Where you sit at Kissho House in Center City matters. A lot. The two experiences within the restaurant are as different as how North and South Philly pronounce “crayon.” Upstairs is a casual izakaya, with a sprawling, showy menu of mostly misses. Downstairs is a sleek sushi omakase counter that feels like a completely different restaurant—and the only place you should be eating. Couples in the know migrate to the basement, while the bustling upstairs dining room spins its wheels. Don’t be surprised if a dish or two is forgotten, or if you make eye contact with neighbors through the glass wall who wisely chose takeout over the rubbery octopus skewers inside. The izakaya menu swings big with dishes like $35 truffle wagyu fried rice and $30 salmon tartare with caviar. But stale rice, dry fish, and off timing make it an easy skip. Downstairs is the reset. The $150, 20-piece omakase is calm, intimate, and done in about 90 minutes—that’s where you’ll find buttery miso cod, a rich corn mousse layered with ikura and uni, and the usual torched-salmon-and-wagyu-with-uni suspects. Skip the small plates and robotayaki. Book the basement, enjoy the caviar-topped toro, and pretend the upstairs is just a lobby.