9 best omakase and tasting menus in Tokyo for under ¥10,000

Omakase lunch from ¥3,800, dinner from ¥7,700

From the folks behind the Michelin-starred crab speciality restaurant Kitafuku comes a unique restaurant that elevates tonkatsu (deep-fried breaded pork) from a casual meal to an omakase experience. And with prices that won’t break the bank: lunch costs as little as ¥3,800 while dinner starts from an affordable ¥7,700.

The restaurant uses two types of pork: Yonezawa-buta Ichiban Sodachi, which has a good balance of umami and sweetness, and local Tokyo X-buta, favoured for its sweet, juicy fat. The pork is served fresh off the fryer, piece by piece, like a set course meal, and the chef will recommend the best condiment for each one. On the table you’ll find Himalayan salt as well as two types of sauces, and come dinner, the chef will bring out the restaurant’s signature balsamic vinegar sauce.

It’s an eye-opening experience exploring the various flavours and textures of pork, and you can really taste the difference from cut to cut. The trick is to place each piece meat side down on your tongue for maximum flavour – don’t be lured in by the crispy golden crusts, no matter how tempting they look.

Dinner ¥9,900

What makes Rama a new favourite among our ever-growing list of Tokyo’s finest restaurants is the way head chef Katsuhiro Aoki manages to deliver food that is playful, elegant, unpretentious and genuinely delicious all at once.

An autumn menu at this Japanese-Italian open kitchen might begin with a twist on Caprese salad with sautéed persimmons in lieu of tomatoes, whereas chilled gnocchi with mackerel and tart raspberry vinegar would be served to convey the transition of spring to summer. 

The signature dish is a bowl of handmade taglioni crowned with a generous grating of fragrant truffle. Served in a buttery emulsion of homemade chicken stock and 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano, the only thing that changes about this pasta across the seasons is the variety of truffle that is sourced directly from Italy, but every bite is as revelatory as the last. 

Dinner from ¥9,800

In the salaryman enclave of Shinbashi lies a new sushi restaurant that looks more suited for the glitz of neighbouring Ginza. While Sushi Restaurant Issekisancho may have the polish of a classy, upmarket sushi counter, its prices are friendlier on the wallet. Yet, Issekisancho’s close connection with Yamayuki, one of Toyosu Market’s biggest tuna brokers, means it has access to some of the best tuna around.

At Issekisancho you can enjoy an omakase sushi meal for just ¥8,800, which gets you eight pieces of nigiri as well as eight dishes. There’s also the more sumptuous Issekisancho full-course dinner at ¥13,000, where you get five extra pieces of nigiri sushi in addition to the aforementioned dishes.

The offerings at Issekisancho are classic Edo-mae, or exemplary of Tokyo-style sushi. The shari (sushi rice) is made up of two strains of Niigata rice: the sushi-grade emi no kizuna is folded with shinnosuke, which brings some stickiness and a hint of sweetness to the mixture. This is then seasoned with a blend of pure rice vinegar plus an exclusive sake lees vinegar from Ehime that’s born of a 27-year fermentation process. 

While the fish and seafood selection here varies according to the season, you can always count on having prime tuna in various levels of fattiness. More importantly, the chefs incorporate subtle creative touches to elevate the sushi without straying too far from authenticity. All this is complemented by a free-flow of the restaurant’s signature clam soup that works as a palate cleanser, and helps balance out the alcohol for those who choose to indulge in sake or wine with their sushi.

Lunch from ¥3,850, dinner from ¥9,900

One of many tenants of Hiroo’s restaurant-filled Eat Play Works complex, Gracia is a modern Spanish restaurant named after a district in Barcelona. The atmosphere of this counter-style gastrobar is cheery and casual, but the talented chef dishes up what is easily some of the best tapas in the country. 

Expect Spanish staples like ruby-red slivers of Iberico ham and cast iron pans of seafood paella, as well as contemporary bites like oyster ceviche with beetroot puree. Lunch courses start at ¥3,850 (including an amuse bouche, appetiser, entree and dessert), while chef Jerome Quilbeuf’s seven-course tasting menu is priced at ¥9,900.

Weekday omakase lunch from ¥4,400, dinner from ¥9,900

In Tokyo, sushi on a budget normally means skipping the uni and fatty tuna rolls and sticking to imported salmon and dashimaki tamago (Japanese omelette) nigiri. This isn’t the case at Sushi Tokyo Ten Shibuya, which offers some of the city's most omakase sushi courses for under ¥10,000.

The restaurant has built a large following with its ¥4,400 walk-in lunches available on weekdays, but due to its soaring popularity, securing a seat without a reservation has become a challenge. Reservations are required for the ¥9,900 sushi course, but rest assured, the experience justifies the price.

A peaceful oasis in the middle of bustling Shibuya, this sleek counter-style sushi restaurant will leave you feeling pampered, calm and most importantly, satisfied by the end of your lunch break. The restaurant doesn’t have any menus, but you’re in good hands as the chef behind the counter swiftly and seamlessly forms an array of perfectly shaped sushi, including opulent favourites like chutoro (medium fatty tuna) and a mini ikura-don (salmon eggs over rice).

Omakase dinner at ¥7,700

Not all tacos need to be washed down with tequila. This hideaway restaurant in Ebisu serves tacos as part of a multi-course dinner menu (¥7,700 per person) in a sleek yet cosy counter-style restaurant. The palm-sized tacos here are small yet decadent, with a cross-cultural spin on modern Mexican cuisine – and we’re not talking about Tex-Mex.

With creative, non-traditional combinations like the foie gras taco with apple compote, the bites here are created to go with wine rather than margaritas. The selection of vino includes labels sourced from different parts of Europe – mainly France and Italy – as well as Japan, and a full wine pairing can be added for ¥12,000 per head. While every taco here – made with freshly ground masa flour – is worth savouring, the star of the night is usually the carne asada platter, where diners can have a little fun building their own steak tacos for the last course.

Omakase lunch and dinner from ¥5,480

Daintier than your usual yakitori joint, Iguchi is a sleek, understated restaurant tucked in a quiet alley in Nakameguro. Like a sushi restaurant, the dining counter is made of a single hinoki tree and yakitori skewers are served one by one for diners to savour each piece as it comes off the charcoal grill.

The standard course is set at ¥5,480 and comes with 23 items, which the restaurant recommends setting aside three hours for. Despite the quantity of courses, the dishes are light enough that you won’t feel overstuffed halfway through the meal. It begins with appetisers ranging from foie gras and liver pâté to caciocavallo cheese before the yakitori lineup featuring favourites like chicken breast with a smear of freshly grated wasabi and crispy chicken thigh with a bite of daikon.

Omakase dinner from ¥6,600

With its collection of artworks and Japanese garden designed by Hiroshi Sugimoto, Sahsya Kanetanaka is a confoundingly peaceful space hidden on the second floor of Oak Omotesando. While the restaurant itself is small, its minimalist design consisting of two long counters (each made with a single piece of timber) facing the garden makes it feel far more spacious than it actually is.

During the day, the restaurant is frequented by shoppers looking for a tea break with traditional Japanese sweets, but the restaurant’s evening menu draws in diners with its contemporary kaiseki meal. There are two dinner courses available for ¥6,600 and ¥11,000 per head. The courses are presented as artfully as Sugimoto’s creations installed in the space, beginning with dishes like miso-cured fish and ending with mochi and bean paste paired with a freshly whisked bowl of matcha. 

Omakase dinner from ¥6,800

This smart, counter-style restaurant near Ebisu is a sister store of Iguchi Nakameguro that specialises in tempura. While tempura usually appears as a side or supplement for dishes like soba noodles or kaiseki courses, this counter restaurant elevates the Japanese fritters and makes it the star of the show. 

Delicate morsels of shrimp, sweet potato and chicken tempura are served one by one over the counter, with non-traditional items like foie gras croquette also added in the mix. Though nearly every course has been battered and deep-fried, the skills used to fry the tempura and high-quality oil stops the meal from feeling greasy. A multicourse dinner menu of 23 items is available for ¥6,800.