The Best Sushi Omakase Restaurants In Miami
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
In addition to iguanas and real estate prices, you can add high-end omakase restaurants to the list of "Things That Have Rapidly Increased In Miami." What do these very expensive temples of nigiri have in common? Well, they usually cost anywhere from $150-$300 per person, have reservations that get scooped up faster than Bad Bunny tickets, and (when done well) serve sushi that will make you want to write a thank you note to every tuna in the ocean. And if you're looking for something a little more affordable, check out our guide to omakase sushi under $100. And if you just want great sushi, check out our sushi guide.
MIA Guide
Where To Eat Omakase Sushi In Miami For Under $100
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Ogawa
As the most expensive option on this guide, Ogawa has no choice but to be phenomenal. And it truly is. This 11-seat restaurant has considered all the details and then some. Arrive a little early and you’ll be invited to the peaceful back garden and offered a highball so carbonated that each sip makes your head feel like an inflating balloon. The meal is highly seasonal, lasts about two and a half hours, and much of it is sourced from Japan. Nigiri makes up the bulk of the evening—cuts like kinki, scallop, ebi, and sea bream marinated in cherry blossom leaves. This is a meal for people who have been mentally planning a trip to Japan since their very first paycheck.
Cost: $350 per person.
This is Ogawa's sister restaurant, although it's not exclusively an omakase restaurant like its sibling. Not only does Hiyakawa’s counter seating offer a better view of the chefs than anywhere on this guide, but it’s a quiet, peaceful space where you’ll have no trouble devoting your full attention to the delicious plates in front of you. Nigiri makes up the bulk of Hiyakawa’s omakase—and it’s phenomenal. There was a back-to-back sequence of scallop and fatty tuna that almost made us fall out of our chair. Most bites here—which range from a tempura course to bluefin tuna served in a soy sauce and sweet sake broth you will slurp from the bowl—have that effect, and Hiyakawa really delivers everything we want in a $200-plus omakase.
Cost: $250 per person.
Mr. Omakase could be a lot more expensive—and we’d still happily pay for it. There are three options at the Downtown spot, a 10-course ($89), 14-course ($109), and 18-course ($149). We're not saying that's cheap—but the quality and deliciousness of the sushi here is on par with the upper tier of Miami's most expensive omakase spots. Price point isn't the only reason to love this place though. The two-hour dinner is an unforgettable blur of nigiri and sashimi so delicate and tender you barely have to chew it. Every piece of fish, uni, or beef that is put in front of you will get better and better and better, like a well-paced action movie. The space, which only has a dozen or so counter seats, feels private. The service is attentive but never suffocating, and the atmosphere hits that sweet spot between formal and informal.
Cost: $89-$149 per person.
The quality on display here is very much on par with Miami’s top formal omakase spots (including the $300 per person Hiden, where the chef used to work). This 14-seat Gables counter—constructed out of the smoothest wood you’ve ever touched—is a great choice for a person’s first expensive omakase. But Shingo’s 17 fantastic courses also do enough to impress an omakase veteran, particularly one looking for a nigiri-heavy meal that doesn’t lean too heavily on blowtorches and gimmicky flavors.
Cost: $225 per person.
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We really knew nothing about this nondescript restaurant in Brickell Key before we booked it, but it turned out to be the best and most unique omakase in Miami. The three-and-a-half-hour dinner does include a stunning nigiri section, but you'll also encounter a constantly rotating mix of local vegetables alongside rare (for Miami) seafood like braised sazae. But unfortunately, Naoe's only current reservation option comes with a required deposit of $280 per couple for sake. It's unfortunate because there is no option to opt out if, say, you are sober. And our emails to the restaurant to inquire about this policy have gone unreturned. It makes this already inaccessible omakase feel even less accessible.
Cost: $280 per person with an additional required sake purchase of $280 per couple.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
Momi Market is more casual than most of Miami’s sushi omakase options—but it’s as good as nearly all of them. Some planning goes into this one. You’ve got to call (or visit) the restaurant at least two days in advance to set up your reservation. Sometimes texting is involved. But it’s worth it. They only seat one party at a time for the omakase, so the chef can devote his attention to you. He’ll adjust his dabs of wasabi based on your preference, ask if you’d like more or less of a certain fish, and monitor your fullness so you don’t get too stuffed before the best bites arrive. The 17-ish course meal has some extraordinary nigiri as well as dishes like fish collar and little bowls of chirashi covered in roe. It’s highly seasonal too, so you can return every few months and have a different (but equally delicious) experience.
Cost: $175 per person.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
If you don’t really want to commit to a $200 per person omakase where you sit inches from the chef and have to try not to burp for two hours, go to Sushi Yasu Tanaka. The quality of fish here is much more impressive than what you might expect from a shiny, casual food hall in the Design District. The $59 omakase platter consists of ten pieces of nigiri, plus a handroll. It’s not a cheap lunch, but it’s also upscale omakase quality sushi served in an environment where you can wear flip-flops and don’t need a reservation. The nigiri is pretty straightforward—beautiful cuts of salmon, tuna, scallop, and more rotating fish draped over a warm bed of rice. Plus, spending $60 here is so much more satisfying than buying a pair of socks at one of the nearby designer stores.
Cost: $59.
The food at Hiden is very good. But what really makes this place special isn’t just the meal, but the whole Hiden experience. A few hours before dinner, you get an email that contains a secret code to get in the door. When you show up, you have to go to The Taco Stand, a casual restaurant in Wynwood where no one is dressed like they’re about to eat a very expensive omakase dinner. You walk to the back in your suspiciously fancy clothes, enter the code, and watch as a secret door silently slides open. Then, you’re in for two hours of excellent Japanese dishes. There are 16 to 18 courses of the usual suspects—uni, otoro, A5 wagyu—alongside a few creative dishes, like grilled eel topped with caviar and baby sardines wrapped in nori.
Cost: $300 per person.
photo credit: Courtesy Sushi By Scratch
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Sushi By Scratch is an omakase with locations in Los Angeles, Austin, and more. Their Miami expansion landed in Coconut Grove. The 16-course meal is far from traditional Japanese sushi. Nigiri is topped with little slices of pineapple, drizzled with melted bone marrow, and brushed with a beet mustard sauce. It may sound chaotic, but everything works deliciously and no ingredient is tossed around simply for the sake of showmanship (well, maybe a few). Dinner moves along at a good pace, and the atmosphere is fun enough that you won’t have to feel self-conscious if you accidentally get a little drunk off one of the beverage pairings.
Cost: $185 per person.
The Den is located inside South Beach’s Azabu, in a private room covered in neat rows of sleek wood from floor to ceiling. It's a cool space, although sort of awkwardly laid out: too big to strike up a conversation with your roughly 15 fellow diners, yet small enough to overhear every word they say. Still, it's easy enough to ignore that once the food starts coming. Not every plate in the 20-course menu is an emotional firework, but there are enough of the necessary flavor lightning bolts one expects from an omakase this expensive. There are impossibly tender slices of otoro, dabs of fresh wasabi placed neatly underneath thin strips of flounder, a pine straw smoked salmon nigiri that has a perfect whisper of campfire flavor—all constructed with perfectly vinegary sushi rice.
Cost: $300 per person.
