Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry of simplicity and precision.
Ukiah is simply Haiku spelled backwards, and similarly, captures a flavor and food with simplicity and precision. Before I go into this review, I need to explain a little something about how reviews are done. Some are just a restaurant I’ve gone to; others have been set up by a restaurant’s PR company. They know I am there doing a review. The whole thing about a reviewer’s anonymity is a façade. In any sizeable city, most hosts and restaurant managers know who the restaurant reviewers for the major outlets are. I’ve been in restaurants where they know I’m reviewing and had horrible service and/or bad food. All of that was to let you know when the owner or chef offers to make a special meal for me, I turn them down. I want to experience what you, my reader, will experience and sample the dishes you will order.
At Ukiah, a review set up by a PR company, our waiter asked about allergies and preferences, not unusual nowadays, so I didn’t think anything about it. We ordered cocktails. I tried the Bloody Trevor, a mixture of tangerine vodka, blood orange puree, chamomile tea syrup, and Prosecco that was quite refreshing. My husband got an Arnold Palmer, when suddenly a dish appeared. We hadn’t ordered anything, so I was a bit surprised. It was too large for an amuse-bouche, so I asked our waiter about it, and he said the owner had instructed him to bring out dishes. We had already selected what we wanted to order (the menu is designed for sharing), which would accommodate my picky lacto-ovo-pescatarian (eggs, dairy, and some fish and seafood) husband and my omnivore preferences. I had also skipped lunch, so I was HUNGRY.
I noticed that the restaurant offered a $85 tasting menu of 8-10 dishes, with the caveat that the entire table participate. I asked if I could do that and let the chef send out whatever he wanted, as long as it was from the regular menu, and my husband would just order the vegan ramen. They countered with catering the Chef’s Selection menu to both of our dietary preferences. Problem solved. This would be the right time to point out how attentive the staff were, not just our server, but all the support staff as well (and I watched, it was happening at other tables).
We ended up having 13 courses (a few extra because, when there was a meat course, they prepared a different course for my husband), some just a bite or two, some more substantial. We went home absolutely stuffed. Each of the items was from the regular menu, and I’ve listed the à la carte price. With such an extensive range of dishes I will simply list them and offer a few words after each to describe them. All, except one, were flawlessly prepared and delicious. You wouldn’t go wrong with any of them.
Tuna sashimi with yuzu sabayon and furikake $20 — Tender tuna, and I wanted to bathe in the sabayon sauce.
Crispy rice, topped with chopped hamachi $14 — An interesting combination of temperatures and textures.
Crispy mushroom bao with black garlic aioli + yuzu pickle $15 — One of my favorites, two baos filled with tempura mushrooms.
Local burrata, drizzled with yuzu honey and spring herbs, served with grilled toast $14 — Not something you’d expect from an Asian themed restaurant, but delicious, a huge serving.
Wagyu beef cubes, shiso chimichurri, yuzu kosho, wasabi and sea salt $26 — A pair of skewers that provided a good serving of a tender steak. The sauce was divine.
Red snapper, grilled and served on a pool of brown butter ponzu, $20 — This was where our menu parted ways. My husband got this dish instead of beef. I tasted it, the miso brown butter was everything.
Japanese sweet potato with miso butter, brown sugar, and Parmesan $15 — The potato was just a tad undercooked, slightly crunchy, but once you swirled it in miso brown sugar mixture, you didn’t care. The Parmesan added just that right amount of saltiness.
Roasted cauliflower with shishito vinaigrette, buttermilk goat cheese, and shiso $18 — It was delicious, but we were so full by this time that we barely touched this dish.
Grilled tiger prawn in a black bean vinaigrette with shishito herb oil $28 — This was the rare miss, the giant prawn was just a tad overcooked.
Unagi smoked tare, wakame + toasted sesame seeds $17 — Even my fussy eater husband had to admit this was good.
Smoked brisket — They brought out one slice (at my request) so I could taste it. It was tender and delicious.
Coconut cake is made using the chef’s mother’s recipe and served with house-made coconut ice cream $10 — I hate coconut, so I passed. At our server’s urging, I tried the center, which featured a coconut cream cheese ganache filling with the cake. I didn’t hate it.
Blood orange pomegranate and yuzu sherbert $10 — Tart and creamy, but one more bite and I would have exploded.
Ukiah is in the space formerly occupied by Matchbox, and if any place can break the curse of that location, Ukiah can. On the night of our visit, it had only been open for four days, and it was already working like a well-oiled machine.
Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse
221 SW 1st Ave., Fort Lauderdale
954-299-3661
ukiahrestaurant.com
