I live in a reasonably size city along the east coast with admittedly lower quality sushi restaurants compared to surrounding bigger cities (DC, Boston). Two out of the past five times I’ve been in sushi restaurants they have served me bad Uni. It smells like a mixture of old fish and feces, it’s brown in some areas and looks very soft and watery. All of the restaurants have been pleasant about taking it off my bill but I’m just wondering how often this happens. I’m literally scared to order it anymore because I’m expecting it to be rotten. Is this a phenomenon just with my city (me)?
by Stink_E_Weasle
24 Comments
I’m glad I never developed a taste for Uni because it seems like spoiled uni is more common than spoiled fish
I haven’t had any issues with actual bad uni – a lot of places now either can’t get it, or can’t get a lot, so they are usually able to serve it before it goes bad. Up in RI, the several places that carry is get it on Friday and its gone by Sunday, so its always within its shelf life.
I’d say keep ordering it but in an effort to avoid sending it back, just ask them to ask the chef how fresh it is. If there’s any place to ask about the quality of fish, its a sushi place.
It’s not spoiled, it’s just not fresh. Old uni tastes bad and has probably turned off its fair share of people.
Make a list of those places and stop visiting them. If you’re worried, ask them when they got the uni in. Shops I’ve been to will show you their lil uni crate that it comes in.
I’ve had more ammoniated uni than not unfortunately. Just throughout the US, though, not anywhere particularly well known for its fish quality
This post brings back some PTSD. Years ago about 20. I decide I would try uni for the first time at this local sushi place, I ate it the same way that is in the photo. I was told that it’s supposed to be buttery, light taste a little bit like the ocean. The bite I took tasted so bad and it was so gross that I threw up and it put me off of eating uni for almost 7 years.
Eventually I made a friend who owned a sushi bar and I told him the story I’m telling You now, he said uni is supposed to be delicious. You must have had bad uni. You serve me up some uni in a shot glass. And as nigiri, I was very hesitant but ate them. It was one of the best pieces of the meal I had by far.
So to answer your question, yes I do think a lot of places still put out bad uni because they don’t want to waste them. But I’ve learned to ask when a restaurant has received their uni before ordering it.
Fresh, quality Uni is sublime.
Bad Uni is like taking a drink of spoiled milk…straight up food trauma.
Uni is one of those things I only order from nicer places (doesn’t have to be full Kaiseki but the place has to be above average). “Freshness” matters a lot as it starts tasting really fishy quickly so unless the place sells a lot of it, you end up getting served older Uni.
I work at a sushi restaurant.
We’ve stopped serving Uni years ago because of just how ridiculously quick it is to spoil, or at least we can’t serve it because it’s just not fresh and has a smell to it. Add that to the lack of overall demand and how much it costs to order, we’re basically waiting for money to spoil.
I assume serving spoiled Uni is fairly common at lower end sushi restaurants but if you want peace of mind, go to a fancier place.
that is just gross
Wild request: stop ordering uni from places that serve bad uni.
Have you returned to any of these establishments? It’s great they took it off the bill but it never should have reached your plate
I had had delicious uni from a local spot and ordered it again the last time I went. The server wasn’t sure they had it at the time, but wound up bringing me a piece of nigiri and said “we had one last piece”. I should have sent it back immediately when she said that but took a bite and it was clearly old. Old uni is disgusting.
dont order uni from your city
First time I tried it, it looked perfectly fresh, but it tasted the way poop smells. I’m really not a picky eater at all, but that was horrible. I figured I’d try it again, and I did. Same thing. I never got sick from it, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to eat it again, even if it’s “good” and “fresh”, just because of those past experiences. I’d never tasted anything so horrible in my life. Even spoiled milk, past-date chicken, and barf don’t come close to how bad that was.
Honestly worth it to source your own uni at home. Find a supplier and buy it wholesale to share with friends. Fresh high quality uni is an amazing experience. Buy the yummy seaweed strips at Costco and make your vinegared rice and you got yourself a winner.
I have never had good uni at a restaurant. Granted, that’s three times, at reputable places, but still.
My two cents:
I only order uni from Japanese brokers, even when it’s Santa Barbara Uni. I’m in Houston, so yes, I have my Santa Barbara Uni SOMETIMES get shipped to Japan first then flown to Houston.
For the most part, I keep bafun uni from Japan on the menu. My supply chain is pretty legit, so when I get my uni, I can make it last 5 or 6 days.
All that said, shitty sushi places sell the spoiled uni because they take advantage of diners’ ignorance, and they prioritize revenue over quality and customer health. Even worse, a lot of places have untrained staff serving uni, and they don’t know what they’re selling. It is ENTIRELY POSSIBLE that whoever served you, had no idea that baby diarrhea uni is not okay to serve. It’s nothing new, but still really messed up.
I’ve never been served bad uni. In fact, I was once in Honolulu and tried to order some that looked way better than that, only to be refused by the owner. He said the uni wasn’t good enough to serve, “just for display”.
https://preview.redd.it/376twpequk2f1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8d6b04cb0e8db06e9d20c8164d6491b2c193ed8
Should look like this
Are you at a revolving sushi restaurant? Asking since it looks like it by the shape of the plate. You are most likely served low quality frozen Chilean Uni if so.
Im really just curious where youre located that DC and Boston are your surrounding cities, but NYC, Philly, Baltimore, Providence, and Hartford arent.
Especially when all of Ive found all of those cities and their metro areas all have high quality sushi throughout
I love sushi and will eat anything…EXCEPT Uni. It smells and tastes like a tide pool at low tide.
IMO uni has about 5mins from urchin to “way too old”.
Other people disagree.
I have only my own experience to offer. But I love the hell out of uni and in all the time I’ve eaten it, I have had only one occasion where I had something that didn’t seem fresh and super tasty, and that was in an uni pasta dish where it perceptibly tasted old to me. It didn’t smell offensively bad; it just seemed stale for some reason. And I’ve been eating this stuff for 20+ years.
I’d say if you go to places and are served stuff you find inedible or offensive, you should be concerned about what else they are serving.