The aisles in the shops are red with
hearts and rose themed tat and singletons are blue – this can only mean one
thing… Valentine’s Day is on its way!
My inbox and twitter timeline are
full of restaurant ‘offers’ (some exceptional value; others exorbitant).
Luckily, like last year, my wife and I managed to bag a table at Marc
Wilkinson’s Michelin starred Fraiche (see here).
Re. love - I’m a firm believer in
love at first sight… I met my wife in an Internet chat room on the 25th
February 2000 (A leap year!) Four days later on the 29th she took her chance
and proposed!
It’s taking me a little longer to
fall in love with Umezushi… but I’m certainly
growing fonder.
After my first visit to Umezuzhi (see here)
I was not exactly running down the street clicking my heels, blowing kisses to
all I met or shouting from the rooftops but I vowed to give it another go.
I revisited for lunch just before
Christmas and was impressed enough to take my wife along to sample the ‘Tasting
Menu’.
The House Pickles were less
acidic and much more palatable than on my last visit.
On my last post, my main gripe
related to the quality (seasoning) of the rice. This too seemed to have been
improved.
Without the luxury of access to
daily deliveries from Tsukiji Market, many sushi joints in the UK struggle to
get the quality of sashimi grade fish that they would like. I know Umezushi are
constantly striving to get the best fish they can and this shows in the quality
on offer.
The Maki Selection (Salmon Hosomaki, Cucumber Uramaki with Sea bass on
the outside and Tuna Uramaki) was fresh and well formed. It’s also good to see
decent wasabi that is not a lurid green and gari (ginger) that’s not
artificially pink.
The Nigiri Selection (Brill, Salmon, Tuna and Sea bass) was also
pleasant and attractively presented. The Prawn Nigiri, which arrived after the
main selection was plump, firm and beautiful, served intersected by a slice of
lemon.
Served over ice and shredded daikon,
the Sashimi (Salmon, Sea bass,
Scallop and Tuna) was also enjoyable - the scallop especially delectable.
Where Umezushi really excels is with
its Tempura – some of the lightest,
crispiest batter I’ve had. It was particularly pleasing to be served Sea bass
roe.
The Hot Dish was a little disappointing. Firstly, the specials board
listed two hot dishes for the day, a Seafood Udon and an Oxtail dish -
following the previous fish dishes it would have been nice to have had the meat
option. I suppose we could have requested it but ‘Tasting Menus’ are supposed
to be an opportunity for chefs to showcase their food and creativity. As such,
tasting menus are typically are made up with several ‘smaller dishes’ – the Seafood
Udon was a rather large potion, which jarred in the overall scheme of things.
Separately to this, we found the noodles to be a little rubbery and the batter
on tempura prawn turned into unpleasant ‘sog’.
The Miso Soup was very rich and tasty.
The Fruit / Dessert aka slice of bought-in lemon tart with a couple of
raspberries was a real let down for us - the pastry base was just claggy and
unpleasant to eat. I just couldn’t eat it and I hate to leave food uneaten! A
simple serving of a green tea ice-cream with some fruit would perhaps have been
more of a fitting end.
For a simple love of the Tempura and
some of the best sushi in Manchester, I’m certain to return to Umezushi. The
Tasting menu however, did not win my heart.
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