Uoki

After our day trip to Nikko, which was much of a disappointment due to the inclement weather, we grabbed sushi for dinner before heading home. Like the restaurant we ate at earlier in Harajuku, Uoki is a kaiten-sushi bar with a conveyor belt and the pay-as-you-eat system. Located near the ANA Hotel in Roppongi, Uoki is frequented by Sarah’s father and his co-workers for lunch on occasion. I figured that if it’s good enough for the Miyakes, it’s good enough for me.

O-toro

We started off with a plate of o-toro, pieces from the tuna’s under-belly which is often the most prized (and not to mention expensive) part of the fish. At 950 yen per plate, the o-toro was definitely the most expensive item on the menu. The richness and taste of the fatty, unctuous flesh certainly justified the price, however. This was my first time trying o-toro raw in its pure form, and after experiencing it, I admit that it’s delicious but I actually prefer the regular tuna meat, which I think offers a cleaner flavor.

Sake

Next we ordered some salmon, which was slightly roasted on top but still raw underneath, creating a nice contrast. It’s quite amazing to me how different some fish like salmon can taste cooked as opposed to raw.

Sushi Special

This dish looked interesting to us as it passed by, so we decided to give it a try. This “sushi special” was a roll with a white fleshed fish wrapped around it marinated in a basil vinaigrette. Surprisingly, this was really tasty. Sarah enjoyed this so much that we ordered a second.

Hotate

During my trip to Japan, I fell in love with hotate, or sea scallop – so sweet and ever so tender. This was definitely one of my favorites.

Bonito

I experienced a lot of firsts during my trip, one of which was raw bonito. It came with diced up ginger and scallion, but I tried it on its own. It was slightly fishy and salty. The Japanese often use bonito as a base for all kinds of soups and broths, but that type of bonito is dried and cut into shavings. I’m not a fish expert by any means, but I don’t see bonito sold very often, if ever, in the US so I assume it must be a fish local to Japan.

Kanisarada

This crab salad was very simple, prepared with some mayo and vegetables – tasty but nothing out of the ordinary.

Hamachi

Not much to say about this yellow-tail, except very fresh, clean, and delicious. Yellow-tails feed on crustaceans and small fish, so their flesh has a nice natural flavor to it, which makes it perfect on its own as sushi.

Anago

Anago, or conger eel, came with a soy-teriyaki glaze and was tasty but slightly fishy. I guess I prefer unagi, which generally comes roasted providing it with a smokier flavor.

Tai

Sea bream was another first for me. It was subtle in flavor, and I could have easily mistaken it for some other white-fleshed fish.

Kanimiso

I really enjoyed this crab brain, served on a rice roll in the warship-style. It was surprisingly delicious (tastier than it looks) and resembled liver in taste – pungent, smooth and creamy.

Maguro

We finished our meal with regular tuna, which was nicely cut, smooth in texture, and perfect with a dunk in soy and wasabi.

Overall, I was quite pleased with the quality of the fish, and I left with a full stomach on an incredibly reasonable tab. Uoki’s prices were slightly higher than Kaiten-Sushi in Harajuku, but the place was a little more upscale and given its location, they were fair. I definitely miss sushi in Japan!