Sunday November 11, 2001

By Vicki Stout
Staff Correspondent

Omikoshi offers dinner and a show, whether diners choose to sit around a grill for a freshly prepared meal or vie for a seat in the sushi bar, where chefs fashion fresh sushi to order.

Either the way, the surroundings in the new Thoroughbred area in Cool Springs are handsome and spotless. The independently owned restaurant is well designed - from the gardens greeting diners to the rich purple and warm gold walls within. The bar area is non-bar-like, with wooden tables lit by small arty cobalt shaded fixtures hanging from the ceiling.

Show Time
A total of 18 grill areas seat up to 10 each, allowing for quick service, minus a long wait to be seated. And from the moment diners take their place around the stainless grill, it's show time.

Our chef, Christian, a handsome Native American hailing from Wyoming, strode in and took command of the grill like a magician takes the stage. He begins with a toast and then races with sleight of hand, twirling and tossing utensils.

A substance is poured on the grill, ours in the shape of a heart, and presto, flames leap and dance. He inquires of steamed or fried rice. My advice: take the fried.

With my order for fried comes an egg, spun onto the center of the grill like a marble in a little boy's game. It spins and twirls and then is swiftly cut across its center with a razor-sharp cleaver.

Next comes the rice and vegetables all sautéed on the grill, then served to my plate. As a rule, I'm a small-town potato gal rather than a rice fan, but Omikoshi changed that with a flash of a spatula.

My daughter ordered teriyaki chicken and I chose hibachi scallops. Christian brought out fresh mushrooms, broccoli and onions. A large onion was quickly sliced into rounds, then stacked to look like the Michelin tire boy. Into its center goes a clear liquid and kazaam, it lights and spews flames as Christian slices and dices and sautés the other vegetables.

A shrimp is tossed and flipped and lands on my daughter's plate. The tail is flipped into Christian's chef pocket as something else is tossed up and lands in his hat. Show time.

Onto the grill goes a plump chicken breast. And then my scallops, large, half dollar size, plump, fresh and beckoning even before they're tossed and sautéed with the onion and mushrooms.

Time to taste
It's a bit of a double-edge sword when the meal is moved from the grill to waiting plates. One is eager to devour, yet reluctant to have the show end. But with the first bite, the plate gets the go-ahead vote.

The scallops were tender, cooked to perfection and just divine, as was every accompaniment. The servings are generous and filling. My daughter's chicken was tender and delicious as well.

On the sushi side of the house, it's as fresh as it gets. True sushi fans, both my daughter and I frequent sushi eateries both in Williamson and the Green Hills area. She declares Omikoshi's crunchy shrimp rolls the best she has had since we were in the Canadian Rockies this summer. I'll have to agree.

Both the Nigiri and rolls are fresh and tasty. The roll menu offers nearly 25 options, including cucumber, tuna, salmon skin, yellow tail, scallop, Alaskan, eel and cucumber, snow crab, soft shell crab, crunchy shrimp and the house roll: Omikoshi.

On the Nigiri side, an equal number of offerings include egg, mackerel, octopus, squid, sea eel, crab, tuna, scallop, red clam, masago, hokki, white fish and isoawabi.

Restaurateurs
The owners are brother and sister, Song Little and Suk Won Choi. She lives in Thompson's Station and he is a Spring Hill resident. This is their first venture as restaurant owners, but his experience in the business is extensive.

They say the planning of this new restaurant was intricate and lengthy; the results show from the entry throughout the immaculate eatery. Both Little and Choi exemplify the gracious nature of the restaurant and its staff.

The large restaurant offers a private room that can seat up to 80 for group gatherings, and unusual as it is, Omikoshi offers off-site catering to groups of 25 of more.

"We make sushi fresh on site, whether it's in someone's home or for an event. It is a great way to entertain your guests." Says Little.

A lovely room, the Tatami, offers traditional Japanese dining seated on the floor for up to eight. Guests remove shoes before entering through rice paper doors. Done in a soft shade of green with striking vases on one end, the room offers its guests a six- to 10-couse meal.

Omikoshi also provides orders for carry-out.

By Thayer Wine
Staff Writer

Warm, uncluttered Japanese-style dining, sushi bar areas, a secluded tatami room and sheltered hibachi tables offer guests a variety of dining options at Omikoshi, just south of Cool Springs Galleria.

If you don't quite know what type of dining you prefer, the manager or hostess will bend over backward to make you feel comfortable. On our visits, we chose dishes off the regular menu and from the sushi bar; next time, we'll try a hibachi table to watch the chef do fancy slicing-and-dicing tricks as he prepares our meal.

On the menu, we found miso soup, iceberg lettuce salad, bento boxes and teriyaki dinners, dishes that appeal to most American palates. The sushi, with generous amounts of fish on small balls of rice, was attractively presented on rectangular ceramic dishes. The fish appeared and tasted fresh, as was the pink pickled ginger served with it.

The six-piece fried dumpling appetizer, or gyoza, disappeared quickly at our table. Delicious.

The heavily battered tempura shrimp and vegetables had an attractive crunchiness, though I still don't understand the tradition of leaving the tail on the shrimp under all the batter.

Fortunately, the tender shrimp cooked into the light, smooth egg custard of the chawan-mushi appetizer had no shells still in place. It's a soothing dish dotted with shrimp, chicken and veggies.

One of the more interesting presentations was the sukiyaki cooked at the table. Our server deftly dropped broccoli and other vegetables into a hot pan and followed them with a liquid to help cook quickly without burning. She added saifun or clear rice noodles, mushrooms, other sauces and finally wafer-thin shavings of tender beef. This beef cooks very quickly in the hot liquid, so we asked her to take it out almost as quickly as it went in. Perfect.

The most conspicuous difference at Omikoshi, compared to other Japanese-style steak and sushi restaurants, was the often-excessive use of sugar.

The sugar worked well in the cucumber salads dressed with rice wine vinegar, especially the sunomono or salad of sliced cucumber topped with snow crab. It showed up among the appetizers and in the bento boxes.

But excessive amounts of sugar ruined dishes such as the ten don. This bowl of rice topped with tempura shrimp came with a sticky-sweet sauce on top.

Go for: Gyoza, sweet cucumber salad and sushi.

Back to the drawing board: The teriyaki sauces (they're way too sweet) and any food that should be hot but isn't…even tea.

Atmosphere: You'll be seduced by the Japanese gardens, pond and waterfall at the entry, and the clean, warm colors.


Food writer Thayer Wine is The Tennessean's restaurant critic.
She can be reached at 726-8995 or twine@Tennessean.com. Reviews
are written from anonymous visits to restaurants. Negative reviews
are based on two or more visits. The Tennessean pays for all meals.