Sushi Yajima omakase: Under $50 Sushi lunch omakase in Shibuya City
No trip to Japan is complete without a sushi omakase meal 🍣. Omakase means “I’ll leave it up to you” – think of it as a chef’s tasting menu. It is up to the chef what to serve you.
One of our first meals during our honeymoon in Japan was at Sushi Yajima Omakase, a small mom and pop’s restaurant where they serve up a speedy sushi omakase lunch starting at $50 per person. Here is how our experience went!
Sushi Yajima Omakase
Japan, 〒150-0011 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Higashi, 1 Chome−26−31 大島ビル Ｂ１Ｆ
The vibe
Sushi Yajima is located in Shibuya City but it is a 6 minute walk from Shibuya station. Usually this doesn’t sound like much but in the heat (and if you are walking 20,000+ steps a day in Japan 😬) it is not the best.
Our reservation was at 11:30am (first seating) and we quickly found the restaurant because of the sign outside. Alot of restaurants and businesses in Japan have very humble and low-key entrances so keep your eye out for signage otherwise you may miss the front door. Reservations are required and you will likely need a Japanese phone number in order to make the reso.
Once inside, the wife/lady greeted us and her English is actually really great so there are no communication issues if you cannot speak Japanese. She shows us the lunch menu in English and asks if we want to do any add-ons. We decide to add on the uni (sea urchin) to the omakase for 800 yen (~$8 CAD, which isn’t that cheap. Similar price to Vancouver). The regular lunch omakase is 4,500 yen, which is around $41 CAD per person for 13 courses.
After pre-ordering, we get to sit at the bar table. Note that this is the only seating available so you will be seating at the bar regardless and not facing the rest of your party.
I was surprised to be the only 2 people sitting and ready to eat as I was expecting all the seats to be filled before the chef starts preparing the food. Another couple actually comes in near the end of our meal, and I realize they manage the reservations so that it’s basically 1 right after another and they don’t fill all the seats.
The main chef is the husband, Mr. Yajima. He prepares all the sushi in front of you for that omakase experience. He is kind of a funny guy – more of my thoughts on him at the end of this blog review.
Sushi lunch omakase ($42)
The 13 courses (+1 so 14 courses with our uni) follow the order:
- Tuna 💗
- Yellowtail 💗
- Flounder
- Striped jack
- Sweet shrimp 💗
- Ark shell 💗
- Mussel
- Horse mackerel
- Squid 💗
- Uni 💗
- Conger eel 💗
- Tuna 💗
- Omelette
- 3 types of seaweed roll
They were all quite delicious but I will single out some of my favourites:
- Both tunas at the beginning and end of the meal: judging by the colour and the look of the fish, it’s not a super fatty tuna like otoro or chutoro, but it was still quite delicious.
- Sweet shrimp: I love spot prawn and amaebi, so this one I knew I would like a lot
- Yellowtail + ginger: This was one of Kelvin’s favourites!
- Ark shell: Although this wasn’t in my top, I thought I would include it in this list because I don’t eat ark shell very often (maybe never?) and I thought it was very unique
- Squid: I usually don’t like squid because I find it to be very slippery and I get left with a wob of wasabi on my tongue and no fish to pair it with. But the squid here had a nice chewy texture to it!
- Conger eel: We both were very surprised by the flavour and the smokiness of this eel
On top of the sushi courses, we also got a piece of sweet omelette – the dashi made it very comforting – and a bowl of clear soup.
To end the meal, we got a trio of sushi rolls – salted plum, salmon roe, and tuna. He made a small version for me and a bigger version for Kelvin (had more rice). By this time of the meal, I was pretty full!
The dessert/end of the meal were 2 pieces of Japanese pear.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall, I had a delicious sushi lunch omakase at Yajima 😊. Every sushi course was delicious and nothing felt too fishy or not fresh. For under $50 CAD per person, I think the lunch omakase is totally worth it for 14 courses!
In terms of the overall experience, I will say it is a little bit weird because of how speedy they make the entire dining experience. In Vancouver, I am used to an omakase dining experience (or any regular dining experience actually) to be at least 1 hour, but we were in and out of this restaurant within 30 minutes.
Again, we were mostly the only 2 people he was serving so it was non-stop sushi coming at you. At some points I would have 2 pieces of sushi on my plate because I hadn’t eaten the earlier piece yet.
On top of him being very fast at making the sushi, he told us very early on to “eat quickly” and low-key kind of rushed us. This kind of stressed me out because I wanted to take photos and videos of every piece of sushi and therefore I wasn’t able to eat very quickly 😣. I didn’t even have time to turn to Kelvin and say, “Wow, this is yummy”. If you look closely at some of my photos you will see they are blurry because I was rushing. And in a few pieces, they were not made with the most care (i.e. some of the rice was falling apart). I believe it is likely because he made it too quickly but also maybe we just didn’t eat it fast enough 🥴?
So yes, I would say that aspect was a negative in our experience even though that is their entire business model. I just don’t like to be rushed in my dining experiences and I think I am generally a fast eater already.
Near the end of our meal, the next reservation came in – another couple. I realized then they ladder the reservations so he focuses on serving 1 party at one time and hence maybe why he applies pressure for you to finish the meal in time before the next reservation comes. Since we were the first reservation of the day, we didn’t have to wait outside or be sandwiches between 2 other reservations and feel even more pressure to eat quickly.
Overall with this experience in consideration, I still give Yajima Sushi 4 stars because the food was delicious, the price is reasonable, and I did find the couple to be endearing. Some reviews do not like that the couple asks to take a photo of you for their guestbook or they tell you to take a photo of him holding the sushi. Since I like documenting my experiences and take photos/videos, I didn’t mind them doing this.
But if you are looking for a sushi omakase that will take 2 hours with a performance (i.e. the chef slicing the fish slowly in front of you) then this place will not be the place for you. I see it more as a no-frills simple “you get what you get” omakase experience.
Sincerely, Loewe