The Casino File
If Charles Darwin were alive today, he’d likely be a fan of Ossu Asian Tavern. After all, the casual, family-friendly pan-Asian eatery inside Tropicana Atlantic City is all about evolution.
What began in July 2022 as the note-for-note successor to Okatshe, uber-chef Jose Garces’ take on traditional Japanese street food (but without the former spot’s gimmick of having to enter, speakeasy style, through a recreated Japanese candy store), has morphed into something significantly different. Today, under the aegis of chef Michael Buckley, Ossu (pronounced OH-soo), covers far more culinary ground.
Broadening horizons
“When we opened in 2022, it was solely a Japanese restaurant,” noted Buckley, an outgoing and engaging 33-year-old Smithville native who makes no effort to contain his enthusiasm for his dining room. “We had ramens, Japanese small plates like chicken katsu, eggplant katsu, flash-fried shishito peppers. It was a lot of Japanese house specialties with an extensive sushi program.”
But, he continued, things changed when the Trop closed its venerable Chinese restaurant, Golden Dynasty, in 2023. “We had to figure out a way to collaborate and come together and combine both restaurants so that we could appeal to as many customers as we could. So, Ossu went from basically just being a solely Japanese room to a Japanese room with Chinese specialties.”
The game plan could have stopped with the introduction of popular dishes like General Chicken and Beef Lo Mein, but that was, to put it culinarily, just the appetizer.
“And then we kind of snowballed it,” offered Buckley, whose resume includes a four-year-stint working for Garces at, among other places, Amada, the upscale Mediterranean salon at Ocean Casino Resort and the now-shuttered Mexican outpost Distrito in Philadelphia’s University City neighborhood.
“It turned into pan-Asian. We started adding Korean dishes; we started adding Thai dishes. There were different inspirations from all across Asia. And that’s why we rebranded. It went from ‘Ossu Japanese Tavern’ to ‘Ossu Asian Tavern’ so we didn’t mislead anybody.”
Doing it his way
Nonetheless, Buckley, who also supervises the kitchen at Tropicana’s decades-old Italian restaurant, Il Verdi, emphasized that Ossu’s kitchen is not one that fanatically adheres to traditional “old-country” blueprints.
For instance, he readily admitted to finding inspiration in (and maybe borrowing an idea or two from) restaurants like Philly restaurateur Michael Schulson’s Izakaya, which had a long run at Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa, and Continental Restaurant and Martini Bar, the Philadelphia spot that launched Stephen Starr’s dining empire. And he unabashedly claimed he’s not shy about doing standard dishes his way.
“Our Japanese items aren’t [100 percent authentic]. If somebody just went on vacation in Japan and came in here, they’re gonna be like, ‘What the hell is this?’ he said with a laugh. “But it’s my rendition, my fusion, you know, my palate.”
As an example, he cited his Firecracker Shrimp. “We started doing Bang Bang Shrimp. But this is my rendition of Bang Bang Shrimp. You can get Bang Bang Shrimp anywhere, you know, fried shrimp with spicy mayonnaise. My Bang Bang Shrimp has kimchi pureed into the sauce, so it’s something different.”
Buckley added that everything is done from an American-cuisine perspective, which further separates Ossu from the usual Asian outlet. And, he insisted, it all comes from a keep-it-simple philosophy because “I like simplicity — fewer ingredients, but better-tasting ingredients, better techniques. Less is more.”
Multiple menus
One of Ossu’s more notable aspects is its variety of menus. In addition to the sizable main bill of fare (which includes a selection of popular and exclusive sushi offerings as well as 35 different Japanese whiskeys) there are three others: A happy-hour menu, a daily-special menu and an “omakase” four-course, fixed-price menu ($42 per person), of which Buckley is especially prod.
“We’re not skimping out; it’s all menu-style. We’re not making small portions,” he bragged. “It’s what you would get if you ordered the $15 wing [small plate]. You’re getting the $15 portion here.”
Chef’s favorites
As for must-have dishes, Buckley named several, but he was particularly vociferous about two in particular.
“We do an edamame dumpling here, but we do it a little different,” he explained. “It’s served in a sweet sake truffle broth. It’s rich. It’s amazing. That’s one of my favorite items here.
“Another one is the five-spiced ribs. This is my recipe of how I make ribs when I’m at home in the summer and it’s grilling season: I’m brining my ribs for 24 hours. They get rubbed down in brown sugar, Korean chili, ginger and garlic. Then they get cooked in a combination of half steam, half dry heat for three hours at 245 degrees — super low and slow. Then they get fried.
“So, there’s five, six layers. Then they get tossed in the sauce. It all takes work. It all takes time. But we’re spending the money to create something extraordinary.”
Chuck Darrow has spent more than 40 years writing about Atlantic City casinos.
