Hi friends, welcome back! I was recently invited to Sushi Lab in the East Village for my first Omakase experience. I’m a big sushi lover, but have somehow never tried Omakase which is Japanese for “I leave it up to you”. Omakase is usually a 10+ course meal where the chef prepares the dishes right in front of a small group around a bar. Each course is a work of art and I loved watching the chefs work their magic! If you’re a picky eater like I still slightly am, this might be a scary idea, but it was such an awesome experience!
This was the menu for the night, I was very excited to try each course after seeing the attention to detail and skill required for each bite. I didn’t know every ingredient, but I trusted that it would taste exquisite 🙂
SHIMA AJI – Stiped jack, daikon, finger lime
ARCTIC CHAR – Sauteed tomato, spring ginger – this was the only one I didn’t love because I don’t like tomatoes.
AKAMI – LEAN TUNA – Tempura oyster, nori, fresh wasabi
KANPACHI & ANKIMO – Amber jack, monkfish liver, truffle ponzu
BLUEFIN TORO TARTARE – Ikura, ciabatta toast
GINDARA & CAVIAR – 2 days miso cured – this was my first time having caviar, very fancy!
SAWARA – KING FISH – Smoked, micro wasabi, sesame
HOTATE – Sea scallop, shiitake mushroom, truffle
KINMEDAI – ALFONSINO – Golden eye snapper, yuzu kosho, grated ginger
HOKKAIDO UNI & CRAB – Kaluga caviar, Sakura gold flake
OTORO – FATTY TUNA – Shaved truffle
HIRAME-FLOUNDER – Engawa, micro chive
A5 WAGYU LOLIPOP – Sushi rice cake, pickled wasabi – this was one of my favorites!
KURUMA EBI – Boiled Japanese tiger prawn, house made shoyu. They opened the prawn right in front of us and I was getting nervous they were going to give it to me whole and I’d have no idea what to do. Luckily that wasn’t the case 🙂
TAMAGO – Botan ebi, yamaimo – this is like a little egg cake to finish the meal.
I am so glad I finally tried omakase! Dining at Sushi Lab was such a fun experience and everything tasted so fresh and exquisite. This was a very fun date night, but would also be fun to go with a friend. The tasting is around a bar, so it’s a more intimate place, but you can have a whole group go around the bar too. The bar here hosted eight people and had two chefs so it was very efficient. Sushi Lab also has another restaurant in Times Square with a gorgeous rooftop restaurant and a Chemistry Room that is even higher end than this meal. If you love sushi and are ready to try Omakase, Sushi Lab is a great choice that I’d highly recommend! Would you try Omakase?
Such beautiful presentation. That is the art of sushi. Happy Tuesday Lyssy. Allan
It’s amazing how talented the chefs are! If I had to cook in front of people I’d crack under pressure 🙂
Nice post, Lyssy. I’m sure the food is amazing! Adding Sushi Lab to our New York “to do” list. Thank you for sharing.
It was so incredible! Hope you get to try Sushi Lab one day 🙂
I’ve never heard of Omakase,.but love sushi and it’s all looks so delicious Lyssy.
I think you’d love Omakase! It seems like an in between of sushi and sashimi.
Yes, I’m certain I would Lyssy!
Wow, that looks amazing
Everything tasted so incredible!
I bet!
Every piece served looks fantastic, and I bet, tastes even better. Sladja is a picky eater, just like you. She really wants to experience Omakase (as a lover of all things Japanese, the food in particular), but has the same anxiety about being served something unappealing. There’s a great story called “Omakase” by Weike Wang, should be available on the New Yorker website. You might enjoy it.
I used to order chicken teriyaki at sushi restaurants before I became a tad bit more adventurous. I suppose you could eat anything she might now like 🙂 you don’t strike me as a picky eater. Thanks for the story, it’s surprisingly not hidden behind a paywall.
This post is a good reminder that not all sushi comes as a pretty little rice roll. Shows you how much (little) sushi I’ve had in my life, even though I love seafood. The tuna would’ve been my choice if I wasn’t familiar with all of the ingredients. And I’m okay with tomatoes, but NOT truffles (unless they’re chocolate). Truffles are like Notre Dame, you either love them or hate them – nothing in-between 😉
It seems there is always a new twist on cuisines. I think Tuna is my favorite, salmon coming in a close second. Truffles are a bit on the fence for me, I’d never had such a big piece of truffle before. I usually have it on fries or pasta, and it’s tiny bits. I like your Notre Dame reference, I told it to Jon but he is on the other side of it than you haha.
I also love sushi. The Japanese are famous for attention to detail. That shows in each of these mouth-watering dishes.
Sushi is one of my favorite meals! No detail was left behind on these dishes. They even had a little plant the chef used little tweezers to pick little flowers off. It was like dinner and a show 🙂
If you want to try omakase again I highly recommend Tanoshi in Lenox Hill! Best sushi I’ve ever had outside of Japan!
Oooh thanks for the recommendation!
Oh wow, my husband LOVES sushi, so I’ll have to take him here when we’re next over! 🙂
Yes! And take me back with you too 🙂
The Sushi Lab looks amazing, and they have some talented chefs!
It was incredible and they chefs were just so talented!
Oh I love this kind of experience! I’d definitely try Omasake one day … next year maybe, i can’t eat raw sushis for now 😉👶🏻
CONGRATULATIONS!!! What wonderful news 💕💕💕💕 I’ll eat sushi for you 🤣
Thank you ❤️! Yes please eat for 3 😄