The Absolute Best Omakase Sushi in NYC for Every Budget

Omakase is a Japanese phrase that represents a chef’s choice meal. And while an omakase meal can be devoted to pretty much any genre of food, engagements devoted to sushi, often served from a counter to around eight guests (as is customary in Japan), have exploded in popularity over the last decade in New York City, with an ever-growing spate of high-end operators serving elegant and elaborate sushi meals for more than $400 per head.

With luxury ingredients like fresh wasabi root and high-quality seafood sourced directly from Japan and places like the iconic Toyosu Market in Tokyo (formerly Tsukiji Market), the Big Apple’s abundance of menus—many of which are Michelin-starred by acclaimed Japanese chefs—offer a dining experience like no other.

With no inflation relief in sight, some of the restaurants on this list have, again, raised prices, but that’s not to say that it’s impossible to find a great deal for much less. In fact, we’ve got a $80 rec with your name on it. From splurge-worthy counters that define the category to lower-priced, affordable options, here's the absolute best omakase in NYC for every budget.

Midtown, $175
One of New York’s newest sushi additions is Omakase Room by Shin (the sister counter to Omakase Room by Mitsu downtown), which replaces Kaiseki Room by Yamada in a sleek Midtown space. Not much has changed in terms of aesthetic; the former restaurant’s intimate 600-square-foot dining room wrapped in curved blonde wood remains, as does its eight-seat counter, now under watch of 15-year Blue Ribbon Sushi vet Shin Yamaoka. The minimalist, medium-length omakase runs $175 for 14 courses that highlight peak seasonal seafood, beginning with two seasonal appetizers––such as a summertime grilled eel with buckwheat and a delicate, delicious geoduck clam chawanmushi, before moving into six pieces of nigiri. Expect fish like kampachi, ultra unctuous Ora King salmon, and a three-bite tuna series––all served with rice imbued with laced sake lees-laced red vinegar. Expect the omakase to sign out with courses like an uni hand roll, a geoduck clam miso soup, and chef’s signature spongy tamago.
How to book: Website

East Village, $250
This under-the-radar gem opened back in the fall of 2022, replacing longtime East Village favorite Kura. Chef Marco Lin, previously of Sushi Ginza Onodera, moved in, retooled the space, and added in a long eight-seat counter. His Edomae-style menu costs $250 for around 18 courses, and considering the sky-high prices of great omakase meals these days, this meal is a total steal. In addition to a highly seasonal, weekly-changing menu devoted to Japanese seafood flown in from Toyosu, the chef goes to great efforts to make his rice, steaming it with a special high-pH bottled water that he says makes the rice firmer. After around five starters like Japanese tilefish fried and grilled with its scales on in snow crab gravy, guests will move into 10 nigiri, followed by the chef’s very custardy, brûléed tamago, a clear soup made with sea scallops and seabream, and yuzu pink peppercorn ice cream for dessert.
How to book: Resy

Midtown East, $275
Tucked away within seafood restaurant Point Seven attached to Grand Central Terminal is this pretty little year-old jewel box that’s home to 10-seat Coral Omakase. Chef Robbie Cook, formerly of Morimoto, helms the counter, where he serves a 19-course $275 omakase hinged on modern flavors that build on traditional technique. The meal could commence with six otsumami such as mako garei (marbled sole flounder) in a Korean chili vinaigrette accented with a toasted seaweed herb oil with chive, basil, and tarragon, alongside a roasted duck udon noodle dish in a kinmedai-chicken broth. A yuzu celery sorbet serves as a palate cleanser between starters and nigiri, making way for eleven sushi dishes from kisu (Japanese whiting) to Alaskan king salmon. Two pastry dishes conclude the meal such as dorayaki stuffed with corn ice cream and purin, a custard with miso caramel and shisho.
How to book: OpenTable

Columbus Circle, $750
This bastion of luxury sushi is one of the city’s longest running omakase counters and often considered an NYC bucket list restaurant. At Masa, the Columbus Circle eatery orchestrates Manhattan’s most expensive omakase option, which starts at $750—but in order to guarantee a seat at the hinoki sushi counter, it’ll cost you $950. Expect a menu laced with seasonal Japanese seafood and luxury ingredients, including mounds of otoro tartare crowned with caviar, and what could be the restaurant’s most signature bite: rice rolled into a ball with truffle and Parmesan cheese.
How to book: Tock

Upper East Side, $550
Helmed by chef Nozomu Abe, since opening in 2018, Sushi Noz has earned street cred among sushi enthusiasts as one of the city’s most premier and more traditional omakase experiences. With a blonde wood bedecked aesthetic inspired by Edo period teahouses, this dual counter engagement offers a $550 (including tip) menu built from around 95% Japanese ingredients, many of which the team imports twice a week directly from Toyosu Market. Diners begin with around six appetizers, before moving into anywhere from 13 to 18 nigiri bites. Overall, expect classic Edomae-style nigiri, with occasional global influences.
How to book: Tock

East Village, $500
Tadashi Yoshida of Nagaoya’s impossible-to-reserve Sushi No Yoshino, decamped from Japan to open this 10-seat sushi counter two years ago, and it’s now one of only four restaurants in the Big Apple to have earned a perfect four-star review from The New York Times. Yoshino’s spot marks the very first time a true master from Japan (as opposed to a protégé) has relocated to open in Manhattan. Located on the Bowery, chef is serving a $500 omakase of around 21 courses with seafood sourced from the same Japanese mongers (Toyosu, Kanazawa’s Omicho, and other markets) that supplied his counter in Japan, with fish coming in two to three times per week. With a uniquely Japanese French-inspired omakase (chef spent some time working at a French restaurant in his youth), patrons experience a series of appetizers accented western and luxury ingredients like cream, olive oil, caviar, before moving into a more classically Edomae 10-course nigiri series.
How to book: Tock

Tribeca, $495
Former Ginza Onodera chef Kazushige Suzuki presides over this eight-seat engagement that puts seafood flown in daily from fish markets in Tokyo and Fukuoka to excellent use. Throughout the $495 omakase, he incorporates seasonality and subtle Italian influences. Take, for example, his signature starter: finely pulled Hokkaido hairy crab arranged into a delicate mountain atop cold pasta with a vibrant green sauce made from seasonal ingredients like chrysanthemum. After the appetizer block, guests embark on a 10-bite nigiri series that begins with another signature: nigiri made from rice and abalone liver.
How to book: Tock

Tribeca, $480
Chef Shion Uino came to town in 2017 after spending a decade working at one of the world’s most prestigious—and impossible to book—sushi counters, Tokyo’s Sushi Saito. While he initially landed at New York City’s Sushi Amane, he has since decamped and teamed up with 69 Leonard owner, Idan Elkon, to helm this lauded eight-seat omakase counter. The $480 (gratuity included) Edomae-style experience has morphed from one paying tribute to kaiseki, to a menu based around rare seafood and, unquestionably, the city’s most excellent interpretation of ethereally custardy tamago. Uino receives six fish deliveries per week and, in terms of menu progression, patrons can expect to commence with sashimi, then move into a series of tsumami (small appetizers), followed by nine nigiri bites, a hand roll, soup, and that tamago. Guests also have the option to add on a la carte bites like sashimi or chinmi (rare bites).
How to book: Resy 

Tribeca, $450
Iconic NYC sushi chef Eiji Ichimura—formerly of Brushstroke, then Uchu where he earned two Michelin stars—made his return this June with a slim 10-seat space in Tribeca. From behind a silky smooth counter made from 200-year-old cedar wood, Ichimura prepares a roughly 20-course seasonal omakase that explores aged fish techniques. The meal begins with an update to his signature monaka, a rice-based wafer now served in two pieces with two types of seasonal uni with ossetra caviar, and a mound of fresh wasabi. Four more otumami (small appetizers) lead into bites like 10-day matured gizzard shad, and a showstopper tuna block—soy sauce-marinated lean bluefin tuna followed by a double-decker stack of medium fatty tuna. And finally, buttery, double layer slabs of fatty tuna.
How to book: Resy

Midtown East, $295 for lunch, $410 for dinner
Like many great sushiya in Tokyo that are tucked into nooks and crannies—sometimes within train stations—10-seat Joji claims the lower level of One Vanderbilt Avenue attached to Grand Central Station. Within its serene oasis of gray and blonde tones, Masa alum George Ruan––with partners Xiao Lin, and Wayne S. Cheng––serves a luxe, 18-course omakase for $410 (the 17-course lunch option runs for $295). Potential starters include warm dishes like amadai karaage with ossetra caviar and grilled kinki fish, before moving into 15 nigiri—of which 90% is sourced from Japan—like nodoguro and shima-aji. Lucky guests conclude with a piece of exceptional Japanese fruit such as musk melon. And for anyone on the go, grab some packaged sushi sets at the team’s adjacent takeout venture, Joji Box.
How to book: Resy

Chelsea, $400
The former chef of Tokyo’s Ginza Iwa, Shigeyuki Tsunoda, commands the show at Noda, the exclusive, counter-only omakase engagement that can be considered somewhat of a Tokyo-NYC hybrid (but with a more upbeat feel). Located at 37 West 20th Street, enjoy its theatrical Ken Fulk-designed space accented with plush textiles like velvet and brilliant gem stone hues, while sidling up to an illuminated, semi-circular 10-seat counter for a single omakase that runs $400 for about 20 bites. Pending seasonal availability, offerings range from otsumami like ankimo (monkfish liver) to shiro ebi (baby shrimp) nigiri. The majority of the seafood served is imported from Toyosu Market through four weekly shipments.
How to book: Tock

Chinatown, $365
Tucked away in Chinatown’s Canal Arcade, chef Kunihide Nakajima debuted his covert, eight-seat sushi counter in March 2020. Those familiar with Manhattan’s sushi scene will know Nakajima earned his own devout following over the years during his tenures at venerated omakase haunts Sushiden, Sushi Inoue, and Uogashi, and opening his own place had been long anticipated by many. At Nakaji, the omakase runs $365, and spans from about four otsumami before sliding to 10 pieces of sushi, followed by a hand roll and dessert. All seafood is sourced from Toyosu Market three times a week. And within the space is a nine-seat cocktail bar, Bar Nakaji, dedicated to Japanese cocktails and rare whisky (with nearly 90 bottles on the menu).
How to book: Resy

Tribeca, $295
Chef Masa Ito made a name for himself with umami-rich wagyu and caviar-laced nigiri at the Los Angeles export of Sushi Zo. However, he’s now running this venture with Kevin Kim and VCR Group (of new American eatery Little Maven, the world's first NFT restaurant). At this 16-seat counter in a modern, yet minimalist space, Sushi Ito offers a high-end (but relatively affordably priced) omakase costing $295 for a welcome cocktail plus series of four otsumami, miso soup, 12 nigiri bites, one hand roll, and dessert. Fish is flown in four days per week from markets in Tokyo and Fukuoka, with about 90% of ingredients sourced from Japan. Look out for seasonal bites like bluefin sashimi with garlic tataki, wagyu nigiri with truffle, and the option to add on a snow crab hand-roll with golden osetra caviar.
How to book: Resy

Upper West Side, $280
Chef Yukihiro Takeda debuted this sliver of an eight-seat omakase counter on the Upper West Side right before the pandemic hit in 2019, and for a while the 19-course, $280 omakase was mostly under the radar. But word has gotten out. At Takeda, expect a fairly-priced, highly seasonal Edomae-inspired meal that mixes small appetizers with nigiri, like nodoguro or kombu-cured red snapper in a roasted red rice sake sauce. The team sources all of its ingredients from Japan, with fish deliveries coming in twice a week from Toyosu Market.
How to book: Resy

SoHo, $220
Sushi Ikumi is the omakase addition from the same team behind kaiseki star Hirohisa, located just next door. Chef Jongin Jeong cut his teeth at the aforementioned, but here at the eight-seat counter, he serves a series of three otsumami (appetizers) before moving into 13 pieces of sushi, including aged bites like tuna, and cured fish such as kohada and saba. The $220 omakase concludes with housemade ice cream.
How to book: Resy

Williamsburg, $195
Not only is the former Ito chef, Cheng Lin, finally putting Williamsburg on the omakase map, but this past September, he launched one of the city’s best bets for tremendously high-quality sushi at an impressively low price. His 18-course, $195 traditional Edomae is loaded with sterling seafood, including heaps of uni. Decked out in a simple, yet modern space with a 18-seat L-shaped dining counter, expect ingredients almost exclusively sourced from Japan (in fact, he shares a buyer with revered city counters like Yoshino and Sushi Noz). The menu begins with four small starters like seared Spanish mackerel (Fukuoka) before moving into a seasonal soup, 11 pieces of nigiri, a hand roll, and tomago. Unique to Shota, and a practice embraced by top sushi chefs in Japan, is the use of two batches of sushi rice, each seasoned with different vinegars. Bite pairings include whitefish and red snapper with light vinegar-enhanced rice, while the rice seasoned with aged vinegars is reserved for richer fish like mackerel and toro.
How to book: Resy

Midtown, $95
Stroll past the sparkling jewelry on the Vault floor of Saks Fifth Avenue for this six-seat counter tucked behind a curtain. Since June, former Kissaki chef Morgan Adamson has offered shoppers a tasty reprieve set in a stylish little space inside the tony Midtown department store serving a quality omakase under $100. While the interior shies away from the Japanese aesthetic of others, Adamson’s quick, 60-minute experience––which mostly relies on Japanese fish––is more minimalist and Edomae-inspired than it is modern, comprised of 12 nigiri bites from amberjack to chu-toro. Also noteworthy: Adamson serves two batches of rice seasoned with different vinegars; lighter fish pair with rice imbued with a brighter vinegar, while fattier fish are served atop rice accented with a more complex vinegar.
How to book: Resy

Upper East Side, $80 and $155
Another excellent deal by way of affordable omakases comes from the Sushi Noz team, just a few steps away. Earlier this year, co-owners Joshua Foulquier and Nozomu Abe relaunched Noz Market from a specialty fish shop to a casual omakase spot with a 10-seat rear counter inspired by the relaxed, fresh fish sushi spots at Toyosu Market. Along with a six-person stand-up hand roll bar toward the front, former Sushi Noz chef Shigeru Sugano oversees the operation and selects the seasonal seafood woven into both the 17-course, $155 omakase and the 10-course $80 option. He sources from the same suppliers as Sushi Noz, which is an immediate guarantee on the quality here. Think bites like hamachi with sesame seeds, and ebi with tobiko and egg yolk oboro. Take note: The eatery offers an $85 lunch omakase Friday through Sunday.
How to book: Tock

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