Ode to Hoover

Anna Grace Moore
Photos by Anna Grace Moore & Owen Ou

Fueled by courage, a flicker of faith, the American Dream is the guiding light across oceans, in foreign lands, for those willing to fight for their freedoms. Such a dream is this catalyst that ignites in each person a call to voyage the unknown in search for a better life, and it is exactly what led two aspiring immigrants to Hoover, Alabama.

The brainchild of husband-and-wife duo GengSheng Huang and Bao Qing Lin, along with their nephew Owen Ou, Umi Sushi Poke officially opened its doors for the first time on Friday, March 14 in the former Unagi Bento Sushi space in Trace Crossings. The Asian-fusion restaurant is now the fifth concept the Huang family has owned in Hoover.

Veterans of the hospitality industry, GengSheng and Bao Qing owned Bistro & Grill and Suki Hana in the Riverchase Galleria for 19 years before deciding to sell both businesses right before the COVID-19 pandemic. While retirement was relaxing, it did not lend itself to the challenges they enjoyed as entrepreneurs, leading them to look for more business opportunities around town.

When Unagi’s owner chose to sell his business, it opened a door for the Huangs to move in and reinvent the brand to be their own.

“We wanted to bring poke to the [community] at an affordable price but also to a level where you feel like you are full after your meal, and you don’t have to get seconds,” Peter Huang, GengSheng and Bao Qing’s son, says. “We give people the right portions at the right price.”

Strolling inside, customers are first greeted by the staff’s cheerful salutations as they are guided to their seats. Cast in a warm, ambient lighting, the restaurant’s feng shui seating and ornamental interior design yields a calming atmosphere rich in reds, golds and hues of blue adorning gorgeous motifs wall-to-wall.

At first glance, the menu sports a plethora of options ranging from Chinese and Japanese dishes to hibachi, poke bowls and dozens of sushi combinations. Crowd-favorite starters include the Miso Soup, which is a soybean soup with tofu, seaweed and scallions, or the Kani Salad–a decadent dish topped with crab meat, julienne-style cucumbers, seaweed and mixed spicy mayo.

Diners can also choose from 18 different appetizers such as edamame, fried calamari and gyoza–Japanese pork dumplings served steamed or fried; although, the shrimp tempura still reigns supreme among most-ordered items. Straight from the sushi bar, the Yellowtail Jalapeño layers jalapeños drizzled in a Japanese dressing over thin slices of yellowtail and provides a symphony of flavor in every bite.

Those with a more eclectic palate will appreciate appetizers such as the Dragon Ball, which wraps spicy crab meat with sliced avocado and is served alongside eel sauce, spicy mayo and crunch. Everyone will find something they love on the menu–picky eaters, especially, will love all of the poke bowl customizations.

Poke bowls are all served with the customer’s choice of sushi rich or spring mix and are accompanied with avocado, pineapple, edamame, jalapeño corn, seaweed salad, masago, poke sauce and yummy sauce. The Seafood Lover Poke Bowl, which features tuna, salmon, yellowtail, crabmeat and shrimp, is a delicious, hearty option rich in protein.

“I’m a purist, and I love just the natural flavor of the fish,” Peter says. “We never use frozen salmon, and our tuna sashimi and our tuna sushi nigiri are just fantastic because of the natural taste of the fish.”

The Huang family believes the key to any good restaurant is creating authentic flavor profiles, utilizing only the freshest ingredients possible. Although Umi has been open less than a year, its popularity has skyrocketed as customers have traveled great lengths just to sample its mouthwatering cuisine.

GengSheng and Bao Qing’s reputation precedes them in Birmingham as most locals have long loved dining at their establishments over the past two decades. However, it has not always been this way.

Bao Qing first immigrated to the United States from China in 1996. Not knowing a lick of English, she began working at her sister’s restaurant in New Jersey, learning the ins and outs of running a business.

GengSheng and Peter later followed in 2001.

After a family friend encouraged them to open a Chinese restaurant in Birmingham, the Huangs flew south for a new business venture–one in what was then a virtually untapped market.

“On a whim, we came down here for a visit, and we just fell in love with Hoover,” Peter says. “Before [what] Hoover is today, there was no Patton Creek. There wasn’t even a Target at the time. It was the perfect time to come here to jump in when Hoover was about to explode and grow.”

After opening day, business became all-hands-on-deck. At the time, the Galleria was only closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day, so GengSheng and Bao Qing labored 362 days a year, working to achieve their American Dream–a better life for their son.

Peter remembers watching his mom and dad never rest, clocking hours a day just to accomplish their goals. Their dawn-till-dusk work ethic, he says, instilled in him the discipline of perseverance and ability to overcome adversity.

“It really helped me to understand the price that you have to pay to build your American dream,” he says.

It was not long before Peter began working at the family business on the weekends, cleaning, taking orders–anything his parents thought could teach him the value of manual labor.

“I learned English the Chinese way, which is by starving,” Peter says, chuckling.

Joking that he is a very “food-motivated” individual, he recalls first learning the language during one of his first summers in the U.S. Every day, he was tasked with memorizing 10 new words from the dictionary.

Every night when his parents came home from work, they would quiz him, and if he got even one word’s pronunciation or definition wrong, he would have to skip dinner–or at least just dessert.

“It sounds bad, but it’s not that bad,” he says, later adding, “on the weekends, on Saturdays and Sundays, I would go work at the restaurant, and I would take the words I learned and try to put it into a sentence and practice it, talking to customers. That’s the only way that you can learn by actually practicing and using it in a conversation. Monday through Friday, I was learning these words. Saturday and Sunday, I practiced it in the restaurant with real people.”

By the end of that summer, Peter learned more than 2,500 English words. He could read, write and speak English fluently in less than a year.

“I appreciate my parents so much for putting me through that because it made me who I am today,” he says, smiling.

Navigating the language barrier was not the only hardship the Huangs faced, however. Within a year of opening Bistro & Grill, Bao Qing was diagnosed with cancer.

A medical translator, Lily Huang–who has no relation to Peter’s family–met Bao Qing and helped her understand what was happening at the time. She coached her through having to have emergency surgery, and later, navigating a lengthy recovery process.

With GengSheng being the only family member able to work, he had to run the restaurant to keep the family afloat financially, leaving Bao Qing to face her health crisis alone. Once Lily found out, she offered to drive Bao Qing to and from her doctor’s appointments, always eager to help out whenever needed.

“One day, we were walking out of the hospital, and my mom asked, ‘You know, Mrs. Huang, why are you helping me?’” Peter says. “‘You’re a volunteer.’ Mrs. Huang told my mom, ‘I’m a Christian, and this is the way that God has told me to go out and show the love of Jesus.’”

Lily’s words touched Bao Qing so much that she started attending Lily’s church, later coming to know the Lord and getting baptized. She then started bringing Peter who got saved, and afterwards, GengSheng as well.

Now, the whole family has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and relies heavily on their faith each day. Peter says they all have cancer and Lily Huang to thank.

“The thing that I admire about my parents is through all of the negatives, they try to stay focused on the positives because they understand that when you come to this country, you’re going to face hard times,” he says. “But, if you’re willing to pay those prices, if you’re willing to tough it out and stick to it, you can and you will build your American dream.”

Twenty-three years after opening their first restaurant, GengSheng and Bao Qing still have a joyous appetite for the lives they are leading. They love serving those who helped transform their simple immigrant family’s dream into a reality.

Above all, they love that the Lord led them to Hoover–the birthplace of new beginnings for dreamers willing to walk by faith and work hard.

Umi Sushi Poke is located at 2539 John Hawkins Parkway, Suite 141, in Hoover. It is open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. and 5-9 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. and 5-10 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 9 p.m. For more information, click here.