Ugochi offers a whole host of flavors across Asia starting from fusion sushi rolls to dumplings.
This Pan-Asian restaurant recently opened serving a slightly younger crowd.
“Ugochi exclusively offers Pan-Asian Cuisine, and we've made an attempt to be creative with it,” said Ugochi's director Ashfaq Rahman Asif.
“It is not a real Japanese restaurant, so don't expect anything authentic,” he added.
Food
"Almost all of the sushi is cooked; it's for that one friend who can't eat raw fish." If you're not a sushi aficionado, I'm serving for them," Asif stated regarding serving sushi at the restaurant for everyone.
Crazy boy sushi is one of those rolls. If you like your sushi with a little crunch and a zing from the spicy mayo, try their crazy boy sushi, which is a deep-fried California roll with crab pieces and cream cheese coated with spicy mayo and finished with a brown sauce. The attempt to replicate this particular sushi is admirable.
They followed that with yellow coconut curry with prawns and crab edamame dumplings. While the soup had a hint of yellow curry, it lacked the necessary tang and punch from the coconut to make an impression.
The flavour did not penetrate the prawns and crab sufficiently since the soup required a slight thickness to make the meal truly memorable, rendering it boring. The dish would have been improved if the curry flavour had been more intense.
Deep-fried crab cakes in lemongrass with sweet chilli sauce had an intense lemongrass flavour. The overly-salty deep-fried crab, on the other hand, dominated the other flavours and remained long after the lemongrass aroma had disappeared.
The Kolkata noodles stood out as a bold experiment among the various Thai, Chinese, and Japanese options. This Kolkata-style spin on Hakka noodles contained rice noodles, french beans, light soy sauce, and a spicy flavor that lingered on the tongue. If you prefer your Hakka noodles bright red in color and fiery in flavor, you should try them.
All of the sauces and condiments deserve special recognition because they significantly improved the food.
A lunch at Ugochi costs between Tk500 and Tk1400 per person.
Ambience
As you enter their premises located at Gulshan 2, you will see that there are pops of color all throughout the place, from the walls to the seats. which are bright pink and blue, to the dazzling fence with a painting of an Asian woman greeting visitors as they enter.
"K-pop and K-drama are huge influences on this generation, and we have tried to bring a sense of that here with us through the space and the cuisine," Asif explained.
Challenges
Ugochi opened a little over a month ago and is still in its soft-launch phase and subject to modification.
"We understand that some people will enjoy our work while others will not. So we're open to recommendations and will add and edit as needed.” he continued.
Asif says he is sure that they would be able to endure the current economic crisis because they have been in the same service industry for a decade.
"We liked the property, so we thought let's take a risk for six months," he explained.
"Plus, I've been in this business long enough to know how to handle it.”
With inflation plainly affecting purchasing power, Asif does not anticipate individuals coming in and spending a fortune all at once.
“I don't want people to come in and spend Tk5000 at one go. I want them to come back five times instead,” he concluded.
Verdict
While still in its early stages, Ugochi does offer a vast range, and who knows, they might change their menu based on your suggestions as well. Step inside the bright space and, while you're there, taste their Kolkata noodles.
Take a few buddies if you like to try Asian cuisine and enjoy the side condiments.
