Omakase: The Bay Area experience in four restaurants

Is there no finer way to dine than omakase – having chefs hand-pick their most elegant delicacies and serve them rapid-fire until you wave your hands and implore, “No more”?

Translated from Japanese as “I’ll leave it up to you,” omakase has grown popular well beyond Japan to dining establishments across the world. The principle is simple, yet beautiful. Traditionally applied to high-end sushi restaurants, an omakase experience is one in which the chef plans a multi-course meal based on quality, artistry and peak-of-season ingredients. The menu may be endless – limited only by the diner’s appetite – or prix fixe, with supplemental and scrumptious add-ons like sea urchin or black caviar.

Omakase by now is firmly lodged in the zeitgeist. In the Bay Area, you’ll find the word proudly attached to restaurants (Ren Omakase in Redwood City, the Michelin-recognized Omakase in San Francisco) and hospitality companies (like the Omakase Restaurant Group, which just opened a very omakase-like Palo Alto eatery called Kappo).

And its definition has spread far beyond sushi. A major dining theme in 2025 has been “omakase everywhere,” according to a Hospitality Trends Report from local agencies AF&Co and Carbonate.

“Omakase restaurants have exploded in popularity over the last decade. They’re a sign of luxury and indulgence; a multi-course tasting menu journey with an element of surprise for the guest, who doesn’t know what’s coming until it arrives,” the report notes. “We’re now seeing the term applied outside of the confines of the sushi bar – embracing its format and spirit. Is it a tasting menu? Yes, but it sounds so much more adventurous – and posh!”

The Bay Area is just starting to see the concept applied to other cuisine types, such as the Mexican omakase offered at San Jose’s Copita. In Los Angeles, omakase has expanded to pizza and coffee menus – and elsewhere in the U.S., it’s spread to cocktails, steak, pasta and grandma food (“NonnaKase”).

However, the Bay does enjoy its share of exquisite Japanese options. And though they easily can shred a wallet, omakase meals do not have to break the bank. A great one can be had for under a hundred dollars; some restaurants even prepare omakase bento boxes for home enjoyment.

If you decide to embark on an omakase quest, be mindful that it’s a pact of trust between you and the chef. Allow them to guide you through their carefully chosen menus – in a way, you’re eating like they’d love to – and ask questions if desired. As the Michelin Guide writes, “Dining omakase means being face-to-face with the chef, who will gauge your reaction and help guide you toward the best possible experience.”

Tancho Japanese Restaurant, Castro Valley

Plopped between a cleaner’s and a coin shop, Tancho doesn’t immediately stand out from its mini-mall neighbors. But behind the blocked-out windows hides one of the finest omakase experiences in the East Bay – on par with what you’ll be lucky to relish in Tokyo.

Tancho is owned by restaurateur Sunny Noah, who also runs Iki Omakase in Palo Alto and Sushi Kinsen in Redwood City. Jason Sen Li, the head chef at the latter restaurant, created Tancho’s menu and tutored its current chef, Jeffrey Chen, who adds his own creative flair to the dishes. Chen is a bold, funny presence behind the chef’s counter, given to toasting diners with his favorite yuzu-infused sake and making proclamations like “Sushi time!”

On a recent evening, the counter’s seven seats were occupied by casually dressed locals comparing notes about trips to Asia and Michelin-starred restaurants. (There are a couple of tables, though the view from them is less impressive.) Chen stands in front like a fisherman appraising the day’s catch – sorting, slicing, saucing, blowtorching, otherwise preparing for the two-and-a-half-hour omakase journey ahead.

About 70% of the seafood at Tancho comes from Toyosu Market in Japan, with shipments arriving multiple times a week for peak freshness. The sushi rice is treated with akazu red vinegar, treasured by sushi enthusiasts, and that and the fish are often enough for a transporting bite.

“Tancho is a humble, low-key sushi restaurant dedicated to presenting a traditional Japanese omakase in its most sincere and authentic form,” Noah, the owner, says. “Our preparation style is deeply traditional, with about 30% of the courses showcasing thoughtful innovation that still maintains unmistakably Japanese flavors – something our sushi connoisseurs immediately recognize.”

Guests have the option to add pairings for house or premium sake ($80-$98), served in fun, mismatched cups with brands that are equally fun (like Tamagawa Time Machine, an heirloom amber sake). Then arrives a fleet of six small dishes, including translucent sea bass with delicate-purple flowers, a three-tuna tartare with salmon roe and Hokkaido scallop, and warm-and-crunchy maitake mushrooms with monkfish-liver sauce. Of these, the kaki chawanmushi leaves a lasting impression; it’s a traditional savory custard, but made ever-so-silky with truffle essence and tender bits of oyster.

When the sushi finally starts coming, excitement in the room goes up a notch. Each of the seven pieces is a revelation, especially a prized muscle cut from a flounder from Fukushima and a lean tuna with a smoky marinade that blossoms on the tongue, thanks to a warming from the chef’s hands. Pacific saury has a dot of perfectly complementary prawn paste, and – so often fishy – the mackerel here is clean and bright. Meanwhile, the medium-fatty tuna (chu toro) with a steaklike fat cap made a diner stop talking and just rest her head on her partner’s shoulder.

There are optional add-ons like sea urchin, fatty tuna (o-toro) and barracuda, but chances are stomach real estate has become scarce, and the remaining three courses will close it down. Red miso soup adds comfort, then there’s a buttery miso pudding and castella tamago, a sponge cake made from just three ingredients — tiger prawn, egg and Japanese mountain yam. It’s so simple, yet tastes so much more than the sum of its parts, which might as well be the motto of Tancho Japanese Restaurant.

Details: Open Tuesdays-Sundays (with an omakase bento takeout menu for lunch) at 20861 Redwood Road, Castro Valley; $131 per person, tanchojapaneserestaurant.com

Sushi Edomata, San Mateo

About a year ago, Peninsula sushi Chef Sam Sugiyama, of Sushi Sam’s Edomata, worked his last day at the San Mateo restaurant before retiring after 36 years in business.

Within months, in April this year, the restaurant’s successor, Sushi Edomata, opened the doors of a new location on 25th Avenue carrying on the same tradition of high-quality sushi in an elegant, comfortable setting, including an omakase or “chef’s choice” meal option.

Today, the restaurant bustles with purpose and warmth, as it seems to be a popular spot for birthdays, dates, gatherings with friends and special occasions.

“We’re bringing a big foundation from the old place,” owner Kelvin Ching says. “We have a lot of loyal customers.”

One recent omakase dinner began with an appetizer bowl of edamame pods, followed by two rounds with four gorgeous sushi bites each. The first round featured a light pink blue shrimp cut, followed by cuts of amberjack, bonito topped with green onion and garlic, and butterfish, with an interim bite of crispy fried shrimp head with lemon between rounds.

Next came even richer piscine delicacies: Japanese scallop, fatty tuna, Spanish mackerel and, to finish, an unctuous, orange bite of sea urchin wrapped in seaweed. But the meal wasn’t done yet, because last, but certainly not least, was a dessert: creamy, melt-in-your-mouth chestnut soufflé cheesecake.

Sushi Sam’s first started offering omakase after the team traveled to New York City back around 2000, which had become an early hub for omakase-style fare, to see how the Japanese tradition was being done in the U.S., according to Ching, whose brother-in-law, Chef Koichi Ito, curates the omakase selection.

The omakase menu draws on Japanese tradition and incorporates seasonal fish – about 80% of the fish served comes from Japan, flown on ANA Airlines from Toyosu Market, the biggest fish market in the world, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

For a more intimate experience, consider sitting at the counter instead of a table, so you can see the fish being prepared in real time. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Chef Takoya Maluyuama prepares other non-sushi dishes from the menu – tempura, tofu with grilled eggplants, deep-friend pork with a miso-based sauce and more.

Details: Open 5-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Wednesdays and noon-1:30 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays at 38 E. 25th Ave., San Mateo. Omakase rates may vary based on market prices, but a recent dinner was $88, plus tip. Reservations highly recommended. sushiedomata.com

One Fish Raw Bar, Campbell

Chef Trent Lidgey, the creative mind behind One Fish Raw Bar, brings a wealth of Michelin experience and fish butchery skill to his evolving menu.

After launching his career at an East Coast harbor restaurant, he honed his skills at Atelier Crenn in San Francisco and at Brae, one of Australia’s most highly regarded farm-to-table restaurants. Back in Boston, he ran the sashimi program at Uni restaurant before heading again to the West Coast, where he landed at Chez TJ in Mountain View and Los Gatos’ Lexington House.

A natural next step was opening his own place, One Fish, where he could put his talent on display for a counter full of discerning food lovers  — and tempt the diners nearby who are selecting dishes a la carte.

After presenting a solo diner omakase menu, Lidgey, executive chef Edalyn Garcia, lead captain Josh VanBuhler and the team are now experimenting with a four-course, family-style omakase priced at $125 per diner.

This menu delivers one sublime plate after another, arriving in what Lidgey calls waves. “I want people to leave feeling nourished,” he said of the varied menu.

Here’s what we ate on a recent evening:

In the first wave (four raw plates), Australian ahi tuna swam in a scallion-soy sauce studded with pomegranate seeds and first-of-the-season citrus. A rock display cradled New Brunswick’s Beausoleil oysters with green curry and pickled apple. And a salmon sashimi — so artfully arranged that it resembled a winter camellia blossom — delivered sumptuous bites of Loch Duart filets with salsa matcha.

The fourth dish, a “sweet and sour plate,” was a beautiful Hawaiian kanpachi (amberjack) crudo with fresh seasonal persimmon discs, radish and Thai herbs. Just before we picked up our chopsticks, Lidgey swept in and drizzled a little more tamarind nuoc cham around the components, creating a sauce mosaic.

An exemplary beef tartare arrived in the second wave. The Painted Hills beef was topped with a finely chopped chanterelle relish made with mushrooms Lidgey himself had foraged and dotted with pickled mustard seed. Other bites included pomme souffles adorned with Siberian caviar.

The third wave brought two luxurious composed plates. “We wanted to have fun with the cooked items,” Lidgey said. The roasted hamachi collar comes with house buns and gochujang sauce for assembling hand-held bao. His popular slow-braised short rib, glossy with kabayaki sauce, is served with puffed wild rice and seasonal vegetables. Lidgey’s addictive cornbread — topped with dill cultured cream and smoked trout roe — comes on the side.

And the fourth wave? The chef’s choice might be a lime curd tart with candied citrus or a multilayered chocolate creation — carefully crafted dessert bites to cap off the evening.

Details: Dinner is served 5-9 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays and until 8 p.m. Sundays. A happy hour from 4-5 p.m. precedes dinner. Lunch is served noon-2 p.m. weekends at 193 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell; $125 per person. Reservations: onefishcampbell.com

Toyosu, Walnut Creek

Who says everybody looking for an omakase experience must put on their fancy clothes, pull up a chair at the sushi bar and expect an all-night affair in which tiny pieces of raw fish are delivered one bite at a time?

Toyosu in Walnut Creek is doing a bit differently, offering an omakase for the unfussy eaters.

Those who are looking for generous portions without skimping on freshness, quality or variety, and those looking to do it in a neighborhood-style Japanese restaurant that isn’t taking itself too seriously, will find comfort here.

Order the omakase, and it’ll be delivered all at once, with 10-12 pieces of nigiri or sashimi dropped in front of you like a box of chocolates, with only a brief description from a busy server who knows there’s nothing they can say that couldn’t be better communicated with a bite.

The amberjack and striped jack provide subtle and clean flavors to get you started. As you work your way around the board, the flavors begin to add complexity, though none are trying to be clever. The common theme is that everything tastes fresh, and the bites seem to get even tastier as you go.

The grand prize at the end is a buttery slice of bluefin tuna with real gold flakes on top. Have a bite, and notice your eyes begin to close. The body wants to savor it, make it last, take a mental note and try to re-create it in the imagination later.

On a recent trip, we were given a bonus piece of uni, a sweet sea urchin packed into a seaweed blanket and served with a dollop of wasabi.

Because everything is served all at once, the entire experience could be completed in 15 minutes if you’re hungry, so we recommend adding an appetizer. We went with the agedashi tofu, which was fried to perfection and served over a delightful sweet-and-sour sauce.

The vibe of the restaurant is casual but intimate, and while it won’t break your bank the way some omakase restaurants can, it still considers itself fine Japanese dining.

Owner Thomas Wu also owns Kyosho Sushi in Menlo Park, where the kitchen staff was trained for Toyosu. And while the chefs are not the same, the concept is.

“Most of our customers are here because it tastes fresh,” said Toyosu manager Tom Lin. “Most of our fish is flown in from Japan multiple times a week. It tastes the way it’s supposed to taste like.”

Details: Open 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays, 5-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays and Sundays, and 5-9 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays at 1552 Locust St., Walnut Creek; $65 per person for premium omakase nigiri, reservations recommended but not necessary. toyosu.res-menu.net