Yuniku Leiden - All you can eat sushi & grill
After my visit to the Museum Volkenkunde for the Cool Japan exhibit, I went to have to a late sushi lunch at Yuniku, just to stay in the Japan vibe. Before, I only had experience with the AYCE sushi restaurants, Sumo and Shabu Shabu, so I didn't know if the newly opened Yuniku was good or not. But they currently have a special summer deal and the AYCE lunch is only €16.80 per person, so I gave it a try.
Food - The sushi were relatively good for an all-you-can-eat sushi place, as I saw sushi chefs freshly make them in the open kitchen area. The fish tasted quite fresh - except for the tuna - and the Japanese rice was chewy, on temperature, and nicely seasoned. Like most of the all-you-can-eat sushi places, the sauces on the grilled dishes aren't so good and/or the same, but the beef dishes were okay. Of the fried food, I like the tempura shrimp the most. The grilled mackerel was nice too. The food isn't excellent, but okay for the price that you are paying.
Service - The waiters were friendly and they slowly placed the dishes on our table with sometimes, a short explanation of what it is. After two rounds, the waiters seem to disappear and you really needed to go call them to your table to hand in the filled forms. But they warmly welcomed us in and said goodbye, when we left.
Ambiance - We had a large four person table for the three of us with a comfortable leather bench on one side. There was a beautiful sakura tree in the middle of the restaurant and many colorful orchid plants as decorations. It was relatively spacious with some space between the tables. I really loved the beautiful, theatrical staircase (Rose from Titanic moment, when I walked down) and the toilets were clean.
Location - Very close to the Leiden Central station and the Museum Volkenkunde, so a convenient place to start or end your day in Leiden.
Compared to another AYCE sushi place - It isn't as good as Sumo in their good, early days, but a bit better than the Sumo Rotterdam that I visited this year. I didn't go to Shabu Shabu lately, so I cannot really compare them.
Nigiri
salmon (really good)
tuna (not so good, strange color)
saba (nice fishy flavor with some grated ginger)
unagi (soft and fresh fish, but the sauce wasn't so good)
tamago (soft omelet with a mild sweetness)
tai (nice chewy texture)
suzuki (soft texture, mildly sweet fish flavor)
Tobiko gunkan (crispy nori and crunchy flying fish roe)
maki
tuna avocado maki (not bad)
sake wasabi maki (not bad)
chicken maki (fried chicken was a bit too dry)
california maki (ok)
ebi furai maki (crunchy fried shrimp, but needed some creamy mayonnaise inside the roll to make it less dry)
yuniku maki (special maki roll with a crunchy bread crumb crust and a beef (floss?) filling, nice to try it once)
salads
wakame salad (can't really go wrong)
sashimi salad (strange sauce)
grilled and fried dishes
Saba Yaki (grilled mackerel, tasty, not too over-cooked)
Tabasaki (the fried chicken wings looked like those from KFC, same crunchy crust, but a bit lacking in seasoning)
gyoza (thin wrapper, but missing crunchy, grilled crust and a better sauce)
koroke (crunchy hash brown)
sesame ball (a bit soft and not really a lot of red bean filling)
beef roll with asparagus (crunchy fresh asparagus, but the beef flavor is not strong enough)
gyuniku yaki (grilled beef cubes, meat was tender and not too dry)
ebi tempura (juicy shrimp and crunchy crust)
shrimp crab spring roll (fried rice paper spring roll with mashed sweet seafood filling, not that special)
yakitori (chicken was too dry)
ika skewer (squid was really fresh, but flavor was a bit off)
What do I think?
Food - The sushi were relatively good for an all-you-can-eat sushi place, as I saw sushi chefs freshly make them in the open kitchen area. The fish tasted quite fresh - except for the tuna - and the Japanese rice was chewy, on temperature, and nicely seasoned. Like most of the all-you-can-eat sushi places, the sauces on the grilled dishes aren't so good and/or the same, but the beef dishes were okay. Of the fried food, I like the tempura shrimp the most. The grilled mackerel was nice too. The food isn't excellent, but okay for the price that you are paying.
Service - The waiters were friendly and they slowly placed the dishes on our table with sometimes, a short explanation of what it is. After two rounds, the waiters seem to disappear and you really needed to go call them to your table to hand in the filled forms. But they warmly welcomed us in and said goodbye, when we left.
Ambiance - We had a large four person table for the three of us with a comfortable leather bench on one side. There was a beautiful sakura tree in the middle of the restaurant and many colorful orchid plants as decorations. It was relatively spacious with some space between the tables. I really loved the beautiful, theatrical staircase (Rose from Titanic moment, when I walked down) and the toilets were clean.
Location - Very close to the Leiden Central station and the Museum Volkenkunde, so a convenient place to start or end your day in Leiden.
Compared to another AYCE sushi place - It isn't as good as Sumo in their good, early days, but a bit better than the Sumo Rotterdam that I visited this year. I didn't go to Shabu Shabu lately, so I cannot really compare them.
nigiri sushi: tamago, saba, tai, salmon
tobiko gunkan, tuna, and unagi
ebi furai maki, california maki, yuniku maki
Saba Yaki (grilled mackerel) and squid skewers
wakame salad and sashimi salad
ebi tempura and koroke (hash browns)
Full list of what we ordered
Nigiri
salmon (really good)
tuna (not so good, strange color)
saba (nice fishy flavor with some grated ginger)
unagi (soft and fresh fish, but the sauce wasn't so good)
tamago (soft omelet with a mild sweetness)
tai (nice chewy texture)
suzuki (soft texture, mildly sweet fish flavor)
Tobiko gunkan (crispy nori and crunchy flying fish roe)
maki
tuna avocado maki (not bad)
sake wasabi maki (not bad)
chicken maki (fried chicken was a bit too dry)
california maki (ok)
ebi furai maki (crunchy fried shrimp, but needed some creamy mayonnaise inside the roll to make it less dry)
yuniku maki (special maki roll with a crunchy bread crumb crust and a beef (floss?) filling, nice to try it once)
salads
wakame salad (can't really go wrong)
sashimi salad (strange sauce)
grilled and fried dishes
Saba Yaki (grilled mackerel, tasty, not too over-cooked)
Tabasaki (the fried chicken wings looked like those from KFC, same crunchy crust, but a bit lacking in seasoning)
gyoza (thin wrapper, but missing crunchy, grilled crust and a better sauce)
koroke (crunchy hash brown)
sesame ball (a bit soft and not really a lot of red bean filling)
beef roll with asparagus (crunchy fresh asparagus, but the beef flavor is not strong enough)
gyuniku yaki (grilled beef cubes, meat was tender and not too dry)
ebi tempura (juicy shrimp and crunchy crust)
shrimp crab spring roll (fried rice paper spring roll with mashed sweet seafood filling, not that special)
yakitori (chicken was too dry)
ika skewer (squid was really fresh, but flavor was a bit off)
