Miami’s best sushi omakases

In 2020, chef Yasu and his wife opened their first sushi restaurant, Sushi Yasu Tanaka by Masumura in Mia Market, a food hall in the Design District, where it continues to impress sushi lovers with its artful take on preparations at reasonable prices. The menu at the walk-up counter features a 10-piece $59 omakase experience that’s one of the best deals in town as well as a salmon sampler and nigiri platters. Last year Yasu expanded to open a second location inside the B100M food hall downtown, offering the same high-quality and reasonably priced omakase platters.

This famed sushi and omakase restaurant from New York restaurateur Garry Kanfer made its grand debut in Miami within the affluent South of Fifth neighborhood last year. With its own fishery and wildlife license, the culinary team at Kissaki uses only the freshest ingredients, including Hokkaido uni, scallops, and toro sourced directly from Japan within 24 hours. Their new omakase menu—15 courses for $150—is curated by recently appointed sushi chef Derek Rosales, previously from Wynwood’s Uchi. The experience includes three appetizers, one handroll, 10 nigiri, and one dessert, all of which can be enjoyed throughout the intimate dining room or at the sushi counter on Wednesday through Sunday evenings.

One of the most affordable omakase experiences in Miami, this operation is headed up by the OG Hospitality Group, of which Co-Founder Andrew Mayer also owns and operates a collection of restaurants including Miss Crispy Rice, Dumplings Mi Amor, and Poke OG. In 2020 he teamed up with sushi chef Ryo Kato to open this hip spot downtown offering locals an unpretentious setting for accessible omakase. The omakases range from $89 featuring an express 10-course option to an 18-course experience priced at $149. All omakases feature the chef's rotating appetizer, select nigiri, one handroll, and homemade miso soup and others also include a sashimi plate and chawanmushi, a traditional Japanese steamed egg custard.

_{James Jackman}

This dazzling spot in Wynwood, with its iconic wooden arch ceiling, has garnered a reputation for exquisite omakase since it opened in 2020. The restaurant recently launched a washoku tasting which can be enjoyed from anywhere in Hiyakawa’s dining room and does not need to be reserved. The $180 tasting menu is a successor to Hiyakawa’s outgoing omakase experience. The nine-course tasting menu, designed by head sushi chef Hiro Asano in collaboration with its sibling restaurant Ogawa’s master sushi chef Masa Komatsu, presents elevated takes on classic comfort dishes along with gourmet sashimi, with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients and a perfect balance between hot and cold.

With a stated goal of bringing authentic, approachable omakase to Miami with its first location in Wynwood in 2019, the team behind this sleek modern sushi bar has made good on their promise, offering seated omakase experiences ranging from $26 for six bites to $95 for a 15-piece indulgence. There’s even a vegan omakase priced at $28. The team has since expanded to Coconut Grove and Aventura and recently launched Miami’s first hand roll bars in Brickell and downtown. [Various locations]

_{Photo: Mila Omakase}

Nestled within the members-only MM Club below Mila restaurant, this exclusive 10-seat dining haven, blending Eastern and Mediterranean influences, is curated by chef Michaël Michaelidis (who has helmed restaurants that have earned a collective 26 stars) and Executive Chef Reiji Yoshizawa. The intimate space boasts a captivating cherry blossom tree, Japanese-inspired decor, and luxurious elements like a marble countertop and a 500-year-old hinoki wood cutting board. The 12-course menu, priced at $195, comprises an ever-evolving menu reflecting the 72 Japanese micro-seasons, with premium ingredients like daily flown-in line-caught fish, Hokkaido sea urchin, sustainable Balfego bluefin tuna from Spain, and Kagoshima wagyu beef.

_{Photo by Michael Pisarri}

In 2023, Alvaro Perez Miranda, the restaurateur and art dealer who runs the much-acclaimed Miami restaurants Hiyakawa, Wabi Sabi, and Midorie, opened this intimate 11-seater in the up-and-coming Little River neighborhood. Helmed by master sushi chef Masayuki Komatsu (pictured), it earned a Michelin star within five months of opening. The omakase experience, priced at $350, can feature delicacies like ahoata (banded grouper), hata hata (Japanese sandfish), hotate (sea scallop) and ohtoro (fatty bluefin tuna), served as nigiri, sushi, handrolls, and other variations.

Chef Shingo Akikuni heads up this 14-seat omakase restaurant in Coral Gables, which earned a Michelin star within its first year of operation. From the carefully curated 18-course menu (priced at $225 per person) consisting of traditional Japanese nigiri, sashimi, and yakimono dishes to the 850-square-foot space designed by expert woodworkers in Japan, the restaurant is reminiscent of the omakase dens one would find in Japan. The restaurant also features rotating art exhibits and custom-made ceramic plateware by Kyoto-based ceramics maker Shin Murata. Akikuni is a third-generation sushi chef from Osaka who served as Sous Chef at Sushi Azabu and Executive Chef at Hiden.