Oroshi Sushi Omakase opened on Broad Street last month, with startlingly low prices for the elegant format, where chefs slice fish and gently coax rice into nigiri, one piece at a time. Each nigiri constitutes one course in omakase dining.
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Oroshi, which means “grated” in Japanese, serves omakases at dinner service at $68 for 15 courses, and lunch, for $48 and 10 courses (prices throughout this article are not inclusive of tax and tip). Dinner takes precisely 90 minutes and lunch takes 60 minutes.
The numbers are shockingly low even compared with other affordable omakases in town. Kichi in Washington Square West serves a tightly timed 15-course “zoomakase” which starts at $95 and Kissho House’s 18-course omakase, which costs $150.
Omakase deals can also be had at Uchi, whose happy hour omakase (served between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. daily) costs $60 for nine courses. Oroshi’s omakase is even cheaper than the one at Yuhiro in Fishtown, which costs $78 per person and also takes 90 minutes to serve 15 courses. Most sushi restaurants in Oroshi’s price range focus on rolls and takeout, neither of which is available there.
Yuhiro is also where Oroshi general manager Jahang Zhang, 29, met chef Leo Liu, 27. Together, they run Oroshi, along with recently hired 27-year-old sushi chef Ming Lee (he also goes by Leo), who just moved to Philadelphia from New York City two weeks ago.
Oroshi is funded by a private investor, who was also once a sushi chef.
Liu, whose father was also a sushi chef, most recently worked at Hiroki (where the omakase costs $195 before a mandatory 20% service charge). Both he and Zhang were determined to share the omakase format and make it more approachable.
“I have worked in sushi restaurants since I was a kid — since I was about 14 years old. My dream was to open a sushi restaurant,” said Zhang, who worked every position in family-owned sushi restaurants at places like Rayaki in Franklin Mills and Sushi Man in Huntingdon Valley before going to manage Yuhiro, where Liu was working as a sushi chef.
The “zoomakase” trend, where single pieces of nigiri are served at a rapid pace and at much lower prices than traditional omakases, has been pervasive in New York, especially on the Lower East Side. But here in Philly, it never really took off. Just like the hand roll or temaki trend overwhelmed New York, but exists only in pockets here.
Oroshi isn‘t skimping on ingredients to make their pricing work, flying in fresh fish and wagyu from Japan like the other omakase-focused restaurants in Philly.
On a recent night, the mist of gold glitter that Liu sprayed upon the otoro nigiri with caviar met with gasps of glee. (Indeed, there is caviar at Oroshi, though a very small amount.) Oroshi is also playful: a nigiri on their opening menu that they’ve since phased out consisted of premium Bakkafrost salmon from Scotland, topped with mayonnaise and a tiny square of Kraft American cheese that was torched multiple times.
At Oroshi, the lights are bright and the decor is spare. There are sake bottles and framed wagyu certifications behind the sushi bar. The former is just for decoration, as Oroshi is a BYOB. The latter is legitimate, indicative of the quality of their ingredients.
It’s not a place to linger, but they will allow for add-ons so you can repeat your favorite pieces of nigiri and these range between $7 to $14 per piece. Salmon, for instance, is $7. Otoro, or the most prized and fatty cut of tuna, is $14 a la carte. That same otoro nigiri add-on at Royal Sushi? $35.
Oroshi Sushi Omakase, 425 S Broad St., oroshisushiomakase.com. Hours: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
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