Umami – Chagrin Falls Asian Bistro

I have been looking forward to trying Umami Asian Kitchen in Chagrin Falls for quite a while now; I picked up a Groupon (Groupon Site is here) in March and finally got to use it just before it expired.  Located in a

prime location at 42 North Main Street in Chagrin Falls, Umami has earned a great reputation as a wonderful little Asian Bistro in an area know for its All American feel.  With a small low key storefront, you walk in to find a wonderful little place set up in a narrow building with the kitchen in back and a small narrow dining room which feels both modern and Asian while still being restrained and elegant.  

The menu, especially at lunch is rather limited, but the choices sound wonderful (you can see the menu here at Umami’s website).  My friend and I started with soup, he had the Miso, I tried the Corn and Ginger Soup that was the special.   Both came out in large square bowls, with a generous portion of soup.  The Corn and Ginger was nice with subtle flavors, but I thought the corn kernels, while incredibly sweet, were just a touch undercooked.

Next up were the Spicy Tuna and California Rolls; the Tuna was very good, although not nearly spicy enough for my tastes, the California Roll was a bit overpowered by the real Crab which tended to mute the other flavors.

My friend had the Seared Salmon and I had the Sea Scallops.  The two chunky Scallops were nicely cooked with a crisp sear and soft middles and served over a cucumber salad that nicely complimented them.

My overall impression of Umami is that I was a bit underwhelmed; the decor and the food presentation is lovely, the service was good and friendly, while the food was fresh and nicely prepared with high quality ingredients overall there was a lack of excitement or boldness.  I have a lot of experience with Asian cuisine especially Japanese cuisine and I just found Umami’s food to be a bit flat in the flavor profiles.  With a very limited menu and the prices for the amount of food I expected some fireworks, instead I got a nice, but not sensational lunch.  As always, your experience can vary.

Cleveland CAM Market - Asian Treasure Trove

Cleveland is fairly well stocked with Asian markets, with several large ones downtown and smaller storefront markets scattered about. Cleveland CAM bucks this trend by putting a large and diverse Asian market at 21200 Miles Road, North Randall, OH 44128 across from the mostly defunct Randall Park Mall. While not my favorite Asian Supermarket in Cleveland, CAM does have a lot to recommend it. It is large and well stocked, very clean and offers some real treats and good values. Upon entering the store you will pass through a lobby area with a small cafe that is open during the weekend. Once inside you will see the fresh produce aisle to your left and here you can get items your fresh vegetables with some good values usually available. At the end of this aisle, you will have several cooler cases with chilled items such as fresh noodles, misos, various packaged goods and even a couple of Kim Chee choices. Also back here you will find some special values on display, usually a good place to stock up on some soy sauce, hot sauce and other items that you need for home cooking. The back of the store is also where the fish and meats are, both fresh and frozen. Nice to have fresh fish swimming around for your selection. Going down the freezer aisle you have a large selection of Asian offerings. Among my favorites here are the large commercial packages of Dim Sum. Here you can get 36 shrimp dumplings for around $8. Take them home and either microwave or steam, add some of the sauces available at CAM or make your own and you have a very tasty treat. Another aisle that is a favorite is the noodle aisle. One side provides the basic dried noodles of almost limitless variety, the other side provides packaged noodles soups in a wide variety. Depending on the kind you can get superior Ramen or other soups (far better than the "Top Ramen" sold in most groceries) or the noodles and seasonings to use as a base for your own Lo Mein or Pad Thai. CAM offers packaged chinese pasteries from outside bakeries, although I have been a bit dissapointed with most of these. Up front by the registers, CAM has a hot food counter and a cooler case of prepared food. You can find some very good food here and there are some good values. My favorite is to pick up a package of the squid salad (about $3) and a package of the seaweed salad (about $2). These provide several options, you can eat them with rice or make a very nice salad with these on top. I usually get 2 sushi style meals out of these and I always enjoy it. Beyond what I have mentioned, there are large selections of sweets, drinks, sauces and spices, rice and china and utensiles. If you want to explore close to home, stop in CAM and enjoy, they are friendly and offer some very good values.