 YOU YOU JAPANESE BISTRO 150 Broad St., Nashua 882-8337; youyoujbistro.com
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Despite the fact sushi (and sashimi) lovers will assure them that sushi, prepared correctly, can be a wonderful dining experience, some people simply can’t stand the thought of eating raw fish. This makes it very difficult for sushi enthusiasts when it comes to dining out with other people.
Fortunately there has been a growing trend for restaurants to have a variety of Asian dishes on their menus. It’s not uncommon these days to be able to choose from Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and/or Korean, among others, all in the same restaurant. You You Japanese Bistro in Nashua is one of those restaurants, but it has been doing it for years – and doing it very well.
At You You, there’s a little something for everyone: In fact, their tagline is “The Dining Place for You and You.”
We love You You’s ambiance. It draws from the simple and clean décor that one tends to find in Japanese restaurants. Upon entering there is a bar to the left, far enough from the dining area that you don’t even know it’s there. Tables in the dining area are light wood with a small candle in the center. It’s a comfortable place to eat and the tables are spacd far enough apart that, even when there are a lot of people in the restaurant, there’s still enough intimacy to carry on a conversation without the next table hearing every word.
Alternatively, you can belly up to the traditional sushi bar and watch as the chefs make your sushi right in front of you, which is a lot of fun for the sushi novice.
You You’s culinary offerings span Japan (sushi, teriyaki, tempura), Thailand (pad thai, masamen curry beef), Korea (ok dol bi bim bam and hai dup bap) and also include Euro-Asian specialties (chicken dijon and peppercorn-crusted tenderloin).
To be honest, I really don’t know what’s “Asian” about the Euro-Asian chicken dijon, but I suspect it’s just an exotic way to market a dish for those who aren’t adventurous enough to try any of the authentic Asian offerings. But that’s just nitpicking.
We’ve been to You You before and “visited” other culinary countries, but on this particular evening, we went the Japanese route. For a starter my dining companion chose the tempura with shrimp and vegetable ($7.95), which came with large, fresh shrimp and a variety of vegetables that included sweet potato, carrot and broccoli.
My choice was the five-spice tempura soft-shelled crab ($10.95), which was a generous portion of crab dipped in tempura batter and lightly fried. In both cases the tempura was – as good tempura should be – nice and very light without a trace of oiliness. My dining companion said he enjoyed his appetizer and I fell in love with mine — how had I missed it before? It will definitely be ordered again.
On past visits, my dining companion ordered the barbecued eel rice, a Japanese dish. The eel is quite tender and delicious and it’s served in a sweet, but not overpowering, barbecue sauce in a bowl of rice. Some people may think eel is something I wouldn’t eat, but the flavor is not too dissimilar to mackerel and is delicious. As I pointed out last week, barbecue — something that most people in these parts consider a manifestly American invention — has in fact been enjoyed in different permutations around the world for centuries. This dish is a perfect example of that.
 You You Japanese Bistro in Nashua; top photo, sushi platter is an attractive sampler. (KATE HARPER photos) |
I ordered the sushi sampler for one, which consisted of five pieces of sushi (chef’s choice) and a California roll. The sushi had the usual tuna, yellow tail and other fish and was expertly prepared and very fresh. A California roll has avocado and cooked shrimp wrapped in rice and rolled up in seaweed. The roll is then cut up into a half-dozen pieces, so the entire dish was more filling than one would imagine from the description. Dipped in soy sauce liberally laced with a pungent and sinus-clearing wasabi, the sushi at You You was delicious.
You You also offers “designer rolls” — the California roll among them — which all have cooked fillings, so those who can’t stand the thought of raw fish, rejoice: You, too, can enjoy sushi.
After all this exotic fare, an exotic dessert would have been the perfect ending to a near-perfect meal, but alas, You You’s dessert offerings that night were typical American fare — not even green tea ice cream — that we decided to skip.
The food is exceptional, the price right and the selection outstanding. At You You there’s something everyone can feel comfortable eating, from the chicken dijon to the raw octopus. The restaurant scores high in our book and we highly recommend it. We have been there several times and we plan several more return trips — that’s the highest compliment any restaurant can ask for.
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