Yumai Japanese Grill

The rice bowl is delicious :)

I have been anxious to visit the H-E-B Mueller Main Strest "food hall" ever since I heard it was opening. I got a great sandwich from The Meltery (reviewed separately) for my lunch and I wanted Japanese food for dinner. My original intent was to get some skewers, but when I saw the Japanese curry on the menu, I quickly change my mind. I'm glad I did and I want to go back to try various skewers!

As soon as I opened the container with the Japanese curry, my mind flashback to when I lived & worked in Tokyo for year and would walk by the curry shops and smell that inviting aroma. I have not found Japanese curry available at very many places in Austin, so I was anxious to give this one a try. They gave a generous portion of fried chicken cutlet and the curry sauce along with a bed of rice and sushi-style pickled ginger. (Very minor point here. I'm always used to a different style of pickled ginger and fortunately had a jar in my refrigerator from when I have made Japanese curry at home. So, that was a plus for this excellent dish!) Despite the curry sitting out for a while and reheated in the microwave at home, the chicken was still crispy and the curry sauce had an excellent flavor. I also ordered the 6 gyoza appetizer (potstickers) to go and after a quick reheat they were excellent with the dipping sauce. I was very appreciative that they were not deep fried, but panfried as is typical In Japanese restaurants.

The only negative I could think of from my experience is that this H-E-B is quite far from my home, but I know I'll be making a return trip soon try out more of the restaurants and invite some friends along with me.