5 Costly Mistakes People Make When Booking Omakase
(And How to Avoid Them)
Insights from hosting thousands of milestone dinners at Hiroshi.
At Hiroshi, we’ve helped thousands of guests celebrate real milestones—proposals, promotions, anniversaries, and quiet personal wins.
The ones who left saying “I’ll never forget this night” didn’t treat omakase like a checklist. They treated it like a moment.
Omakase means “I’ll leave it up to you”—but at its core, it’s the chef’s life work, crafted through instinct, trust, and decades of experience. It’s never just about sushi. It’s a culinary retreat—a way to slow down and reconnect with yourself and others through food.
1. 💸 Choosing Based on Price Alone
Yes, you can find omakase for $98 (or even cheaper). And on the surface, it might look similar—raw fish, a sushi bar, plated courses.
But behind the scenes? Entirely different universe. At $98, you may be served standard-grade fish, minimal prep, and a chef with little (or no) grounding in Japanese culinary traditions.
Yes, the reality is that some omakases do not deserve to be called “omakase” in fact, and it’s named so more for the convenience of the business than anything else. Omakase should be the collection of a chef’s life’s work—not a hype term or buzzword.
At Hiroshi, we’ve spent years building the restaurant space to reflect the true Japanese art and spirit we believe in. The space reflects our soul. The food is a literal collection of our chefs’ life work—something they’ve dedicated their lives to honing. So if it truly is the life’s work you’re being served, the price tag should fairly reflect its value.
If you’re already getting dressed, hiring a sitter, and driving across town for dinner—why not make it a night you’ll actually remember?
2. 🧑🍳 Skipping the Chef Research
Omakase is not a dish—it’s a relationship between you and the chef.
The best omakase experiences come from chefs who’ve spent decades in the craft, studying timing, temperature, restraint, and flow.
If you’re trusting someone to prepare the most important dinner of your month (or year), it’s worth asking: Where did they train? What’s their background? What’s their philosophy?
At Hiroshi, our team apprenticed and cooked for years in Japan. This is not a bonus for us. It’s our roots and where we come from.
3. 📅 Booking Last-Minute Without Notice
We can always tell when a guest booked on impulse.
There’s no room to prep. No surprise welcome card. No sake pairing matched to your occasion.
When you book in advance—and let us in on what you’re celebrating—we can turn a dinner into a personal ritual.
4. ⚠️ Overlooking Group Dietary Restrictions
We’ve seen it: a group arrives for a $300 omakase, and only then someone announces they’re allergic to fish.
Suddenly, the whole menu doesn’t work—and no one’s happy.
If you’re hosting others, send a quick text ahead of time: “Any allergies or preferences I should know about?” We can accommodate a lot—if we know ahead of time.
5. 🌙 How You Show Up Matters Most
The most common mistake isn’t tactical—it’s in within you
Some people treat omakase like a product to consume… or a checklist to complete.
But true omakase is something closer to a ceremony. It’s not just about what’s on the plate—it’s about the mindset you bring to the seat. The energy. The intention. The reason you booked in the first place.
It’s like buying tickets to a concert you’ve waited months for. You don’t just show up late, scrolling your phone. You show up ready to listen, feel, and remember something.
Omakase deserves the same presence.
You can either elevate or flatten the experience based on how you show up. Show up distracted, rushed, or “just checking the box”—and that’s exactly what the night becomes.
But come open, relaxed, and intentional—and it becomes unforgettable.
That’s the part most people miss: the difference between a good meal and an unforgettable one isn’t always on the plate. It’s in how the night is designed to honor what you're actually here to celebrate.
When the experience matches the moment—you remember it forever.
🍣 The Premium Omakase— Our Complete Dining Experience(Available for First 30 Guests Only)
If you’ve read this far, you’re serious about making your night count. Whether that’s with us or with another chef, you care about doing it right—and we respect that.
That’s why we’ve put together this premium version of our omakase. It’s been the most well-received by returning guests, and it’s what we consider the most complete way to experience what we offer.
Our standard 15-course omakase is already enough for most guests. You’ll start with seasonal zensai, move through a curated flow of nigiri and sashimi, and end with something clean and thoughtful. It’s elegant, intentional, and balanced.
On top of the 15-course omakase, we’re adding two of the most requested enhancements: Chef’s Choice A5 Wagyu and a premium caviar pairing—both seamlessly integrated into the menu.
We’re able to offer this now because we’ve secured a limited supply of Japanese A5 Wagyu and house-paired caviar specifically for our spring omakase series.
But for guests booking through this page, you’ll experience the most complete version of what we serve— and we think you’ll love what we’ve put together below.
🍽️ What’s Included in Premium Omakase
- Hiroshi 15-Course Sushi Omakase – $300
- Chef’s Choice Japanese A5 Wagyu Beef (3 courses) – $102
- Premium Caviar Pairing – $58
Total Value: $460
Offered at: $349 per guest
You save $111 per guest—or $222 per couple.
Try to add these upgrades through our booking system and you’ll pay full price. This is only available here.
🍶 A Gift That Reflects the Moment
When we first opened Hiroshi, we wanted to control every part of the experience. That meant not only curating the food, pacing, and service—but also developing a sake that pairs perfectly with our omakase menu.
After years of trial and refinement, we partnered with Dainagawa Brewery in Akita to create our own house sake: Hiroshi Dainagawa Junmai Daiginjo.
It’s clean, balanced, and crafted to follow the rhythm of our courses—served at just the right temperature, at just the right time.
And to our surpirse, to mark our 8th anniversary, Dainagawa gifted us 30 bottles from our next batch—months ahead of schedule.
So we’ve decided to offer this sake—one bottle per couple—for guests booking Premium Omakase through this page.
It’s our way of saying thank you—for booking with care, and for trusting us with your night.
📦 Premium Omakase Summary
| Standard Omakase | $300 |
| A5 Wagyu Course | $102 |
| Premium Caviar Pairing | $58 |
| Hiroshi House Sake (gifted per couple) | $125 |
| Total Value | $585 |
| Your Price | $349 |
If you’re celebrating something that deserves to be remembered—let the dinner rise to meet it.
PS: This menu is only available for the first 30 bookings or until April 15, whichever comes first. After that, full pricing returns.
Let me tell you the story of Hiroshi. The restaurant was originally built by a respected yakiniku chef from Hawaii named Kimura Hiroshi. After he passed away during COVID, we didn’t want to let this beautiful space disappear with him.
We kept it going—but it wasn’t easy. It took nearly five years of struggle, trial, and rebuilding to get to where we are now. The team. The menu. The space. Even the house sake—Hiroshi Dainagawa Junmai Daiginjo—was perfected through hundreds of rounds of testing.
What you’re about to experience isn’t just a dinner. It’s everything we fought to preserve—and finally feel proud to share.
We can’t wait to welcome you in person—and tell you the rest over dinner.
And hey, even if you don’t book with us, I hope this guide helped you find your dream omakase experience!