Tim Liu, the man behind Mikado Sushi in Metrowest and Boku Sushi in Maitland, spared no expense in bringing Oza Izakaya to life. Two cumulative years spent traveling to 26 factories in 22 cities in China, Japan and Vietnam in search of artisans to construct Oza’s customized furnishings and wares (stem, flat and plate) paid off, right down to the koi-shaped chopstick rests.
You’ll coo over Oza’s AD-worthy Zen garden and dreamy outdoor seating area with bar, then stop to stare at the two butterfly koi fixtures dramatically suspended above the inside entrance. It’s a moody space inspired by sunsets over Mount Fuji — so bright it’s not (apart from the lustrous sushi bar bathed in striking hinoki wood). The Fuji motif plays throughout, but there’s an inconsonance to it all — brown channel-leather booths, flourishes of rattan, Hans Wegner-style round chairs, sleek contemporary bar … moss.
Yes, more is sometimes less when it comes to design, though seldom when it comes to food.
Binchotan-licked beef tongue ($16) seared on a custom grill and yakitori of chicken skin ($9), chicken meatball ($14) and chicken oyster ($11) got us stoked to sample, you guessed it, more. And more was certainly crammed atop uni toast ($22), a two-bite indulgence with spot prawns, toro tartare, nori puree, trout caviar and sea urchin from Hokkaido. The two pieces looked pretty served on a flowered green napkin set atop white river rock in a clear Plexiglas tray.
The iced platter holding a quartet of Shigoku oysters ($14) dressed with apple cubes, soy-marinated wasabi, trout caviar and white ponzu was just as attractive. Even more appealing was the price. Only we were told these oysters were from Japan. The menu we scanned on our phones said so, too. But Shigokus are actually from Washington State, not Japan.
What is from Japan: many of the cuts in the premium sashimi set ($76), another stunner served with a cruet of smoking liquid nitrogen. Please don’t pour that non-potable onto the fish or, worse, drink out of the cute little decanter. Just chew on the lovely slivers of goldeneye snapper, young sea bream, knifejaw and fluke in between sips of sake (this is an izakaya, after all). Then move on to lush cuts of akami, toro and Oro King salmon. Fresh wasabi is served with the set, though we had to remind our server to bring it, as well as dishes for soy sauce. Other small quibbles — chopstick rests never materialized, nor did those just-add-water towel tablets, which I’d expect at a nice restaurant like this. It didn’t stop us from popping kinki nigiri ($28), the channel rockfish that gets its delectable flavor from a diet of shrimp, with our digits.
Back to the sushi bar for a moment: It struck me how deep it was, and how difficult it would be for sushi chefs to reach over it to serve those seated at the bar, especially if omakases are ever offered at Oza. A form-over-function sensibility may also have seeped into the Kyoto paitan ($17). The ramen’s components — onsen egg, black garlic, corn, fermented bamboo shoots and superb grilled chicken — all looked the part. But unlike the sushi bar, the 18-hour chicken broth lacked depth; specifically, that umami-filled chickeny-ness that gives the soup its comforting feel.
Getting a pastry chef on board would also serve Oza well — if anything, the beautiful dessert plates seem deserving of one. That said, the yuzu cheesecake ($11) with Maldon salt and strawberry coulis proved satisfying enough. Which is how we felt when exiting the restaurant — content, but not necessarily on a high. We glanced back at the dining room, took note of the circle of frosted glass painted with Mount Fuji, and rode off into the sunset.
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This article appears in Dec 18-24, 2024.
