Yumi Izakaya

1 Reviews on “Yumi Izakaya”

• Vi Vian Woo

  Yumi Izakaya, West End one question that I always ponder on with new businesses is, what was it before? So, sitting in Yumi, waiting for my dining companions, I pondered. Despite the small dining space, Yumi has given a lot of importance to the open grill as it takes up about a third of the restaurant’s floor space. Of course, the bar seats had to be cashed in on, alongside the whole cooking performance. It would be crazy not to. A table for six by the front window and the rest were located behind. I like the deco of an Asian anime wallpaper and the wood like furniture. It was fitting of a Japanese ambiance. With intimate dim lighting, it could have been a romantic dinner for two had the tables not been so close. The air was slightly smokey, from the grill, and this was very apparent as I walked into Yumi. I was still pondering the previous business before Yumi, and was virtually mapping out the businesses as I draw on my poor memory of walking along Shaftesbury Avenue. The interruptions were many, wanting orders for drinks, a bowl of miso soup or a plate of edamame. I kindly rejected a few times knowing that my companions were literally a minute away from the Yumi. Thankfully they were because I was going to go crazy from their constant pestering. Probably Yumi had one too many waiters on shift that night. They might have anticipated for the rush hour crowd who, like us, wanted to take the opportunity of the 50% off food soft launch. Yumi is an izakaya eatery. Izakaya places in Japan are predominantly drinking places. Food although takes secondary place, it is done with pride and in a humble and moderate form. Purely simple good cooking in small portions to accompany the drink. It is very much finger food type of dishes which means that cutlery are minimal. Hence, the popularity of skewered food in izakaya places. Yumi’s menu depicts just that. A range of different chicken parts – liver, heart, thigh, breast, wings, skin on skewers and a few vegetables wrapped in bacon, small platters of food from miso soup to braised aubergines and more complex cooking of braised pork belly and udon. It was a nice small menu. But, no dessert.Unlike the izakaya tradition, we only had the food and ordered almost the whole menu, leaving out dishes that were not easy to share (ie udon soup noodles) and other simpler dishes (ie edamame and miso soup).sweet corn tempura 4.50 hugely tempted to order when I saw it served to the other tables. It came looking very promising a big, round ball of tempura. It was not oily but the sweet corn itself was not particularly nice. It was not served with a sauce like with most tempura and had a rather generous sprinkle of salt, in fact it was way too salty.Korean fried chicken 8.00 a special dish for the night but was not very successful with a very not solid batter. I was never a big fan of the korean gochujang chilli paste and so, this did not appeal to me. The squeeze of lime juice was a good addition to the flavour and colour on the plate.warm mushroom salad 6.00 the best dish of the night. The lotus root was a very nice addition to the bowl but it was a little soggy so more of the same texture with the mushroom. The flavours were nice and gentle, warming and those shiitake were properly plump and fleshy. braised aubergine 3.00 the aubergine slices were a little too thin for an aubergine and that means that it was difficult to appreciate the meaty and voluminous texture of an aubergine. The sauce that it was drenched in had a nice flavour. Not too sweet, sour or spicy. caramelised pork belly 15.00 at that price, we expected a more complete plate of food with meat, vegetable and perhaps, carbohydrate. So lacking those other elements, the portion felt mean. Taste wise, I thought there was a floral scent to the dish but I cannot say what it was. okonomiyaki 8.00 this was very stodgy, floury and therefore seem like there was not enough cabbage. It was not pleasant at all. But thumbs up to the size of the dish. thigh, chicken, heart, meatball, bacon, skin, liver, asparagus 2.25/skewer the food on the skewers looked mean. Quite disappointing.The attention to detail was there but it seem like the main point was lost, like the thickness of the aubergine, the crunch of the fried chicken and the what-seemed-like an incomplete pork belly dish. Overall, food was pleasant enough but portion wise it just seemed like Yumi was scared of feeding their customers. Without the 50% food discount, I find it quite expensive and the smokiness from the grill was still lingering.Ps: to satisfy the curiosity, Yumi’s site was previously a London souvenir shop. vi-vian.com

  July 5, 2016, 10:13 pm

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