Five new Japanese restaurants to watch in Philadelphia

Amid Philadelphia’s recent restaurant boom is an intriguing collection of new Japanese restaurants.

Two veteran sushi chefs are in their second week at Nakama Japanese Cuisine, near the Convention Center. A nightlife concept from New York, called Newsroom Philly, is about to open in Northern Liberties, and a Philadelphia sushi chef is planning to debut Kissho House soon in a Rittenhouse brownstone. This summer should see Jesse Ito and Justin Bacharach’s long-awaited Dancerobot, also in Rittenhouse, while a branch of Uchi — an award-winning restaurant chain from Texas — is being teed up a block away for fall.

“Nakama” means friends, and chef Mitsutaka Harada and Haris Yohanes — longtime buddies and coworkers previously at the now-shuttered Sushi by Bou/Sushi Suite locations — are posted up at their modest new BYOB across from the Criminal Justice Center. It’s the former Kabuki.

» READ MORE: The handroll craze reaches Philly

Harada, an alum of Zama in Rittenhouse who picked up acclaim at Sushi Hatsu in Ambler, is front and center working the sushi counter, which seats six but can expand to 10. Yohanes handles the kitchen, putting out his specialty — ramen — as well as such items like robatayaki, which includes the usual chicken, beef, pork belly, shrimp, and vegetables, as well as a platter of grilled giant squid.

Since he’s a bit of a showman, Harada recommends sitting for the omakase, available by reservation (seatings at 5, 6:30, and 8 p.m.). For $125, he dishes 17 courses over 80 minutes — a parade of nigiri, sashimi, handrolls, and a surprise or two, like the nanban of fried fish and vegetables in a sweet soy vinaigrette, which is sort of like Japanese escabeche.

Dessert, such as green tea tiramisu and sweet potato cheesecake, is included.

Nakama Japanese Cuisine & Omakase, 45 N. 13th St. Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday to Friday (lunch) and 5 to 9:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, and 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday (dinner). Closed Sunday.

There’s a Diet 7-Up vending machine on the sidewalk outside of the Beverly building, across from the Piazza in Northern Liberties, offering soda cans for 65 cents. That should be the tip-off that this is not pop but a prop: It’s the front door of the Newsroom Philly, an offshoot of a speakeasy-ish restaurant in Queens, N.Y., from Rose Hospitality. It opens June 12.

» READ MORE: 12 omakases in the Philly area

Head down a dark hall and head inside to a dim, date-night-style dining room with table lighting, green banquettes, and hand-painted murals of a geisha stretched across one wall and a glowing red Japanese sunset on another wall. Look closely, though: The murals are painted on a library of books that line the shelves.

It doesn’t look like any newsroom I’ve ever worked in, that’s for sure. But the books explain the name. “We don’t want people to feel like they’re coming to eat,” Rose co-owner Fabrice Laforest told me. “We want them to feel like they’re coming to make a story of their night.”

Part of the story will be the dinnertime entertainment: alternating performances by a jazz singer and an aerialist.

The New York Newsroom’s menu is Latin and Japanese. In Philadelphia, chef Nobuhiro Hamazaki — who goes by “Nobu” but is not that Nobu — will offer what they’re calling a Japanese fusion menu of small plates (gyoza, tiradito, popcorn shrimp with tobanjan mayo), rolls (including one with black cod, crab, avocado, and cucumber, wrapped in soy paper and dusted with Parmesan cheese), and four larger plates: whole fried branzino ($33), yakitori with fried rice ($29), grilled skewers (priced from $4 to $8 each), and miso-marinated churrasco steak ($34) that gets doused with 180-proof vodka and set ablaze at the table. Speaking of entertainment, they’re big on the presentations, whether it’s blowtorching or cheese-grating.

Cocktails, as you’d imagine, are heavy on the show aspect, as the bartenders have full use of dry ice and smoke.

Newsroom Philly, 1102 Germantown Ave. Opens June 12.

Zhengmao “Jeff” Chen, who worked at Hiroki in Fishtown and briefly in the izakaya at Royal Sushi in South Philadelphia, is in the final weeks of construction of his first restaurant, a conversion of a law office in a rowhouse across from Schlesinger’s Deli.

Based on a look-see last month, Chen is going for cozy on the street level, with a bar whose drink list will be 70% Japanese brands and seating near the bar as well as in a semiprivate room. Downstairs is the eight-seat sushi bar, where Chen will offer a $150 omakase with 18 or 19 courses.

Kissho House, 1522 Locust St. Due to open in late June.

Jesse Ito, the eight-times-nominated James Beard chef behind South Philly’s Royal Sushi & Izakaya, is joining his longtime right-hand man, Justin Bacharach, and business partners Stephen Simons and David Frank in Rittenhouse for what they’re calling a high-energy izakaya.

As he moves into ownership, Bacharach will also be executive chef of Dancerobot, in the former Foodery at 1710 Sansom St., allowing Ito to remain at his sushi counter.

Ito said Dancerobot will focus on modern Japanese comfort food such as teishoku for brunch, katsu curry, mentaiko pasta, and a hot dog served on a house-baked milk bun, as well as Japanese takes on classic American dishes, such as a riff on roast beef in which they marinate wagyu in koji and serve it with shallot dash gravy, rosemary, and miso mashed potatoes.

In the meantime, they’re dribbling photos on Instagram.

Dancerobot, 1710 Sansom St. Due to open in late summer.

Uchi, a high-style, fine-dining Japanese restaurant from Austin, Texas-based James Beard Award-winning chef Tyson Cole, is under construction on the ground floor of the Josephine high-rise at 1620 Sansom St. Philadelphia’s Rohe Creative is assisting on the 165-seater, including 24 shared between the bar and sushi bar.

Uchi, 1620 Locust St. Due to open in late 2025.