Sabi Omakase Oslo — Restaurant in Oslo

Simply the best sushi I've ever had. The food deserves the attention here, the other pretentious stuff you should ignore, like they insist on full prepayment for the entire meal when you book your reservation and the fact they lock the door (if you're late, they'll neither let you in nor reimburse you) because, as they told us, they didn't want anybody to disturb our dinner experience.

But the sushi makes it worthwhile: exquisite quality on all of the seafood, silky smooth texture combined with the most subtle of taste combinations. And the sushi rice! Perfect temperature and acidity. I was in sushi heaven.

Omakase by Alex Cabiao has only 15 seatings, and this evening we were only 7 dinner guests. But we didn't really care, our attention was wholly on the cooks: Behind the sushi bar was Vladimir Pak, the current world champion of sushi (I didn't even know that was a thing) and the Norwegian champion Mark Subia. They served us classic Edomae style sushi: 3 courses with sashimi and (I think) 14 pieces of perfect nigiri. The wasabi was freshly grounded from a wasabi vegetable root, which one I'm not entirely sure, but this fresh wasabi was sweeter and a lot more subtle than the typical wasabi you get on the fast food sushi restaurants. And forget about mixing the wasabi with soy sauce and dipping the sushi rice on this unholy mixture till it turns brown: Here on Omakase you don't get to dip, the master chefs deftly and softly brushes your sushi with the perfect amount of sauce. Just sit back and enjoy.

We got everything from salmon, hamachi, halibut, Arctic char, both the lean tuna and the fatty toro tuna, unagi, raw shrimps, king prawn, minke whale and even one beef sushi. The only thing I missed was uni on the omakase set menu. Maybe next time, and I hope it will be soon.

Highly recommended if you love sushi and are willing to pay for it. In my opinion worth...

It is impossible to rate something in isolation. Ratings always involve a comparative element. I'm comparing the total experience based on previous visits to Sabi Omakase in both Oslo and Stavanger. Also, I'm comparing to other Omakase experiences and taking into account the price. The quality of the Chef's skills, service/sommelier were good. The quality of the raw ingredients were good, but variable between each visit. I understand it is difficult to control, but sometimes some raw ingredients are better than other times, such as the eel, shrimp and the scallops. I was disappointed to see that the Wagyu was missing. Using reindeer seems to me a bit gimmicky for Norwegian fine dining, as it is not about serving the most tasty meat nigiri/sashimi, but to use something Norwegian just for the sake of it. I also miss the Chef's introduction of rice types, soy types, wasabi, etc. The chef was also differentially engaged with different customers, ending up mostly engaging in talk with the few/one customer who always wants to show off their knowledge about sushi/Japan. The overall raw materials, customer dialogue and verbal presentations have been noticeably better in Stavanger. It makes a huge difference to the attention to flavor and taste when the chef properly introduces the types of ingredients and the reasoning behind each choice. For example, in Stavanger, we were introduced to different types of soy sauce, their aging, etc. In total, I would recommend people who might only do this type of experience once to do it in Stavanger. The Oslo branch lost 'something' after receiving the star, in my opinion. But be assured. If you're not planning to go to Stavanger, live near Oslo, do not have anything to compare with and you enjoy sushi, you will have an amazing experience. It's still the best sushi...

Likeable, straightforward, approachable, attentive. We were allowed to follow Airis Zapa's craft yesterday. His hands prepare the small works of art very elegantly. Watching the chef is already a pleasure. We particularly liked the fact that he asked each guest for their personal opinion after the menu.

Thank you to the whole team! In the service an equally elegant and friendly lady.

Each course was an increase. The wines were very well matched to the food. Our senses, especially the taste buds, were overwhelmed. The use of salts and spices and smoke were perfectly coordinated at all times. The texture of rice, fish and meat is terrific. The refreshing sorbet was like a small avalanche that rolled over the tongue. We would have liked to keep the eel and the lamb in our mouths forever. You didn't want to swallow it because it tasted so great. The Wagyu with White Truffle was a sensory explosion and the highlight of the evening. Indescribable what food can trigger. It got me into ecstasy. I would have liked to freeze this moment.

We will never forget this experience. We have great respect for the discipline and passion that this work of art must demand. Thank you for your efforts and that we were allowed to be part of dining in such an exclusive setting. It was worth every euro.

Thanks!

We apologize again for our delay. We didn't mean to be rude. We had orientation problems. What we were not aware of, however, was that the meal for all participants started at the same time. We recommend that you explicitly inform your guests of this...