Ume
Ume sells one thing, a $78 sushi set, and you build it yourself. Twelve cuts of fish arrive with nori, rice and a few salts. You sit on a cushion on Kent Avenue and make your own dinner.21
Why go
The salts are the part that moves. The house says the menu follows the founder's travel. A charcoal salt from Reykjavik turns up one week. A citrus salt from Casablanca follows. Then sea kelp salt comes in from Hakodate.2
Bryan Kim wrote it up for The Infatuation in September 2018 and left it unrated. On that masthead an unrated piece means a room it wants to eat at again.1 I have not found anything written about the room since.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the sushi set.2
- Avoid: treating it as dinner on its own. Kim's line is that the set will not fill you up.1
What locals & experts say
- Bryan Kim, The Infatuation's NYC Editorial Lead, on what you are actually paying for (10 September 2018):
Depending on how skilled you are, you might wind up with something similar to what a high-end spot would serve - or just some decent-tasting sushi that doesn't look that great. Either way, you'll have fun.
1 - The kitchen, on what it is aiming at:
Ume does not set out to be authentically anything. It is its own concept with its own artistic and culinary direction.
2
Good to know
- Where: 237 Kent Avenue, the Bedford Avenue L or the ferry at Williamsburg North.2
- Closed: Mondays, and the rest of the week runs two sittings.2
Verdict
could-visit — Two of you, and take the early sitting. This is a party trick you do once, and you pay for the trick as much as the fish.