Umami Umami Japanese

After a long day in the car last Thursday, we were happy to arrive in the Willow Grove area, just north of Philadelphia. The last 2 hours of the drive up from North Carolina were the worst because of rush hour traffic near the city. I did some research during the drive for restaurants close to our hotel & Umami Umami Modern Japanese Cuisine popped out at me.

We started with beer, a great ending to a long drive. I got Shock Top Lemon Shandy, a Belgian-style wheat beer with spices & with natural lemonade flavor added. It's their seasonal beer. I liked the freshness of the lemon flavor & it was light & refreshing for a hot day. We sat on the deck since we'd been cooped up in the car all day.

They had a Japanese beer featured on their placemats called Sapporo. It was a light wheat beer. I liked the special glass it was served in!

The Bup liked it & it went well with his meal. He's usually a dark beer guy, so this was a bit of a change for him.

Our meals both came with a starter salad topped with a ginger dressing. It was very thick, almost like a spread instead of dressing. The ginger flavor was light (thank goodness, after my Go Green juice!) & the waitress told us there was no mayo in it.

I ordered the Teriyaki pan-seared tofu with seasoned vegetables & rice. The waitress told us that they soak fruits & veggies in soy sauce to give it flavor & then they smoke it. There was so much more flavor than the super sweet kinds that are usually sold in stores. The tofu was creamy & flavorful. Buried underneath it was broccoli, zucchini, carrots, & sugar peas.

For the Bup's dinner, he had the Bibimbap (love the name!). It is a Korean dish & bibimbap means “mixed meal.” The huge bowl had rice topped with assorted sauteed vegetables, tofu, a fried egg and

gochujang (the spicy sauce on the side). He loved it!

We didn't get dessert, but with our check they gave us each half an orange, drizzled with a light syrup. It was the perfect way to end the meal! I wish more restaurants did that.

They had several other menu options that I wish we could have tasted, but since it's not nearby, I doubt we'll be back anytime soon. I'm glad we found somewhere healthy & delicious while we were there!