Owner Jenny Alton welcomes customers to Orinda’s newest restaurant, O’Yammy Sushi. Alton, who also owns Oyama Sushi in Walnut Creek, said she always wanted to open an eatery in Orinda. With a focus on quality fresh and healthy Japanese fare, O’Yammy Sushi is open Wednesday through Sunday.
There is a new Japanese restaurant in town, O’Yammy Sushi, conveniently located just across the street from the Safeway in Orinda Village. Plenty of parking is available on the street or in a side and back parking lot. The latest culinary establishment in Orinda offers indoor and patio seating both for lunch and dinner.
Owner Jenny Alton, with 20 years of Japanese restaurant experience under her apron, has created in O’Yammy Sushi a cozy, neighborhood eatery devoted to fresh and healthy offerings. Alton proclaimed O’Yammy Sushi “fun and friendly – and committed to community-oriented service.”
Alton, 54, said she has always wanted to open a sushi restaurant in Orinda, home to her husband’s parents.
“When the former owner of the Japanese restaurant that was here decided to retire, we knew the time was right,” she said.
Alton, who lives in Concord, also owns Oyama Sushi in Walnut Creek, which shares the same menu for the most part as its new Orinda sister, O’Yammy Sushi.
Hailing from San Francisco, Chef Terence Tan, has created a menu both traditional and East Bay-focused. It can be seen in the nearly 30 different special rolls on offer, including the Orinda Roll, the Mt. Diablo Roll, the Golden Bear Roll, the A’s Roll, the Raiders Roll, in addition to the O’Yammy Special Roll, the Godzilla Roll and the Ocean’s Trio Roll.
And that’s Alton’s favorite – the Ocean’s Trio Roll – a tempura prawn, avocado, salmon, tuna and hamachi, hand-wrapped in soy bean paper and served with “trio sauce.”
As for customer favorites, Alton, who moved to the Bay Area from China in the 1980s, said in addition to sushi it’s Chicken Teriyaki, udon and ramen noodle dishes, and, of course, spring rolls.
A range of handrolls, ice cream cone-shaped sushi creations, round out the large menu. A full slate of tea, sake, soft drinks, beer and wine are also available.
Alton’s family’s background owning Japanese restaurants in the Bay Area for the past several decades is evident in the wide ranging menu, which includes Japanese and Asian-influenced fare.
Appetizers include Shrimp Pops and a Jalapeno Bomb, with salads offering everything from seaweed to mango, as well as an assortment of seafood. There is a full range of lunch and dinner entrees, noodles, sashimi and sushi a la carte.
The lunch menu features bento boxes which one can personally tailor by choosing any two of 12 items. Coming with both miso soup and rice, these offer a quickly prepared lunch for those on the go.
In business for only a couple of weeks, O’Yammy Sushi has five employees. Although they do not deliver, orders can be placed directly through O’Yammy’s website, https://oyammysushi.com. Orders are ready for pick-up in 30 minutes.
Alton said, “fresh, fresh fish,” delivered daily, is the quality focus at O’Yammy Sushi.
“It’s the quality of the food – our fish – that makes us special,” said Alton. “We focus on friendly customer service and healthy food and do our best to have the community like us. We are always listening to our customers.”
Just weeks open in Orinda, O’Yammy Sushi is rated 4.5 stars by its customers.
“We want that to be five stars!” said Alton.
O’Yammy Sushi is located at 1 Camino Sobrante, Suite 6, open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (lunch), and 3:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. (dinner). Call 925.254.1606.
Jeff Heyman can be reached at heyman.foto@gmail.com.
