When Coasties enjoy freshly made Japanese food from the newly opened Umi Japanese Kitchen at The Cove dining precinct, they are eating dishes that have been nourishing and delighting Kiwis for more than 25 years.

Umi Japanese Kitchen owner Jim Kang came to New Zealand from Korea with his wife Melanie and two sons, Henry and Kevin, in 1994.

A chemical engineer in his homeland, he decided to take a different path, moving into the restaurant business, initially in Auckland.

“There was already a large community of Koreans in New Zealand and if you wanted Korean food, it was easy to find,” his son Kevin explains.

But the Japanese community was smaller and Japanese food was not as readily available.

“When he first started, not many people knew what sushi was,” Kevin says.

But awareness grew, thanks in part to a few popular documentaries made about the Japanese way of eating and the food movement towards cooking with fresh ingredients. “You have to have fresh ingredients to make good sushi.”

Kevin says his father has always worked with Japanese chefs trained in the traditional methods or Koreans who had experience in cooking in Japanese restaurants. But he and his team quickly learned how to adapt Japanese dishes for a Kiwi palate.

Traditionally, sushi is made with raw fish but the most popular variety in New Zealand is chicken teriyaki. “That wouldn’t really be considered sushi in Japan,” Kevin laughs.

Jim built up the Umi Sushi chain until eventually he was running seven or eight restaurants in Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington. A few years ago, he decided it was time to retire and sold up all the restaurants.

But a laidback lifestyle didn’t really suit Jim. “He got restless,” Kevin explains.

When the opportunity came up to open a new restaurant at the revamped Coast town centre, he decided to get back into business.

Umi Japanese Kitchen has a full range of sushi offerings and popular hot food options such as udon noodle and katsu dishes. All the food is available to take away or eat in.

Kevin, who has been helping his father set up the new business, says Jim and his team are proud to offer Coasties another high-quality dining option.

“My family has been providing only the best Japanese food for more than 20 years. We know what people like and we know how to make it the way people want it.”