I will be lying if I say the food quality and variety has not been taken a hit since the start of the pandemic, and the most noticeable were the dishes served at sushi restaurants in town, where they relied heavily on fresh ingredients shipping frequently from mostly Japan. But that didn’t stop us from trying to find one that were still decent especially travelling to Japan (or anywhere for that matter) became next to impossible these days.
The latest one we tried is a local joint in Sheung Wan called Sushi Sumi, which opened less than a year ago. We have seen a few friends visited and raved about it, so we made a booking to try last Saturday when they managed to squeeze us 2 seats at the counter with just a few days’ notice. The small restaurant sat at the blind alley of Kau U Fong next to a few other fine restaurants on this small block.
Inside, eight seats were arranged around the L-shaped sushi counter with Chef Jason and his assistant working behind, with a couple more tables and the kitchen at the back – that’s about it. Obviously they were not able to serve dinner these days and for lunch, two options were offered – either the sushi set or the “Sumi Course” which is essentially the full-blown omakase with both sashimi and sushi courses. This time we went for the shorter version with 12 pieces of sushi plus appetizer and dessert.
And our lunch was very enjoyable. We started with the salad and chawanmushi. The chawanmushi was delicious with the warm and silky egg custard mixed with dashi and topped with shrimps and sea urchins. Then it’s the 12 courses of sushi, beginning with the milder white fish (with first piece being Hirame) and shellfish species and ended with the anago. All of them were good, but a few shined. The hotate (scallop) came from a large piece and was just mildly seasoned, but the original umami flavor came out, working well with the warm shari with a touch of vinegar acidity.
I love the delicate texture of the kasugo-dai (baby sea bream) piece, served with just a small dab of grated ginger. The Aji (Spanish Mackeral) was fine too, except I thought the dab of green scallion puree was a tad bit too strong and overcame the flavor a little. Ishigaki-gai (Bering Sea cockle) has good crunchy texture and a hint of sweetness and beautifully presented on our plate too.
Couldn’t really go anywhere without tuna being served, and I like the Chu-toro said to be coming from the famous Oma of Aoyama Prefecture. Not a hint of sinewy texture and with well balanced fat. The kinmedai (goldeneye snapper) was sliced and briefly grilled on the net on the stove before made into a nigiri piece – not as rich as I expected but decent nonetheless.
Kuruma-ebi (giant prawn) was another of my favorite of the afternoon – came in nice size and excellent texture, with the salt underneath did bring out the nice umami taste. That's in addition to the piece of Ama-ebi (sweet shrimp) that was served earlier. Murasaki uni (purple sea urchins) was turned into a gunkan sushi with generous portion of sea urchins spooned on top, and then we asked for an extra piece of tairagai (Pen shell clam), with the appearance similar to scallop but with a crunchier texture. It was tasty too.
We finished with the kanpyo maki (dried gourd roll) and the dessert which was monaka sandwich with green tea ice cream and red bean. And before that, the anago (sea eel) with the softest, most delicate texture, steamed, not grilled and served with just a hint of salt as seasoning. It was great.
Didn’t drink much this time except a bottle of beer. We will definitely go back some time – midway through the meal I did regret not going for the longer menu (which included more sashimi courses) as everything from that looked nice too. The restaurant is not the type with the widest variety of ingredients, but trust the chef and you will be on for a decent treat of seasonal dishes.
When? August 22 2020
Where? Sushi Sumi, Shop B, 6-10 Kau U Fong, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Kuruma Ebi Sushi
Web: (Facebook) https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Japanese-Restaurant/Sushi-Sumi-%E9%AE%A8%E9%9A%85-112285463692965/
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