OMONI 오 모 니 — Restaurant in Berlin

I don’t get excited about many things, but great Japanese food is as close to ‘sparking joy’ as it gets for me. So believe me when I say, I was very, very eager to try out Omoni.

The ambience at the restaurant was calm, effortless, yet inviting. The place was tastefully packed (reservation is a must) with guests from different dimensions: old friends meeting for a cozy Saturday dinner, lonely solo eaters enjoying sushi while watching Youtube, as well as some cheery and (seemingly drunk) dating characters. All brought together to for an evening at Omoni.

Now, the food itself was impeccable. Salmon sashimi was melting in mouth with such ease that I couldn’t help but stop listening to what my date was saying (just for a couple of seconds) so I could fully enjoy the pure taste of seafood deliciousness. It got even better when we decided to order a bottle of sake. After the first cup, I made a pleasant discovery that sake is just a better tasting version of water. So for the sake of hydration, we ordered two more bottles of this chilled drink to polish off this exquisite dinner (you should do the same).

The service here was also excellent. I felt taken care of, but in a way that doesn’t require me to constantly reassure the waiters of my satisfaction (they know it’s good). Even when my date (graciously) spilled water all over the table, nobody rushed over to create unnecessary drama. It was entertaining for me to witness the embarrassment during the prolonged moment it took them to bring extra napkins. I got an extra laugh out of this, so it deserves 5/5 for service for that.

And listen, whatever you do, don’t leave without a dessert! Yes - mochi. Even though they are not homemade (I just had to ask), these are pillows of heaven should not be overlooked. They managed to turn a ‘redbean paste cynic’ into a believer. Truly life changing food.

There’s just two more recommendations from my end. Number one: Try their specials! It’s a culinary mouth experience you will not forget. And recommendation number 2: Come in hungry, thirsty and with a good company cause this is a place you’ll want to enjoy and return over...

If everything goes normal it's a fine place to go. Good sushi and nice traditional teas to choose from. But things have changed. I had not such nice experience during my last visit and I don't think I would go again. First of all, apparently it's not possible anymore to order a pot of tea. I always like the social act of sharing tea with friends instead of everyone having an individual cup with hot fluids. Anyhow, we ordered tea, soup, sushi and when the young clumsy waiter came with the miso, he just threw it over my legs. The very next moment I found myself jumping through the restaurant with my legs on fire. Running to the toilet to get rid of the heat and trying clean my soaked clothes. My pants were wet of hot miso soup and my legs were burned. After asking they gave me some ice to cool.

Back in the restaurant a new misosoup was waiting. Without spoon. A girl took over the boys duty. Not asking if everything was fine. We ate, we drink, we ordered extra. We had a fine dinner, but with a dent of course. The bill was hand out by the boy and said full price! We even had to pay for the miso! Not very courteous.

I travelled half hour for a nice night out, we could have gone to a sushi in our neighborhood, but we had good experiences and expectations of Omoni. Instead I went home with a wet trousers smelling like miso and the nasty feeling being treated unfair.

one tip for Omoni: don't serve your soup in plastic bowls but treat them like your tea, in heavy...

We got into the restaurant after looking for it for a couple of minutes, as there is no sign outside or window lettering to invite you in. I guess that's a good sign, if you can still manage to get the restaurant fully booked.

Once we stepped inside, I found the atmosphere very modern and untraditional for a Japanase Restaurant. The Jazz music on the background also helped to give the place a contemporary feel.

We ordered appetizers, I chose to have the salmon sashimi, which was then prepared (you can see them prepare it for you which is nice). Tasted very, very good. Presentation was nice and simple. Might be the best salmon I've eaten.

For the main course I had all kinds of different sushi (salmon, tuna, prawn, squid etcetera). They tasted great, if you love sushi you can't go wrong here.

Only remark I have really is that I had a piece of squid sushi which tasted "off" to me, I never had squid before so I don't want to blame them as everything was of good quality and the next piece of squid sushi I ordered was perfectly fine.

Prices are very good for what you get. The three of us spent a little over €80 in total, including tip (we all had several drinks, two of us had an appetizer, we had lots of sushi but no dessert).

The restroom was small (there was only one) and with a low seat, but it was clean and sufficient.

Highly recommended, one of the best Sushi...