Last Wednesday, my fiance and I celebrated our four-year anniversary by treating ourselves to some amazing sushi. I had heard on TikTok and Instagram about a place called Toshokan, and since neither of us had ever tried omakase, I thought it was a great opportunity for us to splurge on food (not that I need ever need an excuse!).
According to Wikipedia, the phrase omakase means “I leave it up to you,” referring to the customer leaving it up to the chef to serve a series of plates of their choosing. Typically, the American omakase experience is for sushi restaurants where customers enjoy a number of courses presented by the chef. As described on their website, “Toshokan is a 14-course omakase sushi speakeasy, served with the intention to only 6 diners at a time.” Yes, that’s right – me, my fiance, and 4 other people were the only diners which made for the ultimate personalized experience.
As they described, the location is a speakeasy, so it was actually tucked behind a bookcase at Native Hostel and Bar. My fiance and I had to wander around a little bit before we found the bartender and other diners. While we waited to be let in, the bartender served us a delicious sake-based pomegranate cocktail. Then, once they were ready, the bookcase (pictured below) opened and we were thrust into a very intimate bar set-up with shelving and drinks adorning the walls. We found our assigned seat, indicated by the personalized tile of wood with our name. Since I had previously indicated in the reservation that Kyle and I were celebrating our anniversary, Chef Saine personalized the backside for us as well! On one wall, Saine had the menu and a corresponding map so he could point out where everything came from while explaining the courses.
On to the meal! As much as I would love to go into detail about every single course, I will limit the amount of reading you have to do by describing my favorites. The foods and pictures are divided into groups of 3-4 in the order in which they were served.
Round 1: For these first four, I am torn between the oyster and the salmon as my favorites. I’ve only ever tried oyster once in my life and I hated it, but this was actually delicious and had such a bright, citrus-y punch to it. Salmon is one of my favorite fish so I also loved it with its beautiful texture.
Round 2: I feel like I am betraying all the wonderful fish in this round by saying this, but the ribeye was hands-down my favorite from these four. Chef Saine went for a “steak and eggs” feel with the egg yolk shavings and tender ribeye that made for a satisfying pairing.
Round 3: This round is special because these were all amazing and rank in my top five of the night, but most importantly, shows my all-time favorite, the scallop. Scallop itself is delicious, but when paired with the Peruvian-inspired salsa verde and chili garlic crunch, I was in heaven. When someone brought up licking the plate, Saine commented that it has happened – and I believe it! The spot prawn came in a delicious cucumber, watermelon base and was fully edible. You should have heard the “cronch” which reminded me of the shrimp crackers Asian snack, only better. Eel is my favorite sushi – I order it almost anytime I get sushi, so I am definitely biased, but because Chef Saine smoked it (in front of us, I might add), it took on a whole other level of sumptuousness.
Final Round: This round has only one fish-based course and it technically wasn’t part of the meal since I ordered it as extra. Right before dessert, Chef Saine offered to make (for additional cost) a repeat of any of the courses or a new one using the fish he had on hand. I opted for the albacore with which he made a spicy tuna-inspired sushi. The dessert was definitely a major highlight with the chocolate served raclette-style, toasted marshmallow ice cream, and graham cracker pieces. My favorite of this round would have to go to the steak and potatoes because it came with the Korean-style braised beef and I’ve always wanted to try potatoes served like this, thinly sliced and in a crunchy-outside-soft-inside stack.
Bonus: Enjoy these shots of the blowtorch being used (ignore the low quality of the pictures).
Definitely a 10 out of 10 would recommend, especially if you love an intimate setting such as this one! The menu is inspired from Chef Saine’s life and one could feel his excitement and passion for the food with all the wonderful flavors and textures. If this place wasn’t so popular and has reservations booked up so quickly, I would definitely try to snag up another one (psst, they are planning to have their pastry chef take on dessert so I’d be excited to see how it evolves).
Check out their website for reservations or their Instagram which they update regularly.