Yummy Yamado
Review: Located in Jaffa, the newcomer restaurant serves pan-Asian cuisine that features more than just sushi and ramen noodles; the menu also offers an impressive selection of vegetarian and vegan options.
Jaffa has quite a few charming spots, and without a doubt one of them is the newly gentrified plaza adjacent to the Gesher Theater on Sderot Yerushalayim. In this fortuitous location, highlighted by a nicely fashioned fountain, veteran chef Oren Longo established Yamado a few months ago.
Since Yamado’s business card identifies it as a “noodle and sushi bar,” we were surprised not to find any ramen or udon noodles on the menu. “We are moving away from strictly Japanese dishes,” says Longo. “We now have a good selection of Thai and Chinese entrées as well.”
Yamado does not serve cocktails, although there is plenty of wine, beer and spirits, including sake, as well as Sapporo and Singha beers imported from Japan and Thailand respectively. We settled for the house tea, a very special blend of green and white teas with sage, ginger, and a dozen or more other assorted herbs; the delicious tea did indeed taste like an invigorating tonic.
The shrimp tempura here was spot on: large, fresh shrimp fried just right in a delicate batter -- so good, in fact, that I did not even feel the need to dip them in soy or teriyaki sauce.
Next we were served a trio of Yamado’s imaginative house sushi creations: the Tuna Han -- spicy tuna, avocado, cucumber, ponzu sauce, green onions and sesame seeds; the Jaffa Roll -- sweet potato and eggplant in a tehina and date honey sauce, with sunflower seeds and ground peanuts; and the Spicy Salmon -- salmon tartare, avocado and cucumber seasoned with a zesty Japanese spicy mayo and garnished with sesame seeds and fresh lemon. As pleasing to the eye as they are to the palate, these combinations represent extraordinary range, as well as a remarkable interplay of favors.
It is also nice to note that Yamado’s ample selection of vegetarian and vegan options spans several categories of entrées, extending as well to the world of sushi.
The noodle dishes on the menu start with a quartet categorized, interestingly, by color: white, black, green and orange. According to Longo, the Black Noodles dish is Yamado’s homage to East-West fusion: stir-fried black linguine with green beans, white and green onions, red peppers, peanuts and coriander in a complex Thai sauce blended with sweet cream. Our dish also featured chicken that had previously been marinated for 24 hours, rendering it tender and juicy.
As is the case with the noodle dishes, the main courses served with rice star either chicken, tofu, beef or shrimp. In this category, we sampled the Massman Curry with beef: strips of succulent entrecôte with mushrooms, white and green onions, basil and peanuts in a rich coconut cream sauce. The curry element, relying on herbs more than spices, is pleasantly mild, leaving just a gentle sensation of heat in the mouth.
We were too full for dessert, which turned out to be OK with us since they were basically commonplace desserts found on most menus: chocolate mousse, cheesecake and sorbet. Given the overall quality of Yamado, there is every reason to believe that they, too, would be very satisfactory.
With the balmy spring weather already upon us, Yamado is a worthy choice for an evening in its lovely al fresco setting.
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.
Nehama Street 2, Jaffa
Tel. (053) 937-3506
