Momi Nonmi
Chris Chung cooked Ken Oringer's Uni sashimi before he opened this Inman Square izakaya, and sashimi is still what the record says to order. Raw branzino under a soy slow-simmered with jalapeño, ginger and sake was the best plate Boston Magazine found here.
Why go
Chung is from Hawaii, and he was one of the first cooks Oringer put behind Uni when it was a sashimi counter inside Clio.1 He went out to Lincoln to open Aka Bistro with Christian Touche, half French brasserie and half raw fish, and closed it in 2016.1 This 25-seat room came next, nearly all of it gluten free by choice.1 Jolyon Helterman reviewed it in 2018 and found two restaurants in one address: the late menu, Thursday to Saturday from ten, full of invention, and the earlier dinner service running quiet.1 He rated it one and a half stars.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the sashimi, and the branzino first if it is on.1
- Order: late, if you can. That is where Helterman found the tuna belly tartare with habanero packed into half a caviar tin, and the yuzu kosho duck drumettes.1
- Avoid: the tempura. The rice-flour batter cost it the shatter, in all three versions he tried.1
What locals & experts say
- Jolyon Helterman, Boston Magazine (April 2018):
Translucent-white swaths of raw branzino ($12) were lavished with soy sauce slow-simmered with aromatic jalapeño, ginger, and sake, and punctuated by staccato bursts of pickled burdock root. Bold yet nuanced, it was the best dish I tried—at any time of day.
1
Good to know
- The prices and dishes above are Helterman's, from 2018. Read the current card before planning around one.
- I could not establish that the room is serving right now, so call before you go.
Verdict
listed — One review carries this entry and it splits down the middle, praising the after-hours cooking and calling the main dinner service timid, which is a real finding rather than a hedge. Chung's route through Uni and Aka Bistro says the sashimi should be the thing to order, and Helterman's best dish confirms it. I could not find anything dated in the past two years that shows the room serving, so it stays low until somebody can.