Temaki Joint's upstairs location near Baseline Road and US 36 now serves diners in two ways: walk-ins can order from the regular hand-roll menu, while omakase customers reserve seats for a fixed tasting. The restaurant reopened June 30 after roughly three weeks of remodeling and has 20 seats in its dining room and patio, plus an eight-seat sushi bar, according to The Boulder Reporting Lab.
How the two services work
The regular menu does not require a reservation. Diners can order individual hand rolls or sets of three, five or seven, with listed options including salmon, bluefin and yellowtail; sashimi and crispy rice topped with spicy tuna or spicy salmon are also available, as reported by The Boulder Reporting Lab.
Chef Duy Pham presents the hand rolls in cylindrical forms rather than the cone shape commonly associated with temaki. Other reported menu items include eel with asparagus or foie gras, along with tempura-fried fish and fried enoki mushrooms, according to The Boulder Reporting Lab.
Omakase prices and times
Raw-fish safety requirements
For restaurants serving sushi in Boulder County, public-health guidance addresses both disclosure and handling records. According to Boulder County Public Health, establishments serving raw or undercooked animal-derived foods in ready-to-eat form, including sushi, must provide a consumer advisory about the associated foodborne-illness risk. The county also says establishments serving raw or partially cooked fish in ready-to-eat form must retain records showing the fish's freezing temperature and duration for 90 calendar days after service or sale, according to Boulder County Public Health's restaurant-inspection guidance.
The reservation-only omakase service operates Tuesday through Sunday, with seatings at 4:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The reported choices range from a smaller tasting of two sashimi pieces, three nigiri pieces and one temaki to a 12-course menu for $120 and a 20-course menu for $165, according to The Boulder Reporting Lab.
The two formats grew out of changes to the small restaurant's shared-space setup. Temaki Joint initially operated alongside Tea Mate near Baseline Road and US 36; after the remodel, Tea Mate moved downstairs and the upstairs room added the sushi bar. The Boulder Reporting Lab reported that demand for omakase has led Pham to consider separating the hand-roll and tasting-menu operations in the future.
Pham’s earlier work
Pham's résumé spans French culinary training, an executive-chef role at Denver's Tante Louise at age 22 and the early-2000s restaurant Opal, where he served crudos, according to Westword. He later opened Parker Garage in 2014, helped launch Hana Matsuri's Glendale location and partnered with Brent Walker and Meghan Gold on For[a]ged at Denver's Dairy Block, as reported by 303 Magazine.
Westword also reported that Pham is a certified Murray Carter Journeyman Bladesmith who makes knives and some serving pieces. At Temaki Joint, that background is reflected in a business divided between an informal walk-in menu and a more structured, reservation-based omakase experience.
