bit of sushi on the side, I can never resist a portion of salmon sashimi, and we also ordered some maki rolls and a portion of inari. So for our set menu we both ordered the chicken karaage for our starter and for our mains Rich picked the katsu curry and I the salmon wasabi don.

Salmon Sashimi

Tempura Prawn Inside Out Rolls(Uramaki) and Inari 

The sashimi was more thinly cut than I have had before, the flavour and quality were very good though.  The uramaki rolls were well filled but the sushi rice wasn't quite as good as I've had in other sushi places, plus the inari (beancurd wraps) were more like little sushi dog kennels, because of their open sides.

Chicken Karaage

As for our starters the chicken karaage was coated in a very thin light crumb/tempura hybrid, it kept the chicken really juicy and succulent. Extremely tasty and good sized portion, which wasn't greasy at all, but that is to be expected with Japanese food.

Salmon Wasabi Don

Chicken Katsu Curry

My main was marinated sashimi scattered on rice, extremely tasty and very healthy. I was not really sure what to expect when I ordered it, but as I love salmon I was happy to go with whatever turned up. It was really fresh and clean tasting the salmon was chunky and they didn't scrimp on the portion either. The pickled ginger they provide is not the usual peachy pink coloured stuff most sushi restaurants provide, more like a pale yellow colour, more like actual pickled ginger should look. I have to say it was much better in taste, delicate and more refreshing.

Rich loved his katsu curry, definitely one of his most favourite dishes to order when we go for Japanese cuisine. This one was very fragrant, the sauce was much lighter than some katsu's and the crumb on the chicken was so crispy but without drying out the chicken. There could have perhaps been a bigger portion of rice as there was a lot of sauce left over after Rich had finished his meal. We ordered our desserts, although we were feeling pretty full already. Rich went for  Yuzu cheesecake and I went for the green tea ice cream as I've always wanted to try it, because it has been enthused about by so many of my friends.

Yuzu Cheesecake

Green Tea Ice Cream

Yuzu tastes a lot like grapefruit so the cheesecake was pretty sharp in places and slightly bitter. It was quite a generous portion but not something I would have gone for personally. Sadly my green tea ice cream was all crystalized so had to crunch through a scoop which compared to the lovely soft Marshfield ice cream we had sampled the week before it was a bit of a let down at the end of the meal. I could see myself really liking green tea ice cream as the flavour, when I could taste it through all the ice, was really lovely.

On the whole was impressed with the food at Noa, apart from the dessert, the set menu was under £20 each  and the sushi was standard price for what you would pay in most places. I am keen to return to try some of their non sushi dishes as I have a feeling this is where they really shine.

Sushi: Up Close and Personal

For Father's Day I took my dad to Obento, he adores sushi so it was the perfect place, and easily the best sushi in Bristol. As I have already covered Obento in the blog once or twice I will mainly be using this post to showcase some of the great photos dad took testing his new compact camera out. If this doesn't get your taste buds salivating for sushi, nothing will.

Deluxe California Roll

Salmon Sashimi

Obento's Infamous Dynamite Rolls

Inari, Salmon Nigiri and Salmon Teriyaki

Close up Tuna Dynamite Roll

Excellent Japanese Lager

Remember Obento does half price on selected sushi Sunday through to Thursday this also includes evenings to make the most of a terrific bargain. For a full menu check out their website.

Bank Holiday Dinner at Masa

It was bank holiday Monday and it was traditionally pouring with rain when Elisa and I walked down to the centre of town to meet Jamie. Having always preferred my sushi from Obento, for the dynamite rolls alone it would be enough, when Jamie told me that Masa did an all you can eat style dinner for £17.95 I was curious. Unlike other all you can eat style places in Bristol like Cosmo and the terrible Za Za Bazaar, Masa cooks everything fresh and will deliver whatever you have ordered to your table. The menu does not just consist of sushi. You can order teppanyaki items, fried noodles, rice, tempura and katsu curry, to name but a few.

Thrilled by the choice on offer us three girls decided to order a few items to share and just re-order when needed. So we went for two bowls of edamame, which I've never had before but I would definitely encourage everyone to try as they were so much nicer than I imagined them to be.

Edameme

We also went for some sushi, teppanyaki steak, noodles and mixed tempura. All in all we probably ordered about 3 rounds of stuff to make sure we tried a bit from every section represented on the menu. One of the first things I noticed was that the service was very friendly and we were not kept waiting long for any of the items.

California Rolls and Salmon Nigiri

Mixed Tempura

The food was excellent. The mixed tempura was light and crisp and they didn't scrimp on the prawns which were enormous. The beef we ordered from the teppanyaki melted in the mouth and the juicy chicken terriyaki came sizzling to the table in big chunks. Our katsu curry was zingy with a crunch, plus I got to try agadashi tofu again which was much better than the first time at Obento, as it was a better tempura batter and the stock was a stronger flavour.

My only complaint about Masa is that it is not as good for sushi as Obento is, the rice was not as soft and the fish was not as meaty. However their tempura especially, was the best I have ever tasted and there are many other dishes to choose from on the buffet menu. What was so great about all you can eat Masa style was that none of it had been sitting warm in trays for a couple of hours. Japanese food is definitely one of my favourites and it can be a lot lighter than Chinese so it was a nice feeling when we finished our meal feeling full but not in that overly heavy way that you can experience when over indulging at a buffet.

Vegetable Noodles

Sizzling Chicken Teriyaki

Masa offers the option of their buffet menu all day but you can order from their main menu or sit at the sushi train at any time. Definitely worth checking out for the buffet deal alone as for £17.95, where you can order as much fresh food as you like, was a real bargain. Browse their menu here. Their website also claims to offer gluten free options which is a nice touch. Upcoming blogs for the week will be on Hong Kong Bistro in Bath and the new Toro Pan Asian on Park Street.