Uni?

Who serves the best Uni in Louisville?

[Robin Garr]

justin, what is a uni?

Sea urchin, usually served as a "challenging" sushi.

The problem is that it has to be perfectly fresh, and even with Louisville's good rep for seafood, that's going to be tough. I don't think I would order uni here unless I was a regular at one of the top sushi bars and felt comfortable enough in my relationship with the itamae/sushi chef that I could trust him to tell me if it was right.

Tokyo on Lime Kiln, maybe ... they had monkfish liver once that was perfect, and it's a similar case where it has to be either that-day fresh or don't do it at all.

My husband adores uni. I tried it once and I thought that I was going to vomit on the sushi bar. God, that stuff is nasty.


But....if you like it, my husband only gets it at Kobe in Jeffersonville and only when the chef tells him to. That being said, I think if you develop a good relationship with any sushi chef in town they will take care of you. After a couple of Omakase meals, they will remember you and if you ask for uni they will tell you no if they don't think you want it.

I've never tried it, but the food "experts" act like it is the greatest thing ever. I was just wondering if I could find good and fresh uni in Louisville.

I've encountered sea urchin during many SCUBA adventures, but haven't had one cross my plate in a sushi restaurant, to date....

They've had it at Tokyo on Lime Kiln at least once when I was there. It's my husband's very favorite ingredient in sushi, but he can rarely find it here.

I had it several times at Sushi Yasuda in New York, a place that was around the corner from my office. Personally, I love it, but I could see why some people wouldn't. It's yellowly orange. It looks a bit like a creeping mold creature, and it appears that it might be slimy. It isn't slimy, however; it's soft and sublime. I also had it once at a sushi place in San Francisco (go 90s expense accounts!), where they paired it with a raw quail egg. Once you've had uni, you'll see that teh combination makes sense.

Of course, these things are personal. The thought of natto makes me gag...to each her own.

Please try our Uni at Sake Blue in Fern Creek! We always keep it fresh, even though sadly, not many people order it around our neighborhood. If it doesn't sell within 4 days of receiving shipment, out the door it goes. We have defintiely thrown away more Uni than we have sold it. It's also categorized as "Roe" in most Japanese restaurants, which is fish egg in Japanese, but technically, it is the organs that produce the fish eggs in the sea urchins.

Robin is absolutely right - Uni is delicate and it has to be fresh. You can tell if it's not fresh if it is slimy or "sticky". It should be soft, buttery, and should melt in your mouth. If you go to any sushi restaurant in town, the chefs will most likely give you a small sample if you've never tried it before.

My husband adores uni. I tried it once and I thought that I was going to vomit on the sushi bar. God, that stuff is nasty.

I am SO with you on this one. The only time I've ever tried it, I know for a FACT that it was flown in fresh that day and I asked the chef to choose for me, letting him know that I looove sashimi. Well I found out that I don't love uni!!! And I AM an adventurous eater, typically. Michelle, I think your candid choice of words is SPOT ON!

That might have been my most embarrassing dining moment. If I had been seated at a table I could have discretely spit it into my napkin and made a swift recovery. Sadly, I was seated at the sushi bar and the chef was watching me eat it. I know he could see me crying as I tried to swallow it. Maybe I take the whole sushi chef/honor thing too seriously, but I felt mortified.

My husband was devouring his uni with delicious abandon and laughing his butt off.

Talk to Roy at Tokyo on Lime Kiln. He won't serve it unless it's right. We get Monkfish liver there from time to time and it's great.

Can anyone describe or compare the taste?

Yeah, Justin. It tastes like the ocean. It tastes like you took the whole ocean and everything in it, put it in a food processor, and put it on some sushi rice.

Some people love it and some don't.

Yeah, Justin. It tastes like the ocean. It tastes like you took the whole ocean and everything in it, put it in a food processor, and put it on some sushi rice.

Some people love it and some don't.

Michelle, I think you are being kind on the taste. My investment banker cousin in law took my husband and I to a top sushi table in NYC back when things were going better for those guys. We all had the omakase. My husband and I both almost vomited. His cousin was merrily eating away. To this day, I can not describe the taste. My husband can but he can only use crude language.

Yeah, I can't describe the flavor because I buried it in my "traumatic taste experiences" subconcious. It was the texture, too, though. I guess I'm not a fan of raw seafood have a mucus-like consistency. But then I don't much care for raw oysters, either. I've tried and tried again to like them - I just don't.