Family Sushi Feasting

E was telling us that while she loves sushi and Japanese food, it's hard to come by in Europe. For this reason, we made sure we treated her to Japanese cuisine! (It also helps that this is our food of choice.) From the moment we learned that E would be spending time with us, we knew that we had to take her to our favorite Japanese restaurant in New Jersey -- Umeya. 

Dinner at Umeya is always a lot of fun. We eat a lot, drink a fair amount, and overall always have a great night! We also tend to close the restaurant. To kick off the meal, while my parents enjoyed sake, E and I enjoyed glasses of umeshu (plum wine). 
For appetizers, we ordered quite a selection. I had my usual "ika uni", which is thinly cut pieces of squid topped with sea urchin. It is so fresh and delicious! I absolutely love it! To share, we ordered: eel and cucumber rolls, takoyaki, fresh oysters dressed with spicy radish and ponzu, as well as fried aji (mackerel) bones. So many yummy appetizers. We certainly started dinner with a bang!  
Ika Uni (squid and sea urchin)
Eel and Cucumber rolls
Takoyaki
Raw Oysters with Ponzu and Spicy Radish
Fried Mackerel Bones

Once we were done with appetizers, it was time for the main event: SUSHI! Since the sushi chefs know my family very well, we always ask for "omakase," which means chef's choice. They know what we like and what we don't like, so it's always fun to see what they will serve us. We ate for hours and I enjoyed every mouthful!
Amaebi (Sweet Shrimp)
Fried shrimp heads -- Crunchy & delicious!
Lightly searing some fatty tuna
Seared Ootoro (Fatty Tuna)
Tai (Red Snapper)
Toro (Tuna)
Hokkigai (Surf Clam)
Aji (Mackerel)
Seared Aoyagi (Round Clam)
Ika Uni (Squid & Sea Urchin)
Unagi (Eel)
Negitoro (Tuna and Scallion roll)
Hamachi (Amberjack)
Tamago (Egg)
Ume Shiso (Pickled Plum and Shiso Leaves)

Although we had gorged ourselves on delicious Japanese food, the dinner would not be complete without dessert. E and I both ordered mochi ice cream, whilst my dad ordered green tea ice cream and my mom ordered red bean ice cream. If that wasn't enough, the restaurant surprised us with the most delicious mango I have ever eaten. I cannot describe in words just how sweet the mango was!! The perfect way to end our delicious feast!
Green Tea Mochi Ice Cream
Mango

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