Utzutzu

General Notes

Omakase restaurant nestled away in Alameda. It is truly nestled away, it's actually quite hard to find this place (it's hidden on the second floor above "Mommy's Trading Post". Just an 8-seat restaurant, quite a cozy experience. Overall, it's okay; decent considering the price point ($145), but a little underwhelming for an omakase place. The service is quite nice and I actually like the vibes of the place; it feels more casual which I think makes everyone feel more comfortable.

Positives

> Highlights: kabocha simmered in dashi broth was very tasty, their tuna, ocean trout, and sweet shrimp were fantastic. The nanbanzuke was quite delicious, a nice tart start to the meal.

Negatives

> Most of the first half of the nigiri section (mostly miscellaneous whitefish that I don't remember) were under-seasoned and overall lacking in flavor, in my opinion relying too much on other flavors (e.g. lime)
> The sumiso-ae (kind of like ika no nuta, except with octopus) felt really off, it was way too sweet the flavor was just not right
> The wagyu was thoroughly underwhelming, it was under-seasoned and under-seared (I'm generally just not a big fan of raw wagyu), and didn't really taste like much.
> I probably would have enjoyed the uni chawanmushi (egg custard topped with uni) more if it didn't have so much shittake mushroom