Led by chefs who formerly led the sushi kitchen at Seito’s Sushi in nearby Baldwin Park, Umi on Park Avenue has become one of my favorite sushi restaurants in the Winter Park area. The ambiance is chic and calm, almost like you have been transported, having traveled to some distant exotic place outside of Central Florida. The owners, who have roots in Korea, may have brought this international aesthetic with them to Winter Park.
I was delightfully surprised with the sear and flavor of their ribeye steak beef from their robatayaki charcoal grill. Another highlight from their robata menu: bacon-wrapped enokitake – seared bacon-wrapped golden needle mushrooms, brushed with our house balsamic teriyaki glaze.
Umi means sea or ocean in Japanese, and so of course the sushi is a must try.
My wife loves tuna, so naturally we ordered the Tuna by Tuna (raw & spicy) 14, a spicy tuna roll wrapped with tuna sashimi, tobiko fish roe, scallions, and drizzled with spicy kobachi sauce – refreshing and delicious.
I ordered the sashimi (raw) platter, a chef’s selection – an assortment of 14 pieces, and was delighted again by the presentation and the creative cuts that were given, with lots of pieces not typical to most sashimi plates, like uni sea urchin and sweet ebi shrimp. All very fresh, and tasty, yet again.
For dessert, we ordered the Mille-feuille, kind of like a deconstructed napoleon. Nice flaky puff pastry layers, crispy with chocolate ganache custard, and tangerine fruit slices, mint, and toasted shaved coconut and white chocolate.
All in all, a very unexpectedly enjoyable meal at Umi, and we will be returning soon.
