Love at first bite
While Umeno Cafe doesn’t completely abstain from meat, its tofu offerings are the star and well worth the trip
If someone tells you about a newly-launched café of which its specialities are delicacies that centre on soybean products, what would be your reaction? I’m guessing most of my meat-eating readers, much like myself, would give it a cold shoulder. Well, I’m glad I didn’t.
Umeno Cafe, this week’s subject of review, is actually an ordinary modern-day café offering almost 50 choices of house-concocted beverages, as many for savoury entrées and nine options for desserts.
As its name suggests, the cheerful 60-seat restaurant boasts a Japanese influence. In fact, it’s a spin-off from Japan’s fine dining restaurant Umenohana, established 42 years ago in Kyushu.
Unlike the mother brand, which specialised in kaiseki (multi-course, haute-cuisine dinner), the five-month-old café serves up all-day dining fare amid modern-minimalist ambience. To attract a younger crowd, the menu blends Japanese culinary finesse with Western dash and is more easily accessible at price point. So what do they have in common? Other than the prime-quality ingredients — including meat and seafood — imported from Japan’s best sources, both brands highlight a selection of tofu prepared according to secret recipes and time-honoured traditions.
For the Bangkok café, three speciality items: tofu (soybean curd), tonyu (soybean milk) and yuba (soy milk skin), all prepared with Japanese soybean, dominate the menu.
Those who are in for an ultimate tofu journey, I recommend that you complement your meal here with lemon yuzu tonyu (115 baht), a house-brewed soy milk infused with a fragrant zest of citrus served with ice. The soy milk also can be served hot with honey or black sugar syrup (95 baht), or as a substitute for milk in coffee (95 baht135 baht).
Meanwhile, for the soyless concoctions, icy matcha frappé (135 baht) and hot matcha with marshmallow (105 baht) — all prepared with fresh milk and Japanese green tea, proved some of the best in town.
We had, from the list of appetisers, a DIY yuba (220 baht), of which soybean milk came in a metal pan and over flame. During the boiling process that occurred at our table, a delicate, filmlike sheet was gradually formed on the liquid surface. The silky smooth and supple tofu skin was enjoyed with wari shoyu and roasted sesame seeds.
For a more newfangled approach to the meal, yuba gratin (120 baht) promises love at first bite. Served in a cast-iron skillet were soft layers of tofu skin and thick cream gratinated with grated cheese and breadcrumbs to exhibit a crusty brown surface. It was so deliciously addictive that we didn’t bother to season it with the ponsu soy sauce offered on the side.
Another entrée that our party of three loved was tofu katsudon
(180 baht) — a meatless but just as scrumptious rendition of a classic katsudon (rice topped with deep-fried pork cutlet and semi-cooked beaten egg). The comforting taste profile of the dish made me, a pork lover, easily forget my desire for the meat.
Nothing would represent a modern Japanese café better than a selection of East-meets-West pasta. Worth having are spaghetti garlic pepper with deep-fried tofu cubes, salami and dried chillies (220 baht); spaghetti with tofu cream sauce and seared Hokkaido scallops (320 baht); and soy milk carbonara spaghetti (220 baht).
One of my dining companions, unlike most men in his beef-loon circles, happens to be fond of tofu and soy milk. He happily found our lunch here offering him a delicious healthy break from his everyday feed on red meat.
However, for those pining for carnivorism, there’s a good number of dishes to satisfy them.
From the 15-item rice bowl collection, we were very pleased with chirashi don (340 baht), a rice dish topped with a generous helping of top-notch sashimi, namely salmon, yellowtail, toro tuna, ikura (fish roe), aburi engawa (flash-torched halibut fin), octopus and morsels of tofu skin.
I was also impressed by the neatly presented premium sushi balls (650 baht). Five pieces of round-shaped sushi rice came crowned with flash-torched, highly-marbled Kyushu wagyu beef; toro (fatty tuna belly); flash-torched toro; aburi engawa; and glazed grilled unagi, all proved impeccable in both quality and taste.
My lunch was wrapped up in style with a delightful helping of warabi mochi and soy milk ice-cream parfait (165 baht).