The best omakase diners in Sydney right now

Gaku Robata Grill is many rungs above your lunchtime sushi place (at lunch they only serve ramen, and there's only 40 bowls to go around). It's also a few more above a neighbourhood izakaya that rings with “irasshaimase” greetings. But it’s keeping things more casual than the ascetic kaiseki dining temples with omakase menus and service that borders on the reverential. It’s casual fancy done right, which makes it perfect for date night.

Watching chef Nobuyuki Ura at work is akin to watching an artist paint a picture or a surfer glide on a wave, in that their passion and love for what they do shines through like sunlight. Seeing them in action is one of life’s joys. Ura has been mastering the art of Japanese cuisine for more than 35 years – including 11 of those years spent as the executive chef at Merivale’s Sushi E. His passion, dedication and killer knife skills come to fruition at Ora, a sophisticated Japanese restaurant that seamlessly marries traditional techniques with modern touches. Ora also offers a kaiseki omakase experience, available on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, with Ura guiding you through each course. There are only ten seats available, so we reckon don’t wait on this one.

Sokyo is the Birkin bag of the omakase world. By this we mean you have to be offered the opportunity to reserve your spot. How, you may ask? To indulge in Sokyo's impressive sushi counter, you have to enter a monthly ballot. The lucky winner is drawn at 10am on the 1st of each month that there is a respective dinner. The omakase is only open Monday to Thursday for dinner and is a casual $300 per person. 

Launched under the capable eye of chef Tomohiro Marshall Oguro (ex-Sushi e), Bay Nine Omakase has a new menu every day for those lucky enough to nab a counter spot. Oguro is a firm believer in the interaction between chef and diner, and how it can enhance the dining experience, by tailoring individual dishes to each customer at the counter. Diners can expect elegantly crafted bites like sake-steamed Murray cod, and thinly sliced rare Wagyu, cooked sukiyaki-style. On the pricier end, the Bay Nine menu is $155 per person.

A fresh new sushi bar has landed in Barangaroo and it's offering what could quite possibly be Sydney’s cheapest omakase. Starting at $60 per person, Kokumai’s omakase comes with eight pieces of chef’s special omakase sushi with just-plucked-from-the-sea seafood, one hand roll and a miso soup. There is also an $80 and $100 option if you want to go all out. Though, just like those flash restaurants, here the chefs will prepare the sushi and sashimi in front of you and personally serve you.

Overseen by none other than Merivale's Dan Hong, the omakase at Sushi e runs Tuesday through Thursday from 6:30pm. The 20 courses are predominantly seafood based and unfortunately vegans and vegetarians cannot be catered for. The omakase experience will set you back $230 per person and cannot be transferred, so you're going to want to keep your schedule clear.

The beauty of an omakase is that each place has their thing. The intimate chef-to-diner eateries may focus on the absolute best yakitori, like at Chaco Bar, or a total focus on tuna in all its crimson forms à la Bay Nine Omakase. Or, in the case of Haco, a tiny 12-seater in a concrete cube, it's tempura. Crisp blonde batter of rice flour, ice cubes and soda water creates a lighter than air shell that coats an unending selection of vegetables, seafood and even foie gras.

When reservations for the six seats fronting the grills at this yakitori specific omakase are open, you'd better move fast. If you wish to see skewers spun attentively over binchotan charcoal, bask in the intense heat and watch chefs dip yakitori in salty-sweet tare, using the hot zones to render fat slowly or caramelise chicken hearts or tail in an instant. At $95 a pop, this is the more affordable end of the omakase spectrum.

Behind the Besuto offering is Joel Best, previously of cult-favourite Bondi’s Best. He’s now co-owner and part-time chef at the pint-sized Japanese diner in the Rocks. Best's co-owner is Finnish celebrity chef Tomi Björck - an award-winning restaurateur and entrepreneur, commanding eight restaurants in Helsinki. But of course, it's the head chef who really defines the Omakase experience, and at Besuto, it's sushi-master Hirofumi Fujita. The trio make for a formidable team, who only cater to one to two sittings per day at $195 per person.

Renowned sushi master, Ryuichi Yoshii has been practicing his craft for nearly four decades, and it shows. Heading up Yoshii’s Omakase at Nobu, one of the swathe of upscale restaurants at Crown Sydney, the tiny diner has only 10 seats at the omakase table, this is an intimate dining experience that characterises the omakase experience.