Shams El-Mutwalli Dubai

Uchi restaurant, which delivers unconventional comfort food to customers, is one of the many Japanese business ventures launched by Lebanese entrepreneur Carole Moawad who is also the founder and CEO of confectionary brands M’OISHÎ and Yumochi in the UAE.

“I envisioned everything about Uchi’s concept, but I do have a great team behind me who helped executing the idea I had in mind. As for the initial menu, part of it was created by chef Reif, former head chef of Zuma. We do have our own in-house chef, Ciprian Gabriel who’s been doing an incredible work developing new dishes and making sure that we are always on top of our game,” the founder said.

The restaurant opened in March 2021, and offers a range of foods including gyozas, chicken katsu, wagyu beef fillet, shrimp tempura, wagyu tataki, and an extensive list of sushi—the best sellers on their menu include the Wagyu Sando and Ebi Maki.

Founder Moawad is constantly aiming to deliver the best experience to customers and does so by sourcing the most flavourful ingredients.

“Some of the ingredients do come from Japan but there are also ingredients that we choose to purchase locally to make sure our dishes always taste fresh. As for the taste and quality control of our food, I’m at the restaurant every day and I always make sure to taste several dishes on a regular basis. We also have our internal processes related to food quality control but in addition to that I love inviting friends who know the Japanese cuisine very well to eat at Uchi and they certainly share their feedback each time,” she said.

The décor in the restaurant is also reflective of Japanese culture, in that it “represents the simple elegant way of living in Japan,” designed using neutral tones, and materials like wood to contribute to an overall zen atmosphere.

The interest in Japanese culture and cuisine stems from Moawad’s experience tasting mochi ice cream for the first time.

“My idea of opening a Japanese restaurant started because of M’OISHÎ and M’OISHÎ started because one day I went out with friends to have dinner in a Japanese restaurant in Beirut. I tried mochi ice cream for the first time. I instantly fell in love with everything about it – the flavour, the mix of textures and the concept of transforming a traditional mochi cake into a unique dessert. It was after my first encounter with this traditional Japanese dessert (and because of my love and passion for food) that I decided to launch my very own mochi ice-cream concept in the UAE. I love Japanese food and I’ve always admired the Japanese culture in general, so it felt right to develop Uchi,” she told Arab News Japan.

Moawad and her team are working towards expanding Uchi and opening branches in Saudi, Egypt and London, as she did with M’OISHÎ.

Both M’OISHÎ and Yumochi sell mochi ice cream, while Yumochi also sells granola pots that come in different flavours like passion fruit, mango salted caramel, vanilla and strawberry.