With my recent delving into omakase bars, I haven’t really talked about the concept. First off, while the four experiences I wrote up recently were a specific type of curated, piece by piece kind of omakase at the hands of the sushi chefs, that’s just one approach, and usually the more expensive sort. The word itself really just means “in your hands”, and is neither a long term tradition in Japanese culture (having become a popular approach to dining only in the 1990s in more modern sushi bars), nor is it specific to sushi. In Japanese culture you can have an omakase of wines from a sommelier, of cocktails from a bartender (in fact, we just got a new omakase cocktail bar here in Buenos Aires – you get three cocktails, selected by the bartender after consulting you on your preferences), even leaving clothing selection in a fancy fashion shop in the hands of a consultant.
If you stop to think about it, any restaurant offering a tasting menu, or even a prix fixe menu, is in essence giving you an omakase experience. And omakase is really just the giving up total control version of osusume, which is basically, “recommend something for me and I’ll have that”.
But for the moment, I’m staying with sushi, and three more casual experiences that highlight some of the differences.
Let’s start at Harakiri de Una, Honduras 4756, Palermo. An odd name to begin with. As I suspected, and a friend who speaks Japanese agreed, it basically means “ritual suicide in one stroke”, an honorable way for a samurai to kill himself after disappointing his master. But not something I’d probably have picked as a restaurant name. Although there’s a vague Japanese theme to the decor, basically this place is a big dive bar divided into four rooms with the kitchen and sushi bar sandwiched in there. Ambiance probably depends a lot on who’s there – in the main room there were maybe half a dozen tables of folk including myself, solo, many of them Japanese, and all trying to enjoy ourselves; while in the back room, which seemed to be the main bar, there was a large group of late teen, early 20-something young women, let’s say, having a good time, at high volume and pitch, and involving a lot of running around and back and forth through the dining room to the bathroom.
A small amuse of cooked squash was good, but kind of uninteresting as a starter on every table.
There are two omakase options available, a 20-piece mixed sashimi, nigiri, and maki set, or a 12-piece nigiri set. I went with the latter, which, when I now look at the photo, I realize that there were only 11 pieces. I also separately ordered a 3-piece of trout roe gunkan which arrived as 4 pieces, and a 5-piece umeboshi plum and dried bonito flake maki. Oh wait, I’ll bet the extra trout roe piece is the 12th piece of my omakase. Had I known, I might have ordered a different extra dish. Respectively, 2970, 1100, and 640 pesos. They also offer two different “flights” of sake, which was a nice way to get a little sampling of three different styles, 1380 or 1600 pesos, depending on which trio you want. The serving sizes are a bit small, especially for the price.
Everything was fresh, well made, and quite good. I’d happily eat any of it again. I’m not totally sold on the ambiance. But I will likely order for delivery.
About five years ago I visited Sashimiya, México 1965, in Once, and thought it was good, but nothing all that special. I felt that the service was stiff and unfriendly, and the food fell somewhere in the “I’ve had better, I’ve had worse” sort of category. But I saw on one of our local delivery services that they were offering an omakase menu, and figured, at least I won’t have to deal with the ambiance and service. A 15-piece nigiri set for 3500 pesos – hmm… and here, looking, it was only 14 pieces delivered. And two half rolls, one of salmon skin, and one of spicy surimi and cucumber, 1300 and 800 pesos, respectively.
The nigiri, all good, though the two pieces each of six different fish (I’m guessing there was supposed to be a second prawn nigiri, and then just one egg as a final piece, to hit 15) felt a bit of a cheat in approach. But hey, they didn’t promise that they’d all be different, just a selection of fish of the day. The rolls were both good, though the surimi one wasn’t notedly spicy. Again, I’ve had better, I’ve had worse.
The recent opening of yet another gourmet food hall (between indoor and outdoor ones, these are becoming the hottest trend in BA these days), the Mercado de los Carruajes, Av. Leandro N. Alem 852, on the edge of downtown, brought a variety of new spots to try. A few of them are outposts of other restaurants, but several are unique spots. Enter Nozomi, from well-known sushi master in BA, Juan Matsuoka. Until recently he ran one of the better sushi bars in the city, the eponymous Matsuoka, and then during the pandemic switched to a delivery omakase service, Umamiya. Now he’s behind this small, six seat sushi bar on the mid-level of the market, as well as an izakaya restaurant, Yujin, out in Villa Ortuzar. Which, I’ll get to soon.
He wasn’t there, and I gather he’s usually not, at least at lunchtime. Hey, this might be one of the few places that offers an at-bar omakase lunch experience in the city. Here it’s a five course sushi experience, tailored somewhat to your preferences. I was asked if I wanted all salmon or a mix of salmon and white fish or all white fish. I went with the last. I was also asked if I wanted all sashimi, all nigiri, all maki, or a mix. That felt a little bit like I was being asked to make too many decisions for an omakase experience. The whole idea is to leave it in the chef’s hands, no? 7400 pesos (the all-salmon option was a bit more).
First up were two slices of chernia, a stone bass, served as sashimi with a little soy and lemon juice. On a spoon, they basically make a one bite… course. I wasn’t even sure if this counted as a course, but it did.
Next up, a lovely bowl of cubes of pristinely fresh besugo, porgy, dressed in my new favorite combination of oyster sauce, orange juice, ginger, and truffle oil, and garnished with trout roe and green onion. Loved this! And I’ll be adapting that sauce idea to… something.
Another sashimi course, this time five delightful slices of lisa, grey mullet, interleaved with lime slices.
And then five nigiri of trout, lightly torched and brushed with truffle oil. Okay, it’s adding up to a decent amount of food.
And, finally, a half roll of two of the same fish – a tartare of the porgy inside, a slice of the mullet outside, and garnished with a slice of fried prawn and some threads of nori seaweed.
And that was the whole omakase. It’s a decent amount to eat, especially at lunch, but compared to some of the recent experiences I’ve had in the same price range, at Mutsuhito and Maru, it’s a bit lacking in variety and quantity. It was certainly all delicious, and top quality, but so were they. There’s a plus that it’s something one can have at lunchtime, and it only pales in comparison to others.
The sushi chef asked if I wanted more, and I kind of hedged, since he made a point that it would cost extra, and decided no. But then he surprised me with a plate of fried prawns, no charge, which were quite good. And at least, then, I left feeling nicely full. Service, by the way, was impeccable throughout, and the conversation was enjoyable. I was the only person at the sushi bar for most of the time I was there, so he had more time to chat with me, but with only six seats, I get the feeling he can keep up on that end even when “full”.
