Yuzu Ramen & Sushi is open in the Erial section of Gloucester Township, and I stopped in this week for a Mega-Lunch! Incredible Asian food in a beautiful new restaurant.
Yuzu is really three Asian dining experiences in one… Amazing ramen soup with a variety of broths, fresh made in-house sushi as well as a selection of starters including fried calamari, popcorn chicken and more.
High quality ingredients, delicious recipes and beautiful preparation is what Yuzu is all about. During my lunch I was able to try a large variety of options from all of the different categories.
I caught up with co-owner Gavin who lives right in the area. Locally owned!
He and his two partners Andy and Dave worked together years ago, and met up again to open Yuzu. It’s a perfect trifecta of friends as Gavin works the front-of-the-house, and Andy and Dave split duties between the sushi kitchen and the main hot-food ramen/appetizer kitchen.
Yuzu Ramen & Sushi Erial
42Freeway first wrote about Yuzu in February and i believe they opened end of March.
The team has done an amazing job building out a truly modern Asian dining area, with a delicious menu made from only the freshest ingredients.
Walking through the front door you’ll quickly forget that you are just 500 feet from the main Erial intersection where Wawa and the Fire Hall are located.
The dining room is one open space featuring seating options in booths around the perimeter, and tables in the center.
The flooring and the base wall color are in the slate gray family but the team mixes things up with light oak tables and chairs, and beautiful Asian inspired murals on several walls. Woven globe hanging lamps also add to the Asian inspired touches.
A raised sushi counter is in the back of the room, with six high top chairs. If you choose to sit here you’ll get a front row seat to the master sushi chef creating your meal.
Yuzu Ramen & Sushi – Menu
I moved through my tasting in order, starting with appetizers. Since I was going to be eating sushi also, I decided to mix things up.
My choices were Fried Calamari, Takoyaki Octopus Balls, Popcorn Chicken and Yuzi Chicken Wings.
The Fried Calamari was served as pieces of small octopus which are breaded and fried. They are offered with the Yum Yum sauce which is the perfect complement to the freshly prepared dish.
Takoyaki Octopus Balls are new to me… It’s a Japanese pancake ball with octopus inside. It’s topped with bonito flakes (dried tuna), and topped with a drizzle of Mayo and eel sauce. A beautiful, soft and tasty bite.
Wanting to also try something for those who lean more towards an American palette, I tried the Popcorn Chicken which is a salt and pepper based fried chicken coating. The bite sized boneless chicken pieces are bound to be a favorite for everyone.
Yuzu Wings are fresh fried chicken wing pieces with a Yuzu Sauce pour on top. I forgot to ask Gavin exactly what their Yuzu sauce was, but looking online it’s made by mixing Yuzu (fruit) juice with honey and soy… which creates a mix of sweet and salty flavors.
Yuzu Sushi
Next up I was tried a variety of sushi platters.
Yuzu offers menu options from classic roles priced at five to seven dollars… up to their signature roles priced around $15 which a more complex recipe in a beautiful preparation.
Of course I went all Signature!
First up was the OMG Roll offers salmon, crab meat, avocado and mango wrapped with soy paper, and then topped with yellow tail tuna! Three seafoods in one! Oh… My… God… it was delicous.
The Tiger Roll is made from fresh tuna, salmon and avocado inside, with salmon, eel, fish eggs, and more on top!
Angry Dragon actually made me smile when I saw the preparation, as on the plate it was curve just like a Chinese dragon in motion, and the chef even created a dragon-like head on the plate! This was a shrimp tempura and spicy tuna roll wrapped in soybean paper… and topped with crab meat. Was I angry? No! Big Smiles!
I wasn’t done yet as I jumped into the Monster Roll! Many folks new to sush start with options that mix cream cheese into the recipe, and that’s what the Monster Roll brought to the table. Shrimp tempura, cream cheese and avocado topped with tempura crabstick. One of my favorites.
Yuzu Ramen
I think everyone knows what Ramen Soup is but to be clear it’s not that dried noodle that you ate during your four years in college! At Yuzu, the ramen noodles and all the ingredients are freshly prepared in house!
Uzu offers three different broths for their dozen or so ramen recipes; chicken, pork and seasoned vegetable.
I had three options to taste; Seafood, Beef, and Pork. The soups are priced in the $14 to $16 range and are significantly sized meals on their own… packed with ramen noodles, delicious broth and other ingredients.
The Seafood Ramen is a mixed broth of vegetable and chicken, and features big pieces of shrimp, mussels, sea scallop, fish cake as well as the traditional half marinated egg and of course ramen noodles.
For those who like things spicy, my Beef Ramen packed a heated punch. It was sliced pieces of grilled beef in a chicken broth base, which was seasoned to add a more fiery punch to it!
The Pork Ramen was prepared with a pork based broth, and offered large slices of pork and a variety of vegetables.
I really enjoyed all of the ramen soups but I found myself going back again and again to the beef… with that extra fiery kick to it!
I had an amazing visit at Yuzu… chatting with Gavin, learning about the restaurant and meals, and of course… eating a LOT of food!
Links and Locations
Yuzu Ramen & Sushi – Now Open!
2899 New Brooklyn Erial Road
Gloucester Township, NJ 08081