Top Sushi Restaurants in the Bay Area

Sustainable ingredients are prepared with utmost care here.

At the moment, Union Square favorite Akiko's is limiting service to prix fixe menus for lunch ($120) and dinner ($250): combinations of composed dishes like steamed egg custard topped with duck liver and premium nigiri offerings. Chef/owner Ray Lee has an incredible eye for fish and seafood, so you'll see all sorts of rarities imported from Japan and elsewhere. Selections are also made with sustainability in mind. In the late summer season, you'll find halibut prepared with the umami-boosting ikejime technique, hanasaki crabs slicked with miso butter, and young barracuda, for instance.

Credit cards accepted • Beer, wine and sake

415-397-3218 • http://akikosrestaurant.com

The omakase-only spot presents its seasonal chirashi boxes with a painterly touch.

Like its sister restaurant Utzutzu in Alameda, Delage departs from the typical omakase-style sushi bar by embracing local, seasonal produce. Chef Mikiko Ando integrates ingredients like height-of-summer corn and tomatoes into her menus, presenting them with reverence usually reserved for the rarest imported delicacies. The eight-course omakase ($100) is full of technical flexes: a salad of seared skipjack is haunted with the aroma of wasabi, and an amuse-bouche features a crystalline "bread" topped with smoked king salmon. There are two seatings per night.

Credit cards accepted • Beer, wine and sake

510-823-2050 • www.delageoakland.com

Experience Ju-ni's Michelin-starred cuisine at its new outdoor omakase parklet.

Intimacy is key to the appeal of this NoPa sushi restaurant, where each chef is responsible for just four people at a time. That means there’s hardly a wait for anything in the 12-course omakase menu ($220), in which masterful nigiri and maki are put together in a matter of seconds. It also leaves ample space for diners to ask them questions about the menu — like, what’s the difference between typical sea urchin roe and “nama uni”? What makes the bluefin tuna sustainable? Chef Geoffrey Lee’s menu is stripped-down and precise, with little adornment to get between you and the melt-in-your-mouth pieces of fish and seafood. Notably, the slightly sweet miso soup served at the finish line, intense with kelp flavor, is likely the best cup of soup you’ll ever have.

Credit cards accepted • Beer, wine and sake

415-655-9924 • www.junisf.com

A six-seat sushi counter on Divisadero Street.

Like many upscale omakase spots, Ken, the eponymous sushi bar by chef-owner Ken Ngai, is easy to miss — especially on a street as bustling as Divisadero. For nearly two decades, Ngai has worked at some familiar places in the Bay Area, including Sushi Ran in Sausalito and Kusakabe in San Francisco’s Financial District, and this is his first solo venture. During lockdown, he soft-launched with a unique takeout menu of rice bowls ($40-$50), Kyoto-style sushi ($30) and ornate rolls with the look of stained glass ($32); now, you can order takeout from the restaurant or come in for a full omakase experience at the bar. Ngai’s classic-style omakase ($175) consists of more than a dozen dishes: an assorted sashimi plate assembled with a painterly eye for color and texture; a steamed dish, like chawanmushi enriched with sweet snow crab; and various seasonal nigiri.

Credit cards accepted • Beer, wine and sake

628-867-7113 • www.ken-sf.com • Order online

Find a wide range of rolls and seasonal nigiri at this gem in Novato.

Masa's is a rare treat of a restaurant, one where a chef with Michelin-level experience offers his skills at an affordable price. Takatoshi Toshi, whose work earned both Sushi Ran and Kinjo Michelin stars, took up the lead role at Masa's after his mentor, Masayuki Ogawa, retired in 2017. Ingredients are selected with sustainability in mind, with the provenance of each fish listed on the menu. The nigiri and sashimi could be priced much higher considering the top-class quality of the yellowtail, McFarland trout and albacore included in the various combinations and chef's tastings on offer. From the extensive selection of rolls, the sake kawa ($12.75) with smoky grilled salmon skin, shiso and bonito flakes is fantastic with a pint of beer. Also try the fried Monterey Bay squid ($17), whose natural creaminess is enhanced by marination in shio koji, which further tenderizes it. If you want to try your hand at making sushi at home, many of the fish are available for retail sale through the restaurant.

Credit cards accepted • Beer, wine and sake

415-892-0081 • www.masanovato.com

Edomae-style blowout meals are now available for delivery and takeout.

As one of the most recognized top-flight sushi bars in the Bay Area, Omakase has been consistently lauded by both national and local publications for its classical Edomae sushi. Quite a few of the Bay Area's successful sushi chefs came up through Yu's kitchen, too. The ever-changing omakase ($225) is a showcase of exceptional knifework and traditional technique, starting with glossy pieces of sashimi arranged in a giant mollusk shell. In this intimate setting, with three sushi chefs handling just 12 diners at a time, rapport comes easily, and you're free to ask questions about every piece of fish you receive. The omakase is also available for takeout and delivery.

Credit cards accepted • Beer, wine and sake

415-865-0633 • www.omakasesf.com • Order online

Bespoke omakase is the focus of this hip take on the sushi bar.

Unlike most of the omakase spots on this list, Robin’s menu rarely looks the same from diner to diner. When you sit, you specify your preference on the restaurant’s sliding scale of $99-$199 and let the show begin. The team of sushi chefs, led by owner Adam Tortosa, offer an expansive “everything but the kitchen sink” take on omakase that makes for a wild and singular experience. Oily Spanish mackerel is paired with poblano chile oil, ramen noodles are showered with summer truffle shavings, and king salmon is paired with whipped tofu and Thai basil.

Credit cards accepted • Beer, wine and sake

415-448-7372 • www.robinsanfrancisco.com

This sushi counter is intimate and playful, with an omakase that always impresses.

The debut restaurant of young sushi chef Ingi Son, the Shota is a jewel box of a sushi bar in San Francisco’s Financial District. Attentive service is the main attraction here: The chefs behind the counter are personable and chatty, eager to answer any questions you might have about the fish. The 15-course omakase ($295) leans heavily on classically prepared Edomae sushi, but there are some fun surprises mixed in, like an oceanic sea urchin pate and grilled mushrooms with crunchy toasted quinoa and black cod. Beverage pairings, by general manager Shar Guillermo, are presented in gorgeous and vibrantly colored artisan-made glassware.

Credit cards accepted • Beer, wine and sake

628-224-2074 • www.theshotasf.com

An eight-seat sushi bar that sticks to a classic style.

The Edomae-style sushi here, served by veteran sushi chef Katsu Maruyama, is unapologetically geeky. As you sit at the eight-seat bar in Mountain View, you’re led to focus in on the highly distilled flavors of aged fish and seafood. Observe how the top-quality ikura, served with no seasoning at all, bursts with pure ocean brine flavor on your palate. Other highlights include a muscular piece of kohada, served with a light dusting of cured egg yolk, and herring roe pressed with cured konbu into a gel-like morsel. The flailing tunes of free jazz, the restaurant’s soundtrack, adds to the intensity of it all. The 19-course omakase is $230 per person.

Credit cards accepted • Beer, wine and sake

www.sushi-katsu-mv.com

Sam's is popular for both its generous portions and its house-made Japanese desserts.

In pre-pandemic times, the lunchtime line for Sushi Sam's was a common sight in downtown San Mateo; diners arrived in droves for its monster-size cuts of fish and affable service. Even with a lengthy menu of Western-style rolls, grilled and fried snacks, noodles and soups, the major draw has always been the eight-piece omakase (market price). The omakase's Western-style dessert course is often a highlight: A pear tart or the creamy and earthy matcha tiramisu are a wonderfully indulgent way to conclude a meal. Keep an eye on Sushi Sam's Facebook page, which is updated every day with specials and seasonal fish offerings.

Credit cards accepted • Beer, wine and sake

650-344-0888 • www.sushisams.com

Michelin-starred sushi served in downtown Redwood City.

Opened in 2020 by couple Betsy Cheng and Jason Zhan, Sushi Shin is an exercise in delicate and precise Edomae-style sushi. While sitting at the L-shaped cypress wood bar, you’re treated to a clear view of Zhan’s elegant knife work and deft flicks of the wrist as he brushes pieces of fish with sauce. Zhan has worked at a variety of top sushi restaurants, including Ushiwakamuru in New York City. The 18-item omakase ($225) lasts for two and a half hours, with seasonal treats that might include succulent hairy crabs, Japanese halfbeak fish, sardine tartare and translucent baby eels. A particular highlight is the Tasmanian trout: The naturally sweet fish is marinated in a soy sauce that enhances it with notes of umami, salinity and smoke.

Credit cards accepted • Beer, wine and sake

650-921-8809 • https://sushishinredwoodcity.com/about

Some of the best Edomae-style sushi in the region can be found in this hushed, nine-seat room in San Mateo.

San Mateo's most intimate sushi bar is now open after a long period of offering its superior sushi for takeout-only. Chef Akira Yoshizumi regularly imports his fish and seafood direct from Tokyo's Toyosu fish market, creating an exceptional Edomae-style omakase service ($295). The chef relies on a variety of curing, aging and marinating techniques to pull the best flavors and textures out of already high-quality ingredients like seasonal firefly squid, oily gizzard shad and creamy monkfish liver. The intensity of the meal tends to keep the dining room quiet, as diners contemplate their bites.

Credit cards accepted • Beer and sake

650-437-2282 • https://sushiyoshizumi.com/