Umami, Sydney

Sashimi bento box $14.50 (lunch special 11am-4pm)
Served with agedashi tofu, croquettes, rice, salad and miso soup

I hadn't realised until someone pointed it out reecntly that I tend to feature a lot of Japanese on this blog. It's no surprise, really. I tend to eat a lot of Japanese!

When asked my favourite cuisine, I invariably nominate both Japanese and Vietnamese. However unlike Vietnamese eateries which tend to cluster around Chinatown, Japanese joints seem to be scattered all over the Sydney CBD.

What's not to love about Japanese food? Clean flavours, fresh ingredients and beautiful presentation. And I love that you can easily sneak in a little fried food whilst still feigning virtuousness.

And the obento box must be one of my favourite ways to eat. A little bit of this. A little bit of that. All neatly compartmentalised so it feels like fun.


Tempura bento box $11.90 (lunch special 11am-4pm)
Served with agedashi tofu, croquettes, rice, salad and miso soup

I'd been keen to try Umami after noticing its consistent busy-ness during the lunchtime rush hour. We took advantage of the obento box lunch specials, saving a few dollars off each.

Despite the trill of Irrashaimasse! as we enter (the traditional Japanese welcome greeting to customers) we expect that Umami has more of a Korean kitchen, with the inclusion of bulgogi beef and chilli pork on the menu, as well as a lost Chinese entree of spring rolls. There's also an assortment of udon noodles, katsudon, donburi and salads.


Karaage chicken

We order two different obento boxes: sashimi and tempura. Both come with the same side dishes of karaage chicken, agedasih tofu, salad, rice and miso soup. A generous portion of tempura vegetables and pawn is covered in a pale barely coloured batter that is light, bubbly and crisp. I find the sashimi a tad bland, a trio of king fish, salmon and tuna that doesn't have the fresh sweetness I'm looking for.

Much tastier is the karaage chicken which has been marinated then coated with batter and drizzled in Japanese mayonnaise. The chicken is succulent and juicy.


Miso soup


Agedashi tofu

Miso soup is on the watery side, but I do enjoy the agedashi tofu. Again it's quite a pale batter but I delight in the gelatinous stretch of the potato starch coating, softened by the dashi broth, quite powerfully sweet in this instance.

And because there's no escaping the Global Financial Crisis, is there a tastier way of packing dinner leftovers than in the form of your own homemade obento box? For inspiration, I like to check out Aussie blog The Food Pornographer, and if your scissor skills are particularly fine, you might want to emulate some of Pikko's obento tributes to Lost
which even made the local Hawaiian morning news.





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Umami
73 Bathurst Street, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9267 5878

Open 7 days 11am - 10pm

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