Omakase only? Yes
Price $440 on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday; $490 on Friday and Saturday (includes gratuity; $140 for pairings)
Courses 19
Scene Rich epicures, rich gastrotourists, and rich regulars hover around an eight-seat bar in a too-large dining room. The multifunction Toto toilets in the bathrooms are a luxe touch.
Highlight The sardines. Chef Otto Phan orders fresh ones whenever possible. He finely scores the flesh so it ripples on your tongue, revealing the deep store of just-fished flavor in its fat.
Upshot Phan runs one of the most extraordinary sushi bars in America. He serves seasonal wild fish sourced mainly from dealers in Japan, though he makes room on the menu for domestic delicacies such as West Coast spot prawns. His rice is distinctively bold, and he creates bites that etch in your memory.
Omakase only? Yes
Price $185 (drinks à la carte)
Courses 16
Scene Picture sushi lovers sitting spellbound, drinking only moderately (if at all), at a six-seat bar. The intimate space, a few pieces of shelved pottery, and one skinny server make this feel like Japan.
Highlight Akami (lean tuna) topped with negi toro (chopped fatty tuna with green onion). More cuts of toro follow, so you bliss out early and keep going.
Upshot The ultimate craftsman, chef SangTae Park cuts, forms, and passes out all your favorite nigiri during one exquisite hour. If you want to go large, ultraluxury nigiri (wagyu, foie gras, caviar) is available à la carte. This is the sushi splurge you’ll want again and again.
Omakase only? Yes
Price $175 ($95 for pairings)
Courses 22
Scene A black-on-silver space, with an eight-seat counter and a few tables, creates the hermetic seal of fine dining. The staff serves the room at once, with balletic coordination.
Highlight Black cod with burnt scallion ponzu. It makes the case for incorporating hot food into omakase.
Upshot Local sushi maestro BK Park — of Juno and, previously, Arami — knows his audience. He produces the most Chicago style of all the dedicated omakase spots: The experience is as much about service and spectacle as it is about fish. The way he alternates flights of nigiri with exquisite hot dishes is genius.
Omakase only? No
Price $175 ($85 for pairings)
Courses 18
Scene In the front lounge at CH Distillery, a sexy, diverse crowd drinks cocktails and eats à la carte sushi. But pass through the noren (hanging curtain) and you enter a handsome Japanese-style dining room with an omakase counter.
Highlight Whatever is the most unusual. On my last visit, it was sweet, firm white-fleshed beltfish.
Upshot Chef and co-owner Patrick Bouaphanh and chef Eric Blanck stock the best luxuries, such as otoro, wagyu, and sparkling fresh uni. But on my last visit non-sushi courses — sweet pork belly, raw oysters in a bitter pepper relish — distracted from the omakase presentation. The pro move: Get all the above à la carte, as well as goldeneye snapper, knifejaw, and other rarely seen fish ($11 to $27 for two pieces).
Omakase only? Yes
Price $155 ($50 for pairings)
Courses 17
Scene A ’70s key party vibe. Knock on an unmarked door along a corridor in the Hotel Lincoln, enter a refurbished suite, and move from drinks at the bar to omakase at the sushi counter. If you want to keep the night going, there’s a living room lounge that feels like a space-age bachelor pad.
Highlight The opening parfait of uni and ikura over rice is all kinds of buttery.
Upshot The house style involves a lot of unneeded little blops of this and that on top of most nigiri, and some of the fattier cuts get blowtorched and taste greasy. But ingredients such as scallops and sweet shrimp are premium, and the rice is warm and well seasoned.
