When we visited Osaka, we had dinner at Sushi Ohata (寿し おおはた), a fancy Edomae-sushi style restaurant in the Kita-Shinchi area. It is located on the second floor of a building with a simple entrance. The restaurant has only seven counter seats, so reservations are essential.
It takes about a 3-minute walk from Kita-Shinchi station, and you can also reach it from Umeda station. The restaurant is located at the back of the ANA Crown Plaza Hotel, with several popular sushi restaurants nearby.
They offer a single dinner course that costs 18,000 yen. We had made a reservation in advance, so we only needed to order our drinks. I chose Sou Homare (惣誉), a Japanese sake recommended by the chef. It had a sharp taste and was perfect as the first drink.
The meal started with tsumami (small dishes) before the sushi was served. The first dish was mozuku-su (もずく酢), a dish of mozuku seaweed in vinegar sauce with a clam on top. It had a refreshing taste and was delicious.
Although it was summer, we were lucky to be served firefly squid, a seafood typically associated with spring. The Marinated firefly squid (蛍烏賊) and clam (蛤) were both fantastic. The clam, in particular, was incredibly sweet—perhaps the best I’ve ever tasted.
By the way, this clam was from Chiba Prefecture, while many seafood items in Japan come from the Toyosu Market in Tokyo. It was surprising to have these fresh seafood dishes in Osaka all the way from Chiba!
One dish that truly surprised me was the beautiful Kawahagi sashimi (Filefish / カワハギ). It was served with green sprouts and violet shiso flowers. I dipped it into ponzu sauce with its innards, and it was absolutely delicious.
Their dishes exceeded my expectations, so I quickly finished my first sake and decided to have a second one. This time, I tried Kaiun Junmai Ginjo (開運 純米吟醸). They served me the remaining sake in the bottle, which was a bit more than the first serving. It had a slightly yellow hue and a sweeter flavor compared to Sou Homare.
Next came the grilled items. The aoyagi (yellow clam / 青柳) was flavorful, and the strong taste of both grilled items paired perfectly with the sake.
After the grilled dish, the chef started serving the sushi. The first piece was katsuo (bonito), which was not too fatty. With grated ginger added, it had a refreshing taste. The vinegared rice was firm and had a strong seasoning, which I really liked.
Next, we had Isaki (Grunt), also with grated ginger. It had a slightly sticky texture, and I enjoyed it very much.
And Sumiika (Golden cuttlefish), which I had expected to be crunchy but was a bit stickier in texture. It was delicious as well.
The chef described it as lean meat of tuna. However, it had a noticeable amount of fat, similar to toro (the fatty part).
Next, we had the fatty part of tuna (Toro), which was even more fatty, but surprisingly not greasy at all. It was absolutely delicious.
Kohada (Medium-sized gizzard shad)
Soup
Nodoguro (Blackthroat sea perch). This was lightly grilled. Despite being very fatty, it had a refreshing taste, thanks to the daikon radish accompanying it.
Sakura masu (Cherry salmon). This is a type of salmon caught in spring to early summer. The cherry salmon we had was rich in fat but still light, possibly because it was towards the end of the season.
Kuruma ebi (Kuruma prawn)
Torigai (Cockle). It was the peak season for torigai, and it was absolutely delicious.
The Uni (Sea urchin) was served in a small bowl with vinegared rice at the bottom. It was a sushi dish loaded with sea urchin, but I finished it quickly—leaving happiness that faded all too soon. 🙁
The boiled anago (conger eel) was incredibly soft and tender.
Tayagoyaki is Japanese omelette. This tamagoyaki was light and fluffy, almost like a soufflé.
LFor dessert, fresh melon was served.
Of course, the sushi was fantastic, but it was the tsumami (small dishes) that truly impressed me. I’m looking forward to returning in winter to try the soft roe.
About
Name Sushi Ohata (寿し おおはた)
Open Dinner
Credit card Unavailable
Reservation Required
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