An Amazing Dinner Experience at Urubamba

The opulent dinner experience started with a nice starter plate with a composition of maguro (tuna back) tartare with crab cream and quail egg, which was an absolute delight, even if it was not particular Japanese or Peruvian for that matter. It was an outstanding start that was followed by some amazing gunkan (battleship sushi) pieces with Mazara ebi (shrimp) – a regional delicacy – and hamachi (yellowtail) with caviar topping served alongside fresh wasabi and ginger. To say the least, the ebi was amazing and if available, Mazara ebi is must have from any menu in Southern Italy. Also the hamachi was excellent and very well matched with the caviar topping. As if this was not amazing enough, we continued with the main dish of the dinner experience.

It came with some flambéed sake (salmon) and maguro nigiri with seared onions. Even though maguro usually is not that good in regional sushi restaurants in Napoli, the composition with the onions compensated for this fact white well. We also had some ebi tempura (fried shrimp)with flambéed cheese and sake (salmon) with suzuki (sea bass) topping uramaki (inside out rolls). There were some maguro (tuna back) maki with guacamole, some maguro (tuna back) with sake, few more ebi (shrimp) and lastly sake (salmon) with avocado and hotategai (scallop) uramaki (inside out roll).

The flambéed pieces really stood out and also the ebi (shrimp) uramaki (inside out roll) with mayonaise and fried sweet potato had a nice Peruvian touch to it. We also really enjoyed the sake (salmon) uramaki (inside out roll) with suzuki (sea bass) ceviche topping. But the most delicious highlight was the sake (salmon) uramaki (inside out roll) with avocado & hotategai (scallop) topping. It was breathtakingly delicious. Even though we would have loved to sample more items from the menu, we had to come to a close after this huge plate of the restaurant’s finest pieces.

Sushi Guide Verdict

Even though the Peruvian twist makes Urubamba a less Japanese restaurant than we would like, it ranks among the best options for sushi in Napoli. It is a very modern restaurant with stylish atmosphere that fits the target audience of posh night life customers in the area. Menu options are excellent and we especial appreciate the focus on sustainable sourcing of their fish and other ingredients. The Japanese and Peruvian cross-over seems well balanced and compensated well some taste deficiencies especially in the tuna range. The overall quality and test of the raw fish is excellent and among a short list of outstanding sushi restaurants in Napoli. The drink menu is extensive but focusses heavily on cocktails and night out drinking rather than fine dining. Overall this was a very nice experience and the restaurant can be recommend as an excellent choice for a nice dinner.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: July 24, 2019

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Amazing Sashimi and Nigiri Dinner

I went to the restaurant on a weekday’s night with a friend and we were determined to sample the Japanese portion of what the menu has to offer. We sampled the cocktail and wine menu, which offered a nice selection of international wines and Peruvian flavour inspired cocktails. Ruffly 50% of the dishes on the menu seemed very strictly Japanese, so we started out our dinner with an amazing sashimi plate. We had maguro (tuna back), ebi (shrimp), chu toro (bluefin medium fatty tuna belly), sake (salmon) and hamachi (yellowtail). This plate definitely was among the best I had in Napoli. The ebi was locally sourced and was outstanding, but also the hamachi and sake were excellent. Most amazing was the chu toro, something that is rare to find in Napoli.

For a second course we opted for some ebi (shrimp) tempura and hot unagi (freshwater eel) tempura maki. These came topped with some delicious sauces as well as sweet potato chips. These toppings were introduced as Peruvian elements to us and added a nice twist to the dishes. The chips were nice but more visually appealing than anything else. Still the sauces were very tasty and closely tuned to the taste of the ebi and the unagi. I usually focus on sashimi and nigiri, but these makes were surprisingly good. As final course we tried some nigiri pieces, all of which were amazing. We could chose between grilled or raw serving for the fish, which offered a nice variety to the usual nigiri experience. We had raw suzuki (sea bass), grilled beef striploin and grilled ika (squid), of which the ika was mind-blowing.

Sushi Guide Verdict

Urubamba is a very modern and stylish restaurant that walks a fine line between cold elements, such as glass and steel, and warm lights and decoration. It’s atmosphere is fitting to the intended target group and provides a welcoming and posh feel. The menu options are very good with a variety of traditional Japanese and Peruvian as well as cross-over dishes to choose from. The quality and test of the raw fish is outstanding and among the best in Napoli. The drink menu is extensive and offers cocktails, wine and spirits for every budget. The service staff was friendly and welcoming. Overall it was a very pleasant experience with some potential for improvement to be ranked among the top sushi restaurants in Napoli.

Review date: April 14, 2018

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