Omakase — Restaurant in San Francisco

For Omakase, the number of stars are pointless in surmising what it may be. Stars are for organizing the everyday norms in a comprehensible scale but Omakase simply exists in a different dimension. It's an experience for sure, composed of food made with love, care, and discipline. It's a form of culinary art and philosophy that you get through each course, each piece, and within each layer of flavor. Our chef was Jackson-san and despite his bountiful smile and playful comments, his hands were tirelessly creating the next sequel. He was definitely a master story-teller.

Let's talk about the sushi. All great sushi starts with fresh, high quality fish. Omakase is no different here, importing them directly from Japan. Now next is the cut. It has to be just thick enough to balance the rice but with cuts to form the curvature as well as capture the soy sauce and other garnish. Check. And this is where Omakase starts to really differentiate. In front of your eyes, each piece becomes a mini story of its own. It has layers of flavors that expose itself as you let it melt in your mouth, starting from the outer garnish (whether searing, soy sauce, salt, wasabi, etc.) to then the main fish ingredient (so many types of fish and wagyu here) to the finish with unobtrusive, yet hearty rice. You receive each piece with your fingers, close your eyes, and let the story play out in your mouth. Each making your reminisce, each making you anticipate the sequel.

Here are some memorable courses (although no words can describe what was happening in my mouth).

Ama Ebi with Uni Sauce - the sweet shrimp is lightly cooked to form a structure that dances on ground uni - Ikura adds the pizzazz.

Egg Custard with Summer Truffles - the snowcrab and truffles come together on a hearty smooth and soft egg that is simply wonderful!

Hotate - a very down-to-earth scallop, basic, and smooth to prepare your tastebuds for the sushi saga - it is so simple yet so disciplined.

ZukeToro - fattiness is well seeped into the smooth texture but it is balanced with the firm nori and onions - the nori in the outer layer initially comes across crass but as it unfolds, it lays out the tuna in its dry trail.

Aji - mackarels are very difficult to get it right, the smell and texture both can feel "off", yet this comes across with a gentle firmness and sweet soft symphony.

O-Toro - amazing fish with the fattiness balanced with caviar - chef cuts it thicker than others with a horizontal lining and wraps the rice in a manner where the fat layers are easy to be bitten off - pure magic.

Anago - now this eel is special as it isn't grilled with the full sauce which tends to overpower the ingredient - the eel is gently tendered while the fish bone ground sauce is later applied as a thin layer on top - never had such savory and tasty eel before.

A5 Wagyu - the meat is seared perfectly with criss-cross cuts, wasbi, onion garnish, and gold flakes top it off - this is literally heaven in your mouth.

Miso Panna Cotta with Yuzu Granita - the magic is with the miso-infused panna cotta as it adds a gentle savory saltiness that brings out the sweet flavor - the genius is adding the fruit and citrus so that each scoop can be complemented in a different way - the Yuzu granita is simply black magic where ice is shaved so finely that it stops being ice.

From the freshly ground wasabi, to the intentionally prepared cuts on the fish, to the discipline and structure shown alongside the friendly smiles, Omakase is an experience to be had. The chef and the lovely family next to us celebrating their son's birthday just made the entire journey even better. We genuinely enjoyed our time there and look forward to coming back...

Do not go here, it's not worth a $600 dinner date. Not even half.

It was such a weird experience, from start to finish. Every detail ranged from boring, to bland, to kinda gross (except for the desserts, which were really fantastic).

This was possibly the most confusing meal I've had in my life. My wife and I simply could not hide our befuddlement regarding the many questionable choices they made.

To start with the positive, the crispy hand roll and blue fin tuna nigiri were great. Simple, standard, and just really darn good. The desserts were truly fantastic, especially the brulee'd tamago "cake" -- super unique and delicious. The fruit custard after was also really fantastic. But truly everything else about the meal was "off".

First, the restaurant has a really cool waiting room. I expected to wait there a bit, to build some anticipation. Maybe have someone meet me there and tell me something exciting. Perhaps bring out a welcome drink -- something to make use of the little space. Instead, the door just opened, and I was whisked in. It felt like a missed opportunity.

Then the sushi counter was just extremely... I could say simple or minimalistic, but I think it's really just boring. Pretty much unadorned walls, and just, a counter. I think perhaps play with the lighting to make it a bit more moody or something?

The vibe of the other patrons was extremely odd. I can't quite fault the restaurant for who chooses to go there, but on our night it was full of tech bros who just sorta sat sullenly around looking at their phones. Other than the light electronica downtempo music (the incredibly generic kind that might play in a bathroom or elevator, which the server repeatedly highlighted was Lane 8 and was the owner's very intentional choice -- his "thing"), the restaurant was totally silent. My wife and I felt the need to whisper, and eventually just switched to texting each other. It was the quietest meal of my life.

The service was strangely awkward. I asked for a tea menu, only to have the server kind of apologize for not having one, for not having tea pots, and how he is in the process of changing it, and about how he brought this tea from home (??). He repeatedly bragged about how this tea was from some "extremely expensive" importer, but then highlighted that this was the "entry level" for it. It's a weird flex... I guess? He came back to this point a couple times, and I'm just not sure why.

Similarly, the sushi chef seemed to only look at me (and not my wife), except when sternly instructing my wife to eat immediately (rather than waiting for me to get my bite). Sir, please let my wife eat at her own pace. I get it, you have worked hard to produce the perfect bite and you want it experienced the right way, but... chill.

And that brings me to the food. It's hard to overstate just how consistently bland it was. Excepting the first bite, which was a squid that was straight up gross, everything else was nearly indistinguishable. Bite after bite of some seared fatty cut with oil on top. The soup was similarly just a bland dashi with white fish -- like imagine the most basic chicken noodle soup possible. The scallop "taco" somehow managed to be less than the sum of its parts. I know this sounds harsh, but we were simply astonished by the sheer mundanity of the flavor. The lean blue fin was so remarkable in part because it was the only bite that had flavor. But then another seared fatty fish, followed by a seared waygo slice.

I would encourage experimenting with leaner cuts, bolder citrus flavors -- even just adding some salt would go a long way.

Overall, it was uninspired food in a strange environment at an...

michelin star! congrats to Omakase for receiving one :)

The fastest I've ever spent $$$ on sushi but well worth it.

It started with a craving for really good fish. I came across Omakase while perusing yelp to satisfy my craving. It's relatively new compared to the sushi restaurants of similar caliber but I knew immediately I wanted to try this place. Simply because I was craving omakase and this place has stellar reviews and only serves omakase. Perfect!

Not that hard to choose which set you want, just ask yourself how much you want to spend for good sushi? For me... TAKE ALL MY MONEY.. just kidding but really I don't play games with good fish.

The restaurant is very intimate. There is only bar seating and you are elbow to elbow to the person next to you. I didn't mind this too much since my neighbors were great people to talk to. You get to see the chef at work which I love. I'm fascinated at how they prepare the food. My boyfriend and I of course chose to go all the way with our sushi experience and did not regret it.

All the fish served were fresh and seasoned/dressed to perfection. The nigiri sushi needed no extra soy sauce or wasabi... it was perfect. The fish to rice temperature was superb. The fish was slightly cold and the rice a little warm to provide the perfect contrast in your mouth. The sashimi was melt in your mouth. We had a beef dish as well and that was excellent. The beef was tender, juicy, and so full of flavor. One of the best I've had. Even the ginger they provided in between each sushi piece was delicious.

From eating here I've learned:

Monkfish is the foie gras of the sea. I've never had monkfish this good, ever in my life. I thought I hated it from trying it in other places but Omakase has shown me the light and now I can't go back.

I didn't even know Uni could do something other than melt in your mouth. The uni I had here was juicy, firm but delicately soft at the same time. It was a whole new experience.

Fish prepared correctly is one of the most rewarding things you can taste. Every single piece of fish served to me was 10/10.

My boyfriend and I got lucky and picked a night to eat when Chef Masa was preparing. He used to co-own Maruya in SF but left and know he's consulting for various restaurants, Omakase being one of them. He is an expert at what he does and we were both glad we could enjoy it.

Definitely can't look at normal sushi the same way again and I wouldn't trade if for anything. Omakase was wonderful and I would definitely come back again!

*TIP: come hungry if you're planning on going all out because it is a...