The first room you enter has a granite-toppedbar, a few tables and tall ceilings. An outdoor patio and two intimatelounge rooms with sofas provide additional dining space. The maindining room, with its rosewood-colored tables, is a fine backdrop forexploring this unique menu.
Themaki sushi best fits the Umami Moto concept. The vegetarian avocadorolls ($6) are topped with a tomatillo relish and served on a platedotted with small pools of wasabi aioli to flavor the sushi. The aioliis a pleasant revelation. The tomatillo seems a bit out of place, butis easily removed. Wasabi, pickled ginger and soy sauce arrive forsushi traditionalists, and the salmon wrap ($8) adds some jicama to theroll. This time the sauce is a very sweet lemongrass emulsion, bettersuited for jicama than salmon.
The category titled“Beginnings” has starter courses that in many cases are large enough tobe entrees. It is very easy to order too much food here. A perfectexample is the chicken lettuce wraps ($8). A generous portion ofdiced chicken is served with bean sprouts, carrots and leaves oflettuce for wrapping the mixture. Dipping sauces include sweet chiligarlic and peanut. The peanut, with a bit more spice, is the superiorone. If the chicken had been minced finer, it would have been easier tomake the wraps.
A curious item is the Shanghai pork shumai($8). Shumai simply does not look like this. Here it’s made with wontonwrappers and shaped into squares filled with minced pork, some Chinesevegetables and coconut milk. While coconut milk is not common inShanghai food, it works here, adding a sweet fragrance. In a way theseare a bit like xiao long bao, the steamed broth dumplings that I searchfor at every Shanghai restaurant. These shumai need to be eatencarefully; do not let the coconut milk escape.
At one visit Ialso ordered an udon noodle salad ($9) with the shui mai. This provedto be a mistake, as both the shui mai and the salad are quite large.Udon are round Japanese noodles that form the base of the salad. Theyare topped with lettuce, shredded chicken meat and a dusting of blacksesame seeds. The sesame peanut dressing is similar to that in aSzechuan salad.
The entrees are diverse, with numerous seafoodoptions and one vegetarian selection. Shiitake scallops ($25) are animpressive presentation: a ring of jumbo scallop with a minced mushroomcrust around a julienne of Chinese vegetables, with a few slices ofshiitake mushroom thrown in. The center is crowned with an orchidblossom. There also are two pieces of bamboo rice: croquettes with aring of seaweed. The scallops are merely adequate and the vegetablessuffer from too much soy sauce. At this price it seems wiser, and moreeconomical, to design a meal around the starter courses.
Thelast few years have dramatically improved dining options in Brookfield,and Umami Moto is perhaps the most interesting restaurant this suburbhas to offer. The menu is full of twists and surprisesmost of whichare pleasant onesand offers many opportunities for exploration.
Service is attentive and the setting tranquil: It’s everything a fine Asian restaurant should be.
UMAMI MOTO
17800 W. Bluemound Road (262) 782-7253 $$$ Credit Cards: All major Smoking: At bar Handicap Access: Yes
Photo by Tate Bunker
