Umé
8710 Old Redwood Hwy.
Windsor
(707) 838-6700
Japanese Bistro
Dinner nightly; lunch Mon.-Fri.
Entrées (dinner): $13.95-$26.50
Nice wine list
Co-owned by husband-and-wife team Kelly Shu and Chang Liow (Liow also co-owns Chinois, across town, with Kelly’s sister, Debbie Shu), Umé is a sleekly designed Japanese Bistro that not only features an excellent sushi selection but also has grilled steak and fish, vegetarian items and a wide selection of appetizers.
The sushi bar has plenty of seating and is in the center of two dining areas. There’s also a patio for enjoying your meal outdoors. Nice, simple touches, like cucumber in the water glasses and small teapots of soy sauce on the table, add to the ambiance. The wine list features specials as well as a nice selection of sake. We went for some La Crema Pinot Gris (crisp, tropical, citrus) that paired really well with everything we ate.
We always like to start with miso soup at Japanese restaurants, and Umé’s didn’t disappoint. It was hot and tasty with thin-sliced mushrooms, seaweed, scallions and tofu. Next we enjoyed the seaweed salad, which was marinated in sesame oil with Japanese seven spice that provided a mild heat. It had a fresh and delicious flavor and crunch to it. The margarita prawns appetizer featured four large, tempura battered prawns looped over a margarita glass filled with shredded carrots and Daikon radishes with an absolutely delicious spicy mayonnaise sauce that had a great kick. My guess is this is a very popular dish.
The chef’s selection of sashimi was beautifully presented and featured salmon, escolar (also known as butterfish), Thai snapper, hamachi and tuna. It came to the table in a ceramic bowl filled with ice, looking like a sculpture, and was accompanied by pickled ginger (natural in color, not pink), fresh greens, carrots and Daikon radishes. And while everything was incredibly fresh, melt-in-your-mouth delicious, the standout for us was the hamachi.
It’s always fun to try out some rolls, and Umé includes several in its nightly specials. One was “The Oscars,” which had tuna, Fuji apples and soft shell crab inside, with escolar and avocado on top, sprinkled with pine nuts and drizzled with soy, wasabi and spicy mayonnaise sauce. Yes, it tastes as good as it sounds, and the portion was generous as well. The dragon roll wasn’t as filling but did have great flavor and texture with its shrimp tempura, grilled freshwater eel, avocado, gobo and tobiko.
Dessert was tempura-fried banana with two large scoops of coconut ice cream, fresh berries and extra tempura sprinkled atop the ice cream. It was very large in size—plenty for two to four to share. Add in a server with an excellent sense of humor, and Umé offered us a most excellent time.
