Rating: ★★★☆☆

Address: Shop C, G/F, 38 Peel Street, Soho, Central 中環蘇豪卑利街38號地下C號舖

Telephone: 2889 7576

www.uma-nota.com

At the corner of Peel Street and Hollywood Road is the new kid on the block, Uma Nota, a restaurant and bar serving Brazilian Japanese street food. This is the second Brazilian Japanese restaurant in town, the first being Djapa in Wanchai.

The restaurant is stylish and exotic, with wooden surfaces and bright colours giving the interior a lively, welcoming vibe. The menu offers an enticing selection of small plates to share. After having a drink nearby, J and I pop into Uma Nota without a reservation and find the restaurant almost completely full on a weeknight.

(1) We first order the tuna on deep fried tortilla, Sriracha and chilli sweet sauce ($130). The dressing is nicely spicy and tangy, but we find this dish salty to the point of being inedible, and have no choice but to send it back.

(2) Next, the fried banana with crab meat and sour cream ($75) arrives. Not only does this dish sound exotic, it tastes decent too! The gently sweet banana turns out to be an excellent match with the crab meat, offering a pleasant savory sweet flavor.

(3) The chicken skewer with chipotle sauce ($80) is a solid dish – the chicken is juicy and tender and the chipotle sauce is on point.

(4) The crackling pork belly with spicy tonkatsu sauce ($85) has a deliciously crispy skin, but we wish the meat is softer and more tender.

The food is decent but definitely not outstanding. However, with a buzzling vibe and friendly service, Uma Nota is a great addition to the Soho neighborhood.