Omakase Room by Mitsu — Restaurant in New York

So being back in town on a business trip I booked this place to revisit this unassuming Omakase room who is headed by a new chef Mitsu. Tatsu his predecessor moved to Dallas and has earned himself a Michelin star through his efforts so I can imagine the shoes he left behind to fill are large.

The place retains all its former charm, with wall to wall Hinoki wood, giving the entire place a nice scent. The staff was gracious and accommodating, reinforcing a comforting and peaceful atmosphere to accompany the serene Hinoki decor. I requested some green tea to wake me up from my flight and I was greeted with a hot kettle. The courses were simple, honest, and delicious. There was no busy or distracting thrills, with the ingredients, technique, and passion being the main ingredients of each course. It reminded me of the sushi I would find in small unassuming places in the backstreets of Tokyo. Authentic and honest is how I would best describe this food, which is not to say that this is in anyway lessor than any of the other options that litter the landscape. There should always exist a place where the food pays complete homage and shoulders the history of a cuisine and I believe that this is necessary and desired.

If you haven’t been here, book and go here and know that this is to me the closest you will come to an authentic sushi experience that locals enjoy. The food is forward and progressive for Japan, but still is traditional and wholesome in a way where a local Japanese person would give a nod to the food here.

I enjoyed my experience here and I’m glad that someone not only filled the shoes of their successful predecessor, but left their own style and personality into their food. I will be keeping this on my radar to revisit this spot on my next trip. It will be interesting to see how this place evolves over the coming years.

Excuse my lack of pictures, I was eating these courses the moment they came out and forgot to...

Experience was amazing as it was our first omakase in an authentic Sushiya. Food was great as expected, sushis crafted one by one in front of you as per the tradition. The fish selection is also well done. However, as it was for a special occasion and acknowledged by the manager during reservation, I would have expected a special attention, even though it would have been a bonus and it is always pleasant to receive, the very least would have been to be served by Chef Sekiguchi himself. Instead, we were served by his sous-chef, not a huge difference though and my respect to him but for this "price/excellence class tag", we also expect a special customer care. I guess the frequent customers were privileged that night making us feel like being put in the background. Also for this price tag, you expect perfection for every piece of sushi, unfortunately, one of the pieces was not perfectly crafted and partially disassembled when picking it up. In sum, experience there is still outstanding in a sense, you need to make reservation very early to guarantee a seat so you crave for it until the d day, there are only 10 seats so it is very intimate in face of what you are used to, the traditional omakase style is something to do at least once in a lifetime. Unfortunately for this time, I did not feel it worthed every penny but I strongly hope it...

Omakase Room was magical. I've been to many great sushi establishments, but very rarely do I see a chef as genuinely happy making sushi as Chef Tatsu. The care that goes into each piece of sushi is quickly evident as you devour each piece.. the rice, his nikiri sauce, the temperature, the ageing of each fish, the portion of each slice.. every element is perfect. He makes it all look so easy, but it only takes a little bit of attention to notice how much time and effort has gone into perfecting every detail.

His anago (sea eel) was outstanding and an absolute must have. Outside of Sawada in Tokyo, I've not had a better piece of anago. I also thoroughly enjoyed his shima aji, aori ika and hotate - all are unique interpretations while respecting the spirit of traditional edomae sushi. Every piece of sushi was executed at the highest level, with carefully selected seasonal ingredients, and the service was faultless.

To leave with an autographed copy of his book was an unexpected surprise, and a delightful reminder of that beautiful first time dining (and many more to come) at Omakase...