OKO westport — Restaurant in Westport

I went to Oko with my family and we were intending to celebrate a birthday. Instead, I have suffered with horrible food poisoning since eating here. The service was quite unfriendly- despite making the reservation indicating we were celebrating a birthday, instead we were treated to hostile waitress who seemed angry to serve us. The drinks were overpriced and tastes NOTHING like how they were described (like the Pineapple Express tasting more like a stiff bourbon…) and when it came to the food… oh boy.

My family and I love Japanese food! We love to try new things and were initially excited to try the menu. As vegetarians we needed a little help navigating the menu. The waitress seemed irritated to help, flippantly telling us just to read (although many words for the ingredients on the menu are not English words, so we were justifiably confused and just wanted clarity). She even recommended dishes that were blatantly non-vegetarian (the persimmon salad with fish sauce). So ordering wasn’t fun. But we submitted our order.

The edamame was not good- the seasonings added very little to the dish and the quality of the edamame was akin to the frozen edamame from Costco. It did not merit the steep price tag. Next were the shishito peppers (which we got without the guanciale)- the spice level of the peppers was inconsistent so while one would be okay to scarf down, another would be shockingly spicy. This is not abnormal with this dish. The absolutely scorched peppers that looked like ashes in my fireplace were not normal. Burnt with an unpleasant aftertaste. Next were the dumplings- those were nice, but WAY overpriced: I would have expected a few more for the price (just 4 tiny dumplings!). The mushroom bao was delicious- it tasted A LOT like the Shroomburger at Shake Shack. But for $10, you get EXACTLY one bao. The batter on the bao (like a lot of the battered dishes) was falling apart and wet, meaning the oil was definitely not hot enough. So while it tasted great, still had some flaws.

We then got the tempura- now the chef chooses what tempura you’ll get and because our waitress was simply SO RUDE she refused to listen to my dad who had an ask for the squash tempura- Our whole family LOVES squash and wanted to try it and I just wasn’t expecting someone to berate my dad of all people just for having a request… really gross behavior. The tempura batter was falling apart on the veggies and kinda gooey… like it wasn’t fully cooked. And here’s the deal: if eggs aren’t fully cooked you can easily get salmonella. Food poisoning. We liked the aioli (but not the soy sauce mix which was not balanced AT ALL!) but struggled to eat the tempura with how the batter was falling, the veggies soggy with oil, and just this being a shockingly low quality tempura dish. Finally the mushroom bento. A dish I really, spectacularly, regret getting. Let’s start with the edamame provided: unseasoned frozen edamame with not an ounce of flavor or freshness. The koshikari rice was never explained to us (obviously because our waitress felt strongly if we had questions we weren’t worth the effort of an answer) so I didn’t realize it was just white rice: no worries, that’s common in a bento. The tempura in this was somehow worse than the actual tempura: the batter was DEFINITELY raw, a little liquidy and falling off the veggies. I really started feeling sick eating this. But I straight up almost vomited eating the maitake mushrooms. I am POSITIVE these mushrooms were not clean, tasting gritty and NASTY. They were seasoned with some syrup that left them tasting like dishwater and I promise, two bites and I was begging to go to the bathroom. The table next to us had the same reaction to the same dish. I’ve had food poisoning since dinner (4 days) and as I suffer I felt the need to warn anyone thinking of eating...

We drove a little over an hour to get to OKO for dinner on Sunday night, and I woke up this morning wanting to jump in the car and go back again tonight. Everything we ate was delicious, there wasn’t a single bite we didn’t love. Our server Julia provided us with wonderful service and recommendations. I also noticed that she paid proper attention to the 7 other tables that dined around us throughout our stay; you could tell she was knowledgeable about the menu and took time to give everyone the attention they needed. She had a bright attitude, brought our drinks quickly, and paced our meal perfectly. We ordered a little of everything: -Salted Cucumbers: delightfully briney, thinly sliced, we used these as a little palate cleanser during the whole meal. -Chanterelle & Honey Nut Squash Poke: I have a soft spot for furikake so I knew I’d love this regardless, but the flavor of the rice is what really won me over. -Sushi: we were pleasantly surprised at the balance between the complexity of flavors and textures in each piece while still respecting the flavor of the fish. The favorite was definitely the chutoro, anago (so fresh and light), and of course the Miyazaki beef. Oh, and the spicy tuna crispie. And the cedar smoked black cod. And also the bluefin tuna. -Ramen Egg: so much flavor with crispy pork belly pieces for some contrasting texture. I don’t see myself eating any other deviled egg ever again. -Hokkaido Uni Toast: hands down the best item we ordered. I won’t spoil it for you. Just order it, then try to resist the urge to order two more. -Brussels Sprout Tempura: we ordered this at Julia’s suggestion, when we asked if there were any items we didn’t order that she would recommend. I was glad she suggested these. It seems like every restaurant has a Brussels sprout dish these days, and usually they’re boring. Not these—small and very, very lightly coated in tempura, the sprouts stayed soft in the center without being oily or heavy. -Fried Chicken Bao: the bun was incredibly soft yet slightly stretchy, the chicken was lightly crispy and juicy, but the KIMCHI! my god, that kimchi. -Pork Katsu Sando: the key to any sandwich is finding the perfect distribution of condiments or toppings in relation to the thickness of the bread and meat. This nails it. The bread has a slight sweetness that goes so well with the tangy mustard and the pork cutlet. Potato salad is pretty heavily dressed, but the vinegar content makes it enjoyable and not overbearing. -Duck & Foie Gras Gyoza: the differentiation of the pulled duck and the foie gras inside the gyoza was impressive. Rich without being muddy or gamey thanks to the hint of 5 spice seasoning. -Wild Mushroom Potsticker: my second favorite dish, the definition of umami flavor. Pickled mushrooms add the perfect zing to the incredible savory depth. -OKOnomiyake: pork belly meets scallion pancake meets breakfast pancake with a yolky egg on top. I mean, seriously?? By the time this dish reached our table we were so full, as the portions were much larger than we expected. Julia assured us that while she normally doesn’t do leftovers, the okonomiyake actually tastes better the next day for breakfast. We took her advice and this morning I discovered she’s not wrong—I’m enjoying it again as I write this.

It’s going to be hard for me to dine at any other Japanese inspired restaurant for a long time. OKO and Julia truly knocked it out...

This review is purely on the "omakase". While we went into this knowing it wouldn't be completely traditional, I think omakase is a huge misnomer here, and a prix fixe dinner is more appropriate. There were a few bites that were really awesome, and then most other things were a really blah. I think we would've been better off and much happier just ordering sushi ala carte.

First, unless you have the actual four person table, the chef's counter is kind of an awkward place at the expediting counter, which is cool on one hand seeing the orders, but still doesn't have a great view on any prep, and also is a bit irritating when everyone keeps kicking or knocking into your stool as they pass through the narrow corridor that you're seated in. There's literally no way around this.

Second, like I said before, there were maybe three or four items that were spectacular, and the rest of the nigiri was very blah and unmemorable. The ending savory dish is an entree of cooked salmon which is perfectly cooked, but if you're at a sushi restaurant, why would this be the finale?

Finally, we had entered our dietary restrictions when the reservation was made. The staff also confirmed multiple times with us during dinner about those restrictions, which we thought was really attentive. So we sit through a 2-3 hour dinner, with them knowing our restrictions the entire time beforehand, only to come to dessert to find out that they didn't have any dessert for us at all. It was incredibly awkward as it was presented as essentially they didn't have anything for us, and there weren't any alternatives being offered either, just "we don't have anything." Like, not even maybe offering a matcha, or dessert wine, or comp on the cocktails that we purchased aside from our alcohol pairings..? Just, ok, while you paid for a set menu, you don't get part of it, and you just need to be ok with it.

All in all it was a really disappointing experience for something that we'd been really...