Yonsei not Yonce
I keep trying puns but it's not working is it. Anyway foodventure
Foodventure: Yonsei Hanrolls 1738 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94612
Located across from the Fox Theater on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, this handroll spot is the fourth restaurant of Kyle Itani.
There’e a dropper for the soy sauce at each table, which helps control the amount you want on your rolls and makes it easier to distribute the soy sauce across the rolls without spilling or wasting any of it.
Yonsei is still very new and opened at the end of 2022. General Manager, Megu Wada explained Yonsei was inspired by some of the handroll restaurants in LA and they were looking to do something different.
It was also good to see among the wine selections was Black owned wine, McBride Sisters Sparkling Rose.
Here’s what we tried during our visit:
For my drink selection, I wanted to try something out of the box so I opted for the Toki Refresher, Suntory Toki Whisky, Nori Syrup, lemon, dash of Shoyu; The sprig of seaweed on top adds to the salted but not salty and savory drink with the sparkling was a curious surprise.
My friend Nikki was joining me and had the Negroni. We opted to try the Omaska Sets, the OG and the Yonsei with sets of 4-6 rolls. This was plenty for two people and judging by the price tag, I’m pretty sure I’ve paid far more for less presentation and quality, so I didn’t feel I was getting cheated.
Zuke Maguro: soy cured ahi tuna adding soy sauce was strong but wasabi works well
Seared Albacore with black garlic: recommend without the soy sauce to enjoy the red onion
Salmon belly: fatty piece of salmon with sesame, lemon. The sesame had a nice roasted flavor to it that made me question why I’ve never really thought of it as more than garnish.
Negihama: I was glad there was no sauce in this tasting because it was so interesting. Then it dawned on me that I may have never had this fish before. Interesting texture give unagi flavor. Green onion cuts through the butteriness.
Salmon sesame and lemon: My friend Nikki loved this one. I needed the heat of the wasabi to bring out the lemon.
Spicy scallops yuku tobiko: There was a part of me that wanted a bowl of the scallops. There was another part of me that understood the serving size was just enough so that I would enjoy this particular moment exactly as it was. It's intimate. Creamy Kewpie Japanese mayo with tobiko to correct texture. Add wasabi to increase the heat and magic happens here.
Spicy tuna with tenpura crunch: I want that crunch on everything now.
Snow Crab handroll: It's been a while since I've been served real crab in a handroll and not imitation crab meat— and a generous helping at that.
Toro & Takuan: salmon with a pickled daikon (not pictured)