Yumi Sushi lives up to its name in Mundelein
Tucked into an unexpected location across from Bill's Pub in Mundelein (and in the spot of the now closed Sushi Joon), Yumi Sushi is sandwiched between a pizza shop and a Mexican restaurant - but Yumi is the real standout in the strip mall. It's small without a lot of tables, but the food and service packs a punch that will keep diners coming back for more.
We arrived on a Thursday night for dinner. The menu offers standard sushi fare: both hot and cold appetizers, ethnic soups and salads, Japanese entrees, and a sushi bar where rolls and sashimi are crafted. During lunch, Yumi has a ramen special. There's no alcohol available, but your wallet will thank you; for six people getting appetizers, entrees, sushi and dessert, our total bill was only about $200 - far less expensive than many other area sushi joints.
Our appetizers were the Tuna Salmon Carpaccio, Happy Avo, Harumaki, Golden Lobster, Ebi Cheese Ball and Asparagus Scallop Butteryaki. The carpaccio set the tone for the meal with incredibly tender and flavorful fish, sliced thin and served with olive oil. Cubed tuna and whitefish were stuffed into half an avocado to create the Happy Avo appetizer - the fish was sprinkled with a tantalizing lemon sauce that was at first difficult to decipher but, in the end, pulled the dish together nicely. The Harumaki is a deep-fried vegetable and pork spring roll with a good distribution of both meat and veggies.
We found the Golden Lobster's sauce to be a bit eggier than other golden sauces we've tried, but it worked surprisingly well with the lobster. The Ebi Cheese Ball, shrimp wrapped in cream cheese and deep-fried, provided the perfect combo of crunchy and creamy. A tower of fried asparagus with thin-sliced scallops surrounding it comprised the Asparagus Scallop Butteryaki; it came with a garlic butter and soy sauce. Our only real complaint with the appetizers is that the scallops and lobster were both a little chewy - but the rest of the meal made up for it.
For dinner, we had both the chicken and salmon teriyaki; Sashimi Deluxe, 20 pieces of assorted sashimi; eel, striped bass and seared albacore sashimi; and the rainbow (a California roll with assorted fish on top), shrimp tempura (shrimp tempura, masago, avocado, cucumber and spicy mayo), red dragon (tuna and avocado over a spicy tuna roll), lobster (soy paper wrapped around deep-fried lobster, avocado, masago, spring mix, cucumber, mango and spicy mayo), and caterpillar (eel and cucumber with avocado on top) rolls.
The teriyakis were standard with excellent quality chicken and salmon, and not overcooked either. The sushi, though, was the standout. Everything seemed incredibly fresh and soft, very easy to bite. Each roll was a pretty large portion size, and the rice didn't overwhelm the fish. It was all nicely balanced. The presentation of everything (sushi and otherwise) was gorgeous; the chef is a true artist on the plate.
We had our sushi served on a big wooden boat, and one of the cool things about Yumi is that you can tell them how much you want to spend, and they'll fill up a boat for you, chef's choice.
For dessert, we tried the mochi ice cream, triple mousse and Monaca waffled ice cream. We weren't disappointed here, either. The mochi ice cream was soft enough to slice with a spoon and had a nice thick layer of mochi. The triple mousse was rich and tasty, soft mousse piled on top of chocolate cake. The Monaca waffled ice cream was unexpected: several slices of vanilla ice cream covered with snappy chocolate, surrounded by a thin waffle cone shell. All the desserts were scattered with brightly colored sprinkles, creating a festive and fun end to our evening.
Aside from the food, we were completely won over by the staff at Yumi. They treated us like royalty, chatting with us from the sushi bar and bringing us a few things on the house. We dined on complimentary edamame and miso soup, my brother got five extra pieces of fish in his Sashimi Deluxe, and best of all, they made my 5-year-old niece feel special by surprising her with kid-size rice-and-egg sushi pieces shaped like hearts.
<i>Restaurant reviews are based on one anonymous visit. The Daily Herald does not publish reviews of restaurants it cannot recommend.</i>
Yumi Sushi
662 S. Lake St., Mundelein, (847) 566-2544,
Cuisine: Japanese
Setting: Modern, intimate
Entrees: $7-$23; sushi: $5-$23
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 4:30 to 9 p.m. Sundays; closed Mondays