Hiramasa — Restaurant in Newtown Township

Hiramasa certainly has the ambiance of a high-end Japanese dining experience, with a stylish atmosphere and a vibe that sets the scene for something special. Unfortunately, our visit didn’t meet expectations with execution that didn’t quite match the ambiance combined with slow service which started immediately after being seated with nearly 15 minutes going by before water glasses were filled and not having placed a single order (and that’s just the tip of the iceberg). It quickly became clear that this place still has some wrinkles to iron out and we weren’t quite sure what to expect for the remainder of our meal.

For apps, we started with the Peking Spring Roll and the Rock Shrimp Aioli. The spring rolls were more like bite-sized hors d'oeuvres than the rich, savory rolls we were hoping for – and at $12, the flavor didn’t come close to compensating for these tiny nibbles. The Rock Shrimp Aioli, dressed in a gochujang aioli, was nicely fried and had good flavor but didn’t quite make up for the rocky start led by the spring rolls.

The sushi, however, was the highlight, and dare I say, some of the best I’ve had since moving to the Philly area nearly two years ago. The Tobiko Golden Mango Roll, with spicy salmon, mango, and tempura asparagus, was a delicious fusion of flavors that worked together beautifully. The Tobiko Trio Roll, topped with vibrant tobiko was as beautiful to look at as it was tasty, and the Crab Shack Roll, with spicy blue crab and homemade “crab fries” garnish, both delivered fresh flavors and creative textures that got the meal back on course. If you’re a sushi lover, these rolls are worth the trip alone.

The rest of the meal, however, didn’t hit those same high notes bringing us back down on this culinary roller coaster. The Kaiseki Set, while visually impressive, was underwhelming in taste. The teriyaki chicken was overcooked and dry, and at the price point, I expected more finesse. The Beef Drunken Noodle also missed the mark, leaning more towards a dry Beef Chow Fun than the saucy, savory noodles I expected from a traditional drunken noodle-type dish.

The Uni Udon Pasta, which I really wanted to love, had promise with perfectly cooked noodles, but the uni itself was nearly invisible, leaving the dish lacking that rich, briny flavor I’d hoped for. The Kimchi Fried Rice with chicken and jidori egg also fell flat, with dry chicken and a faint hint of kimchi that left me longing for more depth and spice.

Overall, Hiramasa has a lot going for it in terms of atmosphere and sushi quality, but some of the dishes need a bit more polish to justify the price tag. It’s a place with a ton of potential, and if the kitchen can fine-tune a few recipes, it could certainly become a standout spot in the area. Though given it's recently opened, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. It’s definitely worth it if you’re after high-quality sushi, but perhaps not quite the full...

Updated 12-16-2024.

I updated my review to a 3 stars instead of 1 star. I got to give credit to the management team who handled the situation calling us back and making sure that this won't happen to any other patrons and keep an eye on their oyster suppliers.

We are a group of Japanese food lovers and we frequent all the top Omakase places in the area. We saw some good reviews and decided to try this place out. What a disappointment. 6 members of our group got very sick from eating bad oysters

We came in on a Wednesday night at about 7:30 PM, our group is party of 8 people and we celebrate my son's birthday with the family and his friend.

The 1 stars is for the service we received I got to give credit to the server and the manager on duty. They did a good job taking care of us. The server kept coming back clearing up our table, there's no dirty plates on our table for more than 5 minutes, our water glasses is always being filled.

Fish is fresh and have good quality, however their sushi rice are seems to be under cook, it's hard and chewy. It looks like they used broken rice instead of the short grain Japanese sushi rice. It took a while to get our entrees but we didn't care because we order a lot of appetizers.

The worst part is all 6 members of our group who ate the oysters got very sick with severe food poisoning. Their symptoms last for over 48 hours and my son and his friend got the worst of it because they ate the most oysters. My son's situation was so bad he almost had to go to the ER. Management should have better quality control and should not serve bad oysters. We are definitely sure that the oysters are the problem, I feel fine because I did not eat any of the oysters. All 6 members of our group who ate oysters got very sick and all 6 have the same symptoms, they all have fevers, body aches, vomiting and diarrhea and these symptoms last from 36 to 48 hours.

I believe this place had potential, after all they just opened a few weeks ago, they probably had their hands full with issues that needed time to smooth them out.

We might come back to give this place another chance after a few months and see if they got improved.

I did call tonight and want to talk to the manager on duty on Wednesday night, I was told that it's Saturday night he's busy and will call me back, however I have not heard back...

Our first time at Hiramasa and although we enjoyed the food, I was embarrassed for how our server, Ashley was treating us. I realize some things are out of her control, like the 20 minute wait for our drinks but what wasn’t out of her control was her inconsiderate behavior towards us. We were seated at our table for about 10 minutes before the party right next to us got seated. We still only had water at this point. As soon as the table sat next to us, she brought them over edamame for the table. When seeing this, I asked the table if they ordered that and they stated it was complimentary. Once the food runner brought our appetizers, I asked about getting the complimentary edamame and she said she would tell our server, Ashley. Ashley came over to take our order and I mentioned it to her and at which point she said the kitchen ran out and was making more. I stated, I understand, we were just seated way before the first next to us and she brought them out theirs. She just said “yeah, sorry” When we were finished our meal, she brought a box and our check. To the table next to us, she brought them over a dessert menu and asked if they wanted any dessert. I then asked my girlfriend if she wanted dessert and Ashley, said I didn’t ask you because you wanted the check! Hmmm… She came over with the dessert menu without saying a word and we looked at the menu. After 5 minutes later she came back over and stood at our table without saying “would you like some dessert?” I then stated, we are okay, we aren’t going to get dessert. She took my card to pay the bill and walked back out and left it on the table. Never a thank you! Not a word. She brought the table next to us their bill and said: “thank you so much, happy new year!” I said something about it to my girlfriend and she heard the same thing. I felt completely disrespected and not welcomed at this restaurant. How rude for a server to treat two groups of customers so differently! The tables are so close together that we were right there seeing Ashley’s interaction with the group next to us. I have lived in Newtown Square most of my life and I have never been treated so disrespectfully at any business in the area. Do...