Eat your way around the world in Shanghai!
The Expat Services Shanghai team was thrilled when Joey Cheong, chef owner of UMAAMI invited us for a meal. We didn't know what to expect from his restaurant, UMAAMI. We were just informed the concept is global kitchen with a Singapore heart.
UMAAMI offers cooking from various cultures & styles, but with Asian roots
Coming from a diversified multi cultural society like Singapore, Chef Joey has been exposed to various cuisines from young. This allows him to‘mix & match’ ingredients & flavours seamlessly. Together with self taught techniques, he is able to create interesting dishes with complex & unique flavours.
Some of UMAAMI's signature creation include Vietnamese spiced ribs; imagine off the bone tender honey glazed pork ribs with bold garlic & star anise flavours.
Another of our favourite is the double twist on UMAAMI's vegetarian ‘mala nachos’.
Chef Joey's explosive single bite of the Tex-mex classic just got better - it is totally vegetarian. The ‘chilli beef’ is made from ‘minced tofu’; something that Chef Joey's Hakka mother taught him since young.
UMAAMI is also not your average restaurant. They don't believe in selling processed food; hence if it is possible to make it in-house, they will make it.
House made food include: all breads (burger buns, fresh bread sticks & baguettes), all pastas & pizza dough, house cured & smoked pork & duck bacon, mustard, pickles, all desserts, all sambal & curry pastes.
Chef Joey firmly believes that it is only this way, one is able to seamless integrate all the 5 dimensions in tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter & umami (savoury).
Joey Chong, a self-tauch chef
Chef Joey's background is actually in communications; he was an ad man with a creative streak. After early 3 decades in the business, the advertising lifestyle no longer satisfies his needs.
He then quit the business and started a private dining gig & subsequently a little tapas place called Private Plates & Bites & Bottle-O respectively.
It was there he cut his teeth as a chef, restaurateur & business owner. It is only after 3 years of hard work that earn him recognition. His second business was recommended for listing in 2018 edition of Where Chef's Eat by fellow Singaporean chef, Jeremy Leung.
UMAAMI is a founder-led restaurant start up. Chef Joey is there daily for 14 hours to supervise the kitchen, observe & support his team & manage the growing customers' base.
It is the combination of his corporate experiences, his daily involvement in operations, never ending energy in the kitchen, obsession with cooking & innovating that earns him respect from both crew & customers.
As we dined in UMAAMI, we begin to see & feel his principles and spirit.
The food at UMAAMI
With a separate menu for lunch & dinner, there is definitely something for everyone at UMAAMI.
The lunch menu leans towards South East Asian cuisine; which is one of UMAAMI's strength. Actually, their South East Asian cuisine is so strong that they are often mistaken as a Singapore restaurant. Drop in to try their SG Hokkien mee, char kway teow, laksa, curry chicken...
Do also try their weekly Singapore buffet; every Sunday from 12:00 to 15:00.
The dinner menu is largely western, with hints of South East Asia influence. Most of the dishes are in tapas or small bites format, so sharing is encouraged.
Whatever you order at UMAAMI, first impression is deceptively simple. The surprise kicks in on presentation, complexity in flavour & taste. That’s UMAAMI’s trademark.
UMAAMI also carries a short and reasonably priced wine list. We didn't get past their house wine; as that was already good enough! As for craft beer, they are the only establishment to carry the most Stone’s craft beer outside of Stone Tap House!
Our journey at UMAAMI
The atmosphere of sharing and conviviality is strong in UMAAMI. Chef Joey prefers customers to pick several dishes to share; rather than eating the old school way of a starter, main followed by dessert. It is boring and one is limited by what they order. Joey strongly believes in sharing and that variety is the spice of life.
During this evening, we ate the dishes prepared by the chef and his team.
A nice meal of 11 shared bites, beverages & a bottle of wine. Approximately 280CNY/pax.
How to find UMAAMI
UMAAMI is located @ WPP Campus, near Hanzhong Road metro station in Jing'an district. It’s an up and coming CBD area with something new happening everyday!
Address:
379 Hengfeng Road, WPP Campus, Unit L105
上海市恒丰路379号达邦协作广场L105
Phone number:
+86 21 6040 0898
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