12-Course Omakase at Uroko Austin
Omakase in Japanese means “I will leave it to you” and that’s exactly what this dining experience entailed. There are several different Omakase meals in Austin, ranging widely in price where the chef determines which pieces to serve you and completely takes over your dinner.
“Uroko offers a casual counter-service hand roll bar, sushi classes, and 45-minute sushi omakase.”
Uroko
We visited Uroko in June, a little over a month since they officially opened their doors and I was thoroughly impressed. Being my first experience having an omakase meal, I did not know what to expect. Uroko is a collaboration between Komé’s owners and one of Uchi’s veteran chefs, Masazumi Saio so I definitely had high hopes.
Uroko offers a casual counter-service hand roll bar, sushi classes, and 45-minute sushi omakase. In order to make reservations for the classes and omakase, you’ll visit their website to do so. The sushi class is limited to 6 people, lasts about 90 minutes, costs $75 per person, and you get to eat the food you make! Regarding the Omakase, it’s only available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, for parties of 2 to 6 people and costs $65. Also, Uroko offers a VEGAN Omakase, twice a month!
We pulled into the Springdale General parking lot and just a heads up, Uroko is hard to find from the parking lot but it’s inside of Building 1. We walked inside and the first thing you can see is the quaint, modern restaurant that has a bar with only six spots along with other side seating. For our omakase, the waitress had set up name tags for each diner.
We were offered a menu with beverages like green tea, sake, local Infinite Monkey wine, and yuzu sake slushee they had made at the restaurant. The dinner started promptly at our reservation time even though two of the diners had not shown up yet. The chef explained to us that he would be serving us nigiri, pieces of fish on top of sticky white rice, explaining how he prepared each piece and where it was from.
Dinner
Madai
The omakase started with a piece of Madai, which is a flaky, delicious snapper topped with lemon zest and oil.
Sake
Next was Sake, which is salmon belly topped with lemon ginger and sweet miso and this piece was one of my absolute favorites of the night, it was sweet and very flavorful.
Hamachi
We had Hamachi (yellowtail) after that with pickled wasabi and butter which had a mild fish taste but very buttery in texture and flavor.
Tako
Something I did not look forward to was the Tako (octopus) because octopi are my favorite animals and are incredibly wise so I don’t like to eat them. However, in this omakase experience, you can let them know about dietary restrictions beforehand but there is definitely pressure to eat what the chef has made for you, so I ate it. The octopus was chewier in texture versus the fish pieces but had a mild flavor.
Hotate
Next was the Hotate (scallop) that the chef smoked with cherrywood right in front of us, which was a very interactive portion of the dinner. Along with the smoked flavors, the chef topped with a yuzu kosho which is made from chili peppers and fermented with yuzu juice. The scallop was slightly smoked, so the raw texture was very daunting and off-putting.
Saba
The Saba (mackerel) was cured with kombu and then topped with a slice of ginger and scallions. It had a bold fish taste but very buttery in texture.
Tanin Bune
Speaking of off-putting texture again, we had Tanin Bune after the scallop and this was Santa Barbara uni (sea urchin gonads) and ikura (salmon caviar) topped with sea salt. The piece was very large and the uni felt kind of like a tongue, it was tough to get through to be perfectly honest.
Maguro
However, after that tough piece came a delightful piece of Maguro (bluefin tuna) that was so incredibly fresh tasting topped with small diced Japanese style pickled jalapeños which was easily the best piece of bluefin I’ve ever tried.
Toro
Next came Toro, which is usually hard to find at local sushi spots, so it was quite a treat to enjoy this fatty tuna topped with soy sauce and wasabi that melted in my mouth, like soft butter.
Botan Ebi
In between the nigiri pieces, we tried Botan Ebi for the first time which was a pandalid shrimp where the chef removed the meat and deep-fried the shell. The nigiri was delightfully topped with a clear jelly and roe while the fried shell was described as fried bacon of the sea. My fiancé really enjoyed the crispy shell but the shells got stuck in my teeth so I didn’t enjoy them as much.
Anago
The last piece of fish was Anago, saltwater eel that was prepared with orange juice, ginger, and salt which was very delicious.
Tomago
The very last piece was Tomago (egg) which was wrapped with a strip of nori seaweed and brilliantly stamped with Uroko’s logo.
Botan Ebi - Deep Fried
Botan Ebi with Clear Jelly & Roe
Tomago wrapped with nori seaweed
Conclusion
Everyone should experience an omakase in their life. It was so much fun to dine intimately, talk with the chef, and enjoy the dishes he picked for us. An experience like this would be something that I might enjoy once every couple of years, it’s a pricey dinner and you’re not making the decisions for the meal but I learned a lot from this omakase. Going to a Japanese restaurant, enjoying sushi rolls with so many different types of sauces on and in them is incredibly different from eating these pieces of fish that have ever so slightly been modified or dressed and the flavors are still so bold!
Thanks for having us Uroko!
Cheers!
Uroko
1023 Springdale Rd Bldg 1 Suite C
Austin, TX 78721
HOURS :
-Temaki (Handrolls)-
Mon-Wed: 11am - 9pm
Thu-Sat: 11am - 4pm
-Sushi Class--
Thursdays: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
*reservation only
-Omakase-
Fridays & Saturdays: 6pm - 10pm
Sundays: 5pm - 10pm
*reservation only