Youme.n melds Japanese cuisine, splashy décor
By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic
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| Chef/artist Kiyoshi — he goes by one name — prepares a shrimp-tempura-tomato-roll sushi, a signature dish at Youme.n, at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa. The restaurant is visually delectable, and its menu touts pages of wine, sake, beer and tropical drinks before getting to the food choices.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser Youme.n Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa 2424 Kalakaua Ave. 922-4991 Lunch: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Dinner: 5:30-10 p.m.
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Now along comes Youme.n restaurant, which calls itself "pop Japanese" and, in contrast to many places these days, sells both sizzle and steak, in this case on an artist's palette of color gone wild. Chef/artist Kiyoshi is the driving force behind this enterprise at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa, home for many years to a traditional Japanese eatery called Furusato. It's now a restaurant-cum-art gallery. The staircase down to Youme.n reminded me of London or Manhattan eateries that exist below street level.
Youme.n is visually delectable, certainly, but offers more because of its culinary depth of field. The menu is beautiful, touting pages of wine, sake, beer and tropical drinks before getting to the food choices.
We began with cold tofu ($4) with sesame dressing, quite similar to the sauce used on the ubiquitous cold noodles with sesame sauce sold all over New York City. It's creamy, nutty and tangy, simple and flavorful.
The Maui onion salad ($4.50) is plated in a large mound, dressed with soy sauce and vinegar, and topped with crunchy curls of fried wonton wrapper. The bomb croquettes ($5) are lightly battered and fried morsels of mostly potato with bits of meat.
Spicy baked green mussels (four for $6.50) combines a mayonnaise-based sauce accented with red pepper. It is a bit too mayo-soupy for my tastes. There also is a baked oyster dish (three pieces for $12) with mayo, crab and avocado. If only Japanese kitchens would abandon their overuse of mayonnaise, many patrons would enjoy baked finger foods a lot more.
Perhaps the simplest dish I tried, pickled radish full moon ($4) was also the one I found most satisfying. Thin slices of delicately pickled daikon are arranged with fresh slices of lemon and that's it, that's the dish. The crisp crunch and tart flavors are a pleasant contrast to richer dishes such as deep-fried chicken ($5) and abalone mushroom ($7) sautéed in butter and served with mizuna salad.
Shrimp tempura ($18.50 for five large shrimp) is on the pricey side, but it was good. Vegetable tempura ($9.50) was even better and more affordable, with a fine selection of ever-changing fresh veggies.
Youme.n wants you to cozy up with your tablemate and share the food family-style. Black peppercorn steak ($21) is a meaty treat of sirloin steak, eight ounces of primal yumminess, glazed with a peppery-sweet teriyaki sauce. Baked butterfish ($16) with miso sauce is served with mizuna salad, micro greens and tomato.
Sashimi and sushi are important here. Hamachi (yellowtail) sashimi was a generous portion of sea-sweet fish, as was the tuna, red snapper, and salmon ($13.50 each). If you enjoy the chew of fresh abalone ($17.50), it is also available as a sashimi plate. Simple nigiri sushi can be ordered for $2 per piece. All the usual sushi roll suspects can be had, too: California roll ($6.50, also served deep-fried), spicy tuna roll ($6), unagi and avocado ($13.50).
The curious pinky roll ($19) is a house specialty, combining tuna, yellowtail, salmon, cuttlefish, shrimp, eel, cream cheese (?), cucumber and avocado wrapped in a hot-pink nori-esque wrapper fashioned from soy paper. Whoa, can you say "overkill"?
Check out Youme.n to feed your curiosity, your love of art — and oh, yes — to fill your belly.
Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com.
