Group Catch up! Umi Sushi Nabe, Haymarket

I recently visit Umi Sushi Nabe in Haymarket which has recently launched their new Hot Pot menu. I am dining with a group and was surprised to see that there are individual hot pots! No sharing !!! Hurrah for me. I've never seen individual hot pots before and I am impressed.

 As you walk in, you can see the hot pot buffet area and I am seated to the back of the restaurant. There are lots of groups of people dining, drinking, chatting and enjoying their food. I order a nice glass of red wine while Mr Weekend Food Escapes enjoys a nice refreshing beer. The all you can eat hot pot buffet has a special at the moment of $23.80 pp at lunch (60 minute time limit) or $29.80 pp at dinner where there 90 minute limit.

I enjoy the meal with a few starters including this fish skin, edamame and avocado salad. The fish skin is salty and super crunchy, the edamame is mildly sweet and salty which is doing a good job of building up my appetite. The avocado salad is creamy and refreshing. 

I am also treated to a special dish at Umi Sushi Nabe, it's the Yee Sang which is commonly known as a Prosperity salad. There's a colourful mix of seaweed, mushrooms, tofu, pork crackle, cucumber, cabbage, radish and there is a salmon sashimi centre. The aim of this dish is for everyone in the group to use their chopsticks to mix and lift the contents as high as possible for more prosperity. I have so much fun lifting and mixing the Yee Sang. Following this, I enjoy eating the Yee Sang even more so. I love all the contrast of textures and flavours and in particular I enjoy some of the seaweed which is cold and sweet along with the soft tofu and the sashimi salmon. How delicious!! This dish is only available for Lunar New Year.

So this is what the Individual Hot Pot looks like (pictured above) - you have the choice of choosing two flavoured broths. The options are

• Sukiyaki (Traditional sweet and savoury)
• Miso Soy Milk
• Devil Tonkotsu (House speciality with thick pork bone soup and secret hot spices)
• Tomato and Pork soup
• Hot and Spicy soup 
• Mushroom and Pork
• Miso Soup
• Shabu Shabu (Konbu clear soup)

Based on the recommendations of the staff, I choose the miso soy milk and the devil tonkotsu broth. I get some instructions on how to turn on the hot pot and then off we go.  I take a quick look at the buffet and notice some seafood options including crab claws, calamari, clams.

There's also mushrooms of various kinds and my favourite - tofu.  I take a handful of mushrooms and tofu and put this in the spicy devil tonkotsu broth. My broth from the miso soy milk boils over into my other broth so I decide to turn off my hot pot and let it naturally simmer. I leave the mushrooms in there and focus on what meats I want to put in my hot pot. I slurp a bit of the broth and enjoy the mushrooms and tofu which have quickly cooked. It's flavoursome, delicious and very hearty. 

There's a variety of meat to choose from and you can see the marble in the meat. The girls sitting next to me  suggest to me that dipping in the meat for 10 seconds is a good amount of time. I take their advice and dip away and eat the meat. It's good advice. It's tasty work. I recommend.

In addition to the new hot pot menu, Umi Sushi is known for their delicious sushi and sashimi so I am treated to this snapper carpaccio, an assortment of delicious nigiri and also a special rose petal smoked high grade salmon sashimi. I'm quite full from eating all the other food but can't help but also feast on this delicious spread of sushi and sashimi. It's sushi heaven. The quality of the fish is amazing.

Summary: Overall, I had a great dinner at Umi Sushi Nabe. Their new Hot Pot menu is fantastic as it's an individual hot pot with a buffet to choose from. Their sushi and sashimi is high quality and really enjoyable to eat. What a great experience that I'd recommend.

Price: $23.80 pp at lunch (60 minute time limit) or 
$29.80 pp at dinner (90 minutes time limit)

Location: Shop 1 and 2, 477 Pitt St, Haymarket

Opening Hours: 
Open Daily 11:30am to 10pm

Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of the venue or their representatives. All photos, opinions and words are my own.