Ro-Zu

My hand-​roll pic is posted too!
Ro-​zu scored great early reviews thanks to the culinary wonders of their former chef, who since departed the restaurant. Despite the changes, my dinner last night was once again a grand meal.
And that is because of one thing: Owner Ralph Pecca’s fierce dedication to serve amazingly fresh product. Oh yeah, and another reason: Ralph’s culinary knowledge enabling him to pick great chefs.
The daily deliveries will melt in your mouth. I’ve eaten sushi all over the world and speculate (by taste) that many places in Philly freeze, or over-​refrigerate, fish, usually their tuna. You will NEVER have that problem here.
Chef Tim Nguyen (formerly of Hikaru years ago and several other restaurants) continues to wow my taste buds. Last night, it was Fluke belly to start. Then, Kumamoto oysters were gently flavored with ponzu and so luscious that I ordered a second round. But the show-​stealer was Chef Tim adding a masterful touch of Vietnamese influence to my yellow tail hand-​roll (see picture) with shredded vegetables and egg.
If you live anywhere in the area of 7^th and Bainbridge, Ro-​zu is the perfect neighborhood spot to reward yourself with a gorgeous meal. Especially if you’re a college student or on a budget (and who isn’t these days) and want to Bring Your Own, while enjoying a top-​notch meal. Or maybe even on a second date, when you actually want to HEAR your companion. lol
A decent bottle of Momokawa Junmai Ginjo Sake (various flavors) can be had at most state stores in PA for $ 11 – 12.99.
However, being a small BYO has its drawbacks when trying to attract servers who can handle the ebb-​and-​flow of a new restaurant. So be patient. Bring a book. Study. Watch the Phillies game on the flat screen. Enjoy the conversation with neighbors and locals.
The space has gorgeous floor-​to-​ceiling windows and exposed brick on the inside, but has great outdoor seating on a wide sidewalk. What a better way to spend a late summer or early fall night then with a bottle of sake and amazing fish?
Opinions on sushi in this city vary in wild directions. Sometimes I wonder if the food critics and blogosphere forget the traditional Japanese roots of raw fish. I’m not easily distracted by jalapenos on my sushi. And if I want pan Asian-​fusion, then there is one very pricey, but excellent, Iron Chef who I can visit a few blocks away that still rules that school.
Otherwise, why wouldn’t you eat at Ro-​zu if you love sashimi? See you there!

Rozu came highly recommended from a friend who ate there recently. It definitely delivered. The fish was unbelievably fresh: maguro that was very tender and melted away, uni that tasted like it was just harvested out of the ocean, and a very tasty baked crab roll with whole lump crab meat. The staff was eager and attentive, but not overbearing and allowed you to enjoy your meal. It’s great to add another great sushi restaurant that is both quietly unassuming and serves simple fish that speaks for itself.

We have wanted to try Ro Zu for a while now, mostly due to the large amounts of praise for the previous chef, Todd Dae Kulper. After weeks of messages saying they were closed for an «emergency», we finally learned the true reason for the short closure; the departure of Chef Todd (Ro Zu owner, Ralph Pecca, informed us that Todd had returned to Hawaii to be with his newly pregnant wife). While we were at first a bit skeptical to try the restaurant with new chef Hung Pham, from the top West Chester sushi spot, Kooma’s, we left our meal extremely satisfied.
First, and most importantly, the fish quality is at the very top. Fish is brought in fresh daily from a Japanese purveyor in NYC, and Ralph told us that he does not even allow a freezer in his restaurant to make sure nothing is frozen and everything is fresh. For sushi and sashimi, we tried out the salmon, tuna, yellowtail, scallop, giant clam, and sweet shrimp, all of which were fantastic (I ordered uni as well, but was promptly informed there was none left). The rolls were a nice departure from the typical crunchy-​spicy-​tempura fashionable monster roll creations we see today. All combinations were extremely well thought out and not over sauced, highlighting the different fish perfectly. We tried three different rolls off of the normal menu, but we look forward to returning to try some of their «specialty» rolls. Ralph, the owner, was also very accommodating, making sure to make the rounds and talk to us for a while, which is always an added plus to any dining experience. The baked crab roll was a delicious treat… plus great hand rolls, w/​perfectly crisped seaweed!
My only criticism would be of the wait staff (which is totally understandable at this point given how new the restaurant is). Maybe it was because the restaurant was on a slow night and the waitress had nothing else to do, but she kept checking back with us (three times total) while we were looking at the menu, wondering if we were ready to order, to the point that it became slightly intrusive. Also, at one point, we had two different waitresses bringing out orders or taking away plates, which only served to confuse our initial waitress.
We have been to most of the usual sushi joints in the city and suburbs, and this ranks right at the top in terms of quality (it is between here, Umai Umai, and Bluefin in Plymouth Meeting for the top three, in my opinion). Don’t let the chef change scare you, if you are on a quest to find the top sushi spot in the Philadelphia area, Ro Zu definitely needs to be on your list as a restaurant to check out. Can’t wait to go back!

My friend Chris took me to Ro-​Zu last night and it was my first Japanese meal I had since I returned from the hospital. The last time I was here Chef Todd Dae Kulper was at the helm. He was recently replaced by a new young talent, Chef Hung Pham formerly of Kooma. We ordered the omakase, a special meal you had to make reservations for. The first problem I noticed was the omakase meal was printed on a menu page for us to see. That’s a no-​no! The whole point of an omakase is the chef is supposed to surprise you with dishes based on your likes and dietary restrictions. Suppose I had an allergy to a particular item? The new «no subsitutions» policy wouldn’t account for that! The second problem was the price increased from $ 50 to $ 65. «We can do a $ 50 omakase,» the owner said, «but we’ll have to give you less of this and less of that.» We agreed. Chef Pham’s omakase was very good, but it was eclipsed by Chef Todd’s version in which he just spoiled me the last time I was there. Our first course was a delightful Japanese oyster soaked in ponzu sauce. Our second course was a large salad with vinaigrette dressing and sea bass sashimi, perhaps the weakest course, but the most filling. Our third course was sliced live scallops dusted with sea salt and accompanied with strawberries, cucumbers, and a strawberry wasabi dressing that was both sweet and spicy. I found this dish to be unique, intriguing, and thoroughly enjoyable. Our fourth course was sushi and sashimi. O-​toro tuna, yellowtail, salmon, and fresh eel sushi and salmon and mackerel sashimi were the offerings. I enjoyed all of it. The last course was an enjoyable soup with a mix of shrimp, clams, and sea bass soaked in a clear broth containing Shitake mushrooms and sake. I wish Chef Pham would’ve asked me for my likes, because I would’ve mentioned my love for sea urchin. Chef Todd’s sea urchin sushi was totally incredible and his fish tail soup was to die for. Chef Pham was a little heavyhanded with the sauce on his eel sushi. Chef Todd’s version allowed you to taste the quality of the freshly sliced eel. I’ll have to knock my rating of Ro-​Zu down to three stars out of five, which is not a bad rating at all. Ro-​Zu is still the place to beat for quality sushi in this area and a fine alternative to Morimoto.

very good quality. we went on a tuesday night and they were out of a few things but so be it. rather them be out of items than get served «not so fresh» sushi. the rolls are great and the sashimi was very reasonably priced. small little place in neighborhood for a good and affordable meal.

We weren’t quite sure what to expect after the new opening and the new chef. We’d try to go to Ro-​zu before their closing and chef issue, but were unsuccessful.
We started with the edamame with truffle salt. . in which I failed to find the truffle. I was a bit worried after the edamame, but my worry quickly dissipated. I also have to note that they did not chill my wine. .. but I’ll deem this as an opening kink that still need to be worked out.
I ordered the Sushi and Sashimi dinner. I thought it was excellent. It comes with a salad. .. that I could have done without. My sushi, however, was great. Upon seeing that I had 3 more pieces on my plate and asking if I was finished, I casually joked that I wished I only had the eel left. The eel was eelxcellent (sorry, couldn’t resist)!!! The owner quickly had the chef make me another piece of eel. .. that sealed the deal for me (pardon the rhyme.)
Overall, the sushi and sashimi were both great. The appetizers and salad, I could have gone without them. Will I be back. .. yes, especially if there’s eel involved.

We went to Ro-​Zu (yes, a play on the name «Rose» — we asked) last night and sat at the sushi bar — always a must at a sushi restaurant, in my book. The meal was memorable. Todd, the chef, entertained us the entire time — answering our questions despite being very busy and feeding us with incredibly fresh fish despite the myth of never getting fresh fish on a Sunday!
We both ordered the Omakase #3, were steered away from the top price by the chef since he had run out of the ingredients for #4. In total, 8 courses in 4 hours. I’m glad we brought a couple bottles to drink! We loved the entire aspect of the meal so the length of it didn’t faze us at all. For advice: if you’re pressed for time, order off the menu. The other diners (they were surprisingly busy on a Sunday night) received their meals in a timely manner, and everything looked delicious.
Yes, it was on the pricey side, but for the freshest sushi in the city — it was completely worth it. Especially since it’s a BYO and you decide how much to spend on drinks.

I was excited when I saw that a new sushi restaurant was opening right near my house. I was even more excited when I tasted the food. The sushi and sashimi are ultra fresh and tasty, and Todd (the sushi chef) uses creative flair. I definitely like sitting at the bar — partly because Todd makes the meal more fun and partly because the table service stinks. I look forward to upgrading my stars from four to five when the service improves. because the sushi rocks.

We had heard from an acquaintance that RO-​ZU, a new Japanese arrival to the BYOB scene at 7^th & Bainbridge, was serving up some excellent product. That recommendation, combined with some positive press convinced us to try the omakase, fixed-​price meal where Chef Todd Dae Kulper serves up a series of dishes based on your interests — all you have to do is select the price-​point that you’d like to pay per-​person, have a seat at the bar, sit back & enjoy.
We went on a Saturday with some last minute reservations being made after I’d read that you should call ahead for the omakase. RO-​ZU was busy but not packed when we arrived at 9PM to take our place at the bar.
We selected a modest $ 50 per person omakase, but you could go to $ 65 or splash out with the lux $ 80 — I think that’s where the really wild stuff starts to come into play and the chef let us know that if we called a few days ahead to reserve the $ 80 tasting, they would have some really stunning product ready for your dinner. Each diner receives identical dishes throughout the service. Chef Todd also mentioned that the omakase never repeats if he can help it and every time you come back, he’ll take you a little further into his repertoire.
PHOTOS OF THIS APPEAR ABOVE
Chef Todd first performed a quick interview to find out our likes and dislikes and then set to work deftly shucking two tiny oysters… Kumamoto I believe. Wrapped in a thin blanket of big-​eye tuna, topped with a micro-​dice of jalapeño and resting in a small dribble of a tangy sauce (ponzu?), the amuse was a great palette opener, with the fresh oyster’s hint of salinity livening up the tuna.
Next up was a dish of Scottish salmon, dressed with tomato & sea salt and served with a citrus-​splashed salad of tomato & red onion. The salmon was succulent… you can see the banana leaf garnish showing through the translucent flesh. This was my wife’s favorite dish, mostly due to the quality of the salmon and the clean flavors of the tomato.
Enjoyed the ‘Hot Tuna’ dish, a serving of yellowfin tuna topped with a hot pepper ring and garnished with fried garlic & shallot. Chef Todd fired up the blowtorch to superheat a bowl of oil that was then drizzled over the fish, releasing the heat locked in those pepper rings and lightly searing the fish. Combined with the rich sesame oil and fried garlic & shallot crisps, the heat from the pepper was pleasant and not overpowering, with the tuna itself being a good texture and quality.
The big-​eye tuna was served with a daikon slaw and a dice of sweet onions. The only thing THIS dish was missing was a slice of bread to sop-​up the sauce… wait, wrong cuisine! The sauce was king on this dish, a butter & yuzu combination that had been bubbling away on the one tiny burner behind the bar. It amped up the play of the deep flavors from the last dish, building a great progression from light, clean flavors to the deep and complex.
We reached the end of the progression with grilled eel & asparagus, served over a sweet sauce. This was one of the dishes that I had been looking forward to after reading the review from the Inquirer — the article had made mention of how the sauces were all house-​made in small batches with one in particular being made from roasted eel bones. The switch from cool fish & warm sauce to cool sauce & warm fish was a clever switch-​up as well… the pleasant smell of the eel searing under the burner of a tiny oven behind the counter replaced the smell of butter & ponzu hovering around the bar.
We thought we were finished and much to our surprise we were greeted with a huge plate of nigiri.
Chef Todd had overheard us talking about the contents of the ‘fish locker’ at the bar, pointing out the Spanish mackerel fillet in particular, and had decided to set us up witha nice progression containing 4 different types of mackerel.
We finished the omakase over a warm bowl of smoky Shiitake soup. I was taken back by the flavor and asked if there was a type of tea that gave it such a strong ‘campfire’ flavor. The punch of smokiness came from a type of cured fish flake that is heavily smoked and then shaved. It sounded like a type of bonito but this was the strongest I had ever sampled… not so strong that it was unpleasant though.
I’d definitely recommend making your reservations for the bar if, like us, you’re new to the cuisine and are interested in the preparation & thought behind these cooking with these ingredients, as the chefs were very friendly and worked the meal around your interests. Being a new business I hope that they do well… they do a lunch service too that sounds good.
See pics of this on my blogpost

We found Ro-​Zu accidentally walking back from Queen Village on Bainbridge. We were just going to stop in for a roll, but once we tasted one of the sashimi dishes, we ended up staying for dinner and making reservations for the next weekend for the omakase. The bottom line is that this place is doing things with raw fish that nobody else in Philly is doing. I can’t even say it’s «the best sushi in Philly» because there’s no comparison. There’s the usual sushi, side of wasabi and pickled ginger, small plastic fake grass thingy, and then there is this completely ridiculously good place that is called Ro-​Zu. The chef, Todd, creates amazing and somehow perfectly different subtle flavors for every dish. Soy sauce and wasabi would kill it. It’s BYOB. It’s small, maybe six tables and a sushi bar. Omakase? I can’t even get into it. The whole meal was designed perfectly, and everything was paced in a way that made for one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Okay, I’m done. For someone who’s better with words about food, read this:

This is one of those times when I reallly want to give 3 and ½ stars! Darn it, Unilocal!
Ro-​Zu is a sushi aficionado’s wet dream. This is the freshet sushi-​grade fish I have ever tasted in my life. And freshness doesn’t come cheap, folks! Don’t expect tempura-​anything and a bunch of American-​sounding rolls. The menu is small and the omakase is its star. This is *not* the place to get together with a group of friends or go for a quick bite. Think romantic dinner (don’t forget BYOB) or a long business lunch.
Service was beyond slow, even though we were the ONLY people in the restaurant at the time. I was extremely put off by the boss/​owner/​head chef (?) guy. He was conducting business right in front of us, talking on the phone, and even schooling the the server for later that night. I’ve worked in the food industry – there’s a reason you have your staff come before the place is open to guests. He came off as arrogant and elitist, and it’s much too early in his restaurateur days for that.
Anyway, like I said, best fish I’ve ever had. If you like sushi, have a rich friend/​parent/​etc. and can deal with pretentiousness, definitely give it a shot!

I have been here three times, and the food is really top notch. I especially love the fruit de mar and crab temaki rolls. The salmon and tuna specialties are delicious as well. Contrary to another review, I think that the food is well-​priced and a pretty good value.
My only complaint about the restaurant is that there is a little bit of a disconnect between the quality of the food and the ambiance and service. For instance, the sushi bar, which is the centerpiece of the restaurant, is a cheap fomica finish. It is a shame to serve such beautiful sushi on a kind of junky sushi bar. I agree with some of the other posters that the service is a bit amateurish, but they are trying hard even if it could be a bit more polished.
Overall, I think the food is delicious and reasonably priced. It is a wonderful addition to the neighborhood, and I definitely see myself putting Ro-​Zu in my regular rotation.

Went last night and really enjoyed the experience. Place is simple yet, clean, no frills. Wait staff could be a bit more knowledgable, albeit a minor complaint as she was especially nice and appeared excited to be working there. Got the high end sample plate which came with two types of tuna, clam, scallop, eel, salmon, and a couple more I cannot remember. Also came with some sashimi that was excellent as well. Next we got a standard California Roll, which was nice. A Fruit de Mar roll, a nice take on the Italian namesake –four fish in one roll. Finally we ended up with the «God of Fire» roll with habanero included. All in all a very good meal without breaking the bank. I would put this place in line with the other high end places in the city in terms of taste for sure, cost no way. We would go back for the Omakase to try it as well, there were 4 different levels of the dinner 35, 50, 65, and 80 dollars I believe. We watched as the chef came out and told diners what each individual fish and preparation was, even teasing them with a «secret» ingredient in one dish, a nice touch. Others should definately try it for themselves, but I definately enjoyed it and will go back.

Inexplicably, inexcusably bad.
Six of us went for the $ 50 omakase a couple of weekends ago. It was literally the worst restaurant experience any of us had had in the past several years. Granted, they are still probably working out the kinks, and I will probably go back for a second try, but on this visit:
–the waitress had limited knowledge of the menu and ingredients;
–the portions were paltry;
–the ingredients were mismatched and spices/​seasonings overwhelming (soup that was almost all saffron, a sushi dish floating in soy sauce, etc.);
–we actually overheard the group next to us negotiate a lower price for themselves for their meal (the $ 50 tasting menu was served for $ 35 per person), yet we were not offered any explanation or apology;
–we were generally creeped out by the place.
I wish them well but recommend you take your sushi dollars to one of the many other, much better options in the neighborhood.

The sushi and sashimi were excellent, with extremely fresh high-​quality fish. Todd, the chef, has also put together a lot of creative looking rolls, and the ambiance is great, with lots of natural light.
My wife and I didn’t realize you have to order ahead for the omakase tasting menu, so I’ll have to update after we go back next time. Highly recommended.

Went last night with three friends. Also had the omakase menu. This is going to be the place to eat sushi in philadelphia. The food is superb. The service fantastic and the warmth of the owner and staff make this one of the best newcomers. We will be back.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Japanese food, so when I heard about Ro-​Zu finally opening, I was eager to rush over and try it out. I was not disappointed.
My boyfriend and I each ordered one of the higher end omakase (tasting) menus; honestly, neither of us has ever had fresher, higher quality sushi. This blew the omakase at Morimoto out of the water.
The sushi chef, Todd, must be made of magic, and the care he took in preparing each item was evident. The lobster sashimi was AMAZING, and I’ve never had better tasting eel. My boyfriend was in love with the house cured salmon, which was also excellent.
If you love Japanese food, be prepared to be impressed.

Wanted to try this place after being taunted for several weeks as I walked passed the closed doors. The sashimi was fresh and delicious. The selection was limited but interesting. The scallop was delicious and different. The maki roll was also delicious. Overall a very pleasant surprise for only being open one week. A welcome addition to the neighborhood.