OMAKAI sushi — Restaurant in Miami

Amazing sushi experience in south florida! Wynwood is a great location. I went with 5 friends and we all did the Oma experience with one of us doing the vegan Oma and one of us having no shellfish due to allergies. My husband and I also got the squid salad and an order of the Shime Saba (cured mackerel nigiri). For dessert, we got the coffee jelly and mochi ice cream. All were absolutely delicious.

I have done omakase experiences in other major cities, NYC and LA, and can say that Omakai is definitely one for the books. The flavors were mind blowing in that I was very surprised I could get such high quality sushi at this price point in Miami. If you love seafood and sushi, I highly recommend Omakai. I have also had hand rolls at both mid range and high end restaurants, and Omakai delivers competitive flavors.

Not only was all the food STUNNING, but the Oma set is great value. Maybe it's because I live in NY and am comparing to NYC prices, but $32 for the Oma set is an absolute steal for a high quality omakase dinner.

The desserts are also large portions, easily shareable. The mochi ice cream set comes with 3 good sized mochis, each a different flavor. I'm told the flavors change, but I got banana, black sesame, and passion fruit, all great flavors. Black sesame is my favorite mochi flavor so I was pleased. The coffee jelly was also lovely to me personally, but I can see it not being for everyone. The sweet cream on top can be overwhelming and you have to really enjoy coffee flavors to like it. I was already a fan of coffee jelly, so I enjoyed it.

All that being said, the absolute BEST part of the experience was the service. I don't remember our server's name but our receipt says Rebecca F and her winged eyeliner was on point. She was incredible. We had a late reservation and she did not wind down at all at the end of the night even when we were the last customers left. She was consistently kind and extremely knowledgeable. We split our bill 3 ways, added orders in between, and she gave us NO fuss. She remembered exactly what each person got and made no mistakes. Not only that, but she knew the menu inside and out, was able to describe all the flavor profiles, and make recommendations. 100/10 service. Easily some of the best service I've ever had outside of a Michelin star restaurant. In fact, I would say her service was Michelin quality. I hope the owner sees this review and...

We came to Omakai Wynwood with high expectations, especially as it was my first time dining here. My friend and I had just come from a wonderful anfternoon at The Frost Museum and were in good spirits, ready to enjoy what he said..was a great dining experience. Sadly, it turned out to be one of the worst restaurant experiences I’ve ever had.

We ordered two Omakai Experience, which was delicious, but was overshadowed by poor service and an unprofessional attitude from the manager. From the start, things went downhill. When we asked for extra nori, willing to pay extra, we were flatly denied. The reasoning? The chef was “too traditional.” While that seemed unnecessarily rigid, we tried to laugh it off, mentioning how we doubted the chef was actually Japanese given the restaurant’s location in Miami.

What happened next was shocking: the manager accused us of being racist for that lighthearted comment. This accusation came out of nowhere and felt intentionally inflammatory, escalating what should have been a simple, manageable situation. My friend was understandably upset, and I tried to de-escalate the situation but with no luck .. I then proceeded to ask the server to ensure the manager didn’t return to our table, but he kept coming back, further aggravating the situation. His demeanor was very confrontational and hostile, and it’s deeply disappointing to see someone in a management role fail so completely at handling a minor disagreement. A server could have managed this better, but instead, the manager made things worse at every turn.

To top it all off, the manager told us he would not serv us more sake, even though we weren't asking for more .. and we weren’t intoxicated or disruptive. We had only had two small cups of sake, and his refusal felt punitive and unnecessary.

Ultimately, we paid our bill and left, feeling disrespected and frustrated. It’s sad to see a restaurant with good food be brought down by a manager who lacks the basic skills to manage situations professionally. I cannot recommend Omakai to anyone seeking a respectful and enjoyable...

If you’re looking for an omakase that’s not so basic but also not the Michelin star, this is a great midpoint. This was my first visit after hearing about it twice and I was satisfied with my experience. I would deem this restaurant great for the sushi enthusiast who would like to get their feet wet when it comes to omakase.

Great for “sushi and yap” to enjoy the most common fish types you’ll find at any high end omakase as well as a variety of tastings that included nigiris as well as small plates. I enjoyed their 17-course Omakai experience. I also ordered 6 oysters on half shell - which I believe were the Kumamoto, one of my favorite small shell oysters.

Although I cannot name all of the white fish I ate by appearance, I can say my favorite of all was the Japanese sardine. It was light, sweet, and had a similar saltiness to the mackerel. The courses also included slices of king crab topped with caviar - another indulgent tasting - and the some of the best chutoro I’ve had in a while (and I’ve attended 2 tuna cuttings in the past month).

If I had to list the fish/seafood I remember eating - aside from what I’ve mentioned already - it would be king salmon, eel, uni, salmon roe, bluefin tuna (chutoro, otoro, akame), scallop, Japanese yellowtail, kinmedai, and snapper. They also included a bowl of white rice topped with seared slices of A5 wagyu and quail egg, miso soup, and a Japanese melon 🍈 for dessert.

All of this for less than $120 this cannot be beat. I’ve already booked my next reservation to revisit and have dinner in an a la carte fashion as I’d like to see what else I may enjoy...