What omakase is, and what it isn't
Omakase (お任せ) is a Japanese phrase that means "I'll leave it up to you." At a sushi bar, it's the guest handing the meal over to the chef. The chef looks at the night's fish, looks at the guest, and builds a meal from there.
There isn't one omakase. Every omakase is its own meal. Two guests at the bar on the same night can be eating different things, because the chef is reading both of them separately — what's good that day, what each guest likes, how adventurous they want to be.
It's a slower way to eat than ordering off a menu. Give it time — an hour, sometimes more. That's the point of the format.
How omakase works at Kisetsu
The honest answer to almost every question on this page: omakase at Kisetsu is chef's choice, by request
— seasonal, made for you, and built to your budget. There's no fixed course and no fixed price.
It works two ways:
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At the sushi bar — this is omakase the way it's meant to be eaten. You sit at the counter and tell the chef you'd like to leave it up to him. He'll ask what you're comfortable spending and roughly how many pieces you want — six, ten, more — then build the meal to that, one piece at a time, paced by him. That budget question is the reason there's no set price: the meal is built around you, so the price is too.
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At a table — you can still have it. Tell the chef how many pieces you'd like; he makes the full set and brings it out plated together, rather than course by course.
Either way, it's not an upsell — it's the opposite. The chef would rather build something good around your budget than push you past it, and he can fit a real omakase to almost any number. The fish is seasonal, so it changes; what stays the same is that the meal is made for the person in the seat.
Junya, who joined the kitchen in 2023, previously worked with Iron Chef Morimoto. Joel trained at the Sushi Chef Institute starting in 2009. Regie has been on the line with Joel since they ran the Packing House pop-ups in downtown Claremont back in 2019. So when you ask for omakase, you're being fed by a kitchen that has been doing this — together, in this town — for a while.
How to have omakase
No advance notice, no special booking. Come in any night we're open, sit at the sushi bar (or tell your server at a table), and ask for omakase. The chef takes it from there.
Friday and Saturday tables fill up, so if you want a seat on a weekend it's worth reserving the table
— but that's booking a table, not booking omakase. Omakase itself is just something you ask for once you're here.
We're open Tuesday through Saturday for dinner (5:00–9:00 weekdays, 5:00–9:30 Friday and Saturday). Closed Sunday and Monday.
Omakase — Frequently Asked Questions
How much does omakase cost at Kisetsu?
There's no fixed omakase price. When you sit down, the chef will ask what you're comfortable spending and build the meal to it — he'd rather make something good fit your budget than go over it. Tell him a number and he'll give you a real omakase for it.
Do I need to book or call ahead for omakase?
No. Omakase is same-visit — sit at the sushi bar and ask, or tell your server at a table. The only thing worth reserving is a weekend table, because Friday and Saturday fill up — but that's a table booking, separate from omakase.
I've never done omakase. Is that okay?
Completely. Tell the chef it's your first time and roughly how adventurous you want to be — mild and familiar, or let him push a little. The whole point of the format is that it's built around you, so being new to it is the easiest case, not the hard one.
Is omakase available every night Kisetsu is open?
Most nights, yes — Tuesday through Saturday for dinner. The sushi bar is the best seat for it. Earlier in the week is the calmest time if you want the chef's full attention; weekends are busier.
Can you accommodate allergies or dietary restrictions?
Yes — tell us when you sit down. The chef builds the meal around you, so an allergy or a restriction
number and he'll give you a real omakase for it.