Dallas heard about a new omakase sushi restaurant called Omakase Takaya. It JUST opened and only had 7 seats in the whole restaurant. Dallas somehow got a reservation and surprised me for my birthday. Because he got a reservation for 4, Marty and Todd joined us for dinner.
Omakase Takaya was opened by the owners of Wasabi and is located in the basement level of Ramen Takeya, their ramen restaurant. We’d been to Wasabi many times, but these places are way different. Located in Fulton Market, Ramen Takeya is styled like an izakaya. Downstairs, Omakase Takeya is TINY. A counter with 7 seats, a sushi chef, an assistant chef, and a few servers. That’s it.
Sushi chef Hiromichi Sasaki was so cute. Very old, he could speak very little English. It was fun just watching him do his thing.
AMUSE BOUCHE: octopus, root vegetable
CHAWAN MUSHI: white fish, mitsuba, shiitake, lemon
KINME DAI: golden eye, snapper, nigiri
SHIMA AJI: striped horse mackerel, nigiri
AWABI: abalone, nigiri
IWASHI: sardine, nigiri
BLACK COD SAIKYO, NASU NIBITASHI, NADAI SASHIMI: pickled lotus, finger lime, fresh ginger
AKAMI & FOIE GRAS: lean bluefin, nigiri
CHU TORO: medium fatty bluefin, nigiri
O TORO: grand fatty bluefin, nigiri
JAPANESE A5 WAGYU FILET: dashi ponzu, yuzu, wasabi
UNI & IKURA: sea urchin, salmon roe, sushi rice
AKADASHI: little neck clam, red miso, chive
ANAGO: sea eel, nigiri
TEMAKI ZUSHI: seaweed, sushi rice
TAMAGO: tiger shrimp, yamaimo
DESSERT: matcha ice cream, crisp rice
We had 15 courses, plus the amuse bouche in the beginning and dessert at the end. Everything was as amazing as the photos look. I LOVED the black cod, the tuna with foie gras and the wagyu, but everything was so good. Best sushi in Chicago. Great experience. Nothing tops Sukiyabashi Jiro, but this was the closest we’ve had to that experience.