I recently came back from visiting Japan. I’ve had omakase countless times in Korea, but knew I had to experience it in the place it originated. So after looking into a hundred different restaurants (literally), I made reservations for wagyu omakase and sushi omakase.
I wrote a post before on what makes omakase a good one. To summarize those points, they are:
1. They have various sauces and sides
2. The in-between foods are light and one-of-a-kind
3. They have a new take on beef tartare
4. They have a dessert made with effort
5. They use stylish plates
I am going to review the omakase I had in Japan while taking these points into consideration.
First, the sushi omakase.
1. Sushi omakase is a little different because the only sauce you need really is soy sauce and wasabi. The chef of this omakase didn’t feel the need for sauce at all because he seasoned all the fish before handing it to us. Even still, I think sauce is always necessary. The lack of a dip makes the whole thing feel a little less than satisfactory.
2. This place started off strong with some dishes. The soup with eel and morning glory was top notch. It had subtle and clean flavors. I was looking forward to the rest of the small dishes, except none came afterwards. It was sushi after sushi, which is great in itself, but would have been better with little palate cleansers in between. They ended with miso soup which is not creative at all.
3. The beef tartare doesn’t apply here, but I feel like an equal in sushi omakase is uni. All sushi omakases serve uni, and the way you serve it is important. Will you serve it with caviar? Or seaweed? Or make it super plentiful? But this place served a small amount of uni on rice and was not impressive.
4. The dessert was vanilla ice cream with warabi mochi. It was actually very delicious, but I still think they could have put more effort. Either have a different flavor ice cream, or wrap it completely with mochi beforehand, freeze, and then serve with a compote. Though the flavor was good, they blanketed the ice cream with warm mochi that melted the ice cream.
5. Even with the plates, it started off strong with the little dishes. Here, they put one sushi after another on a singular stone plate, which works well. But they could have served the soup and dessert in a nice plate, too.
Overall, the chef put effort in providing various fish types. But it was clear the effort didn’t apply anywhere else. If these 5 points were all fulfilled well, the omakase could have been unforgettable.
Now the wagyu omakase. I want to just start by saying WOW. It was my first time having wagyu and it is different from any other beef I have had. My sister ended the meal saying she can’t have regular beef anymore. This was life-changing. Ok, onto the points!
1. Unfortunately, there were no varying sauces and sides here. They served one house-made sauce with a soy sauce base. It was really good, but the experience definitely could have been better with a few more sauces to try with the meat. I will say though that the meat was so indescribably good that in the moment, I didn’t need sauce. I enjoyed every bite of the meat even on its own without getting tired of it. I guess that is the power of Wagyu.
2. The in-between foods were delicious, except for one. The steak sandwich was a game changer, but it actually wasn’t part of the course. I ordered it separately to try it, but the omakase would improve by a lot if it was included. The rolled meat (center row, right column) on the picture to the right was something I never had. The chef rolled shiso leaf, cucumber, and chives in Wagyu and served it on a bed of onions in sauce. Everything was great until the spicy noodles came. That was not good at all….
3. The beef tartare was served twice – first it was cut into strips like noodles then served in sauce; the second was in seaweed with salted egg yolk. They were creative and I’ve never seen it before. I did not enjoy the noodled tartare, but my sister really enjoyed it. The one with the yolk was enjoyed by all my family though.
4. The dessert was simple crème brûlée. It wasn’t anything special and they could have improved it in creative ways, but it was satisfying nonetheless.
5. The plating was very nice. They did you use same plate for the meat multiple times, where you keep the plate in front of you, and the chef places freshly grilled meat on top of it each time. Usually I don’t like that, but it was alright in this case because the plate was very cool and high quality. It wasn’t cheap plating, but it was a solid heavyweight base with a rack attached on top so that the juices can drip down.
Overall, there were points that could be improved, but it was more than satisfactory. The quality of the meat, the plating, the effort, and the dishes were well put together.
If I were to compare omakase in Japan and in Korea, I would say my experience overall has been better in Korea, but the quality of the ingredients are much better in Japan. The wagyu and the sushi couldn’t be beat in Korea, but Korea (a select few restaurants of course) puts more effort in variety and the small dishes. I’m sure there are omakases in Japan that achieves both, and hopefully I find them the next time I visit!
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