New premium sushi, sake restaurant opens in Lexington’s Chevy Chase neighborhood
Lexington diners who have been missing Tomo, the longtime sushi restaurant in Chevy Chase, there’s a new place in town.
Omakase Sushi and Sake Bar has opened at 848 E. High St. with a menu of Japanese favorites.
Owner Guang Ni said that his restaurant hopes to carry on the tradition of providing high quality sushi for Lexington, just as Tomo owner Cha Tamura did for more than 20 years before closing in 2021.
“Tomo was successful for a long time, and many people wanted to buy her business,” Ni said.
Tamara chose Ni and “we promised her we’d take over to do fine sushi,” he said.
The menu, Ni said, features an authentic “omakase” experience. “Omakase” means “I’ll leave it up to you,” he said, and traditionally the chef makes the choices.
So you can select a la carte or you can go with the chef and get an omakase set of 12 pieces for a set price. A recent omakase set was $89 and included directions on how best to eat the pieces (left to right) and included seasonings from India, Iceland, Peru, Italy, Japan, Egypt, Australia and Oregon.
“We only provide the highest quality ingredients,” Ni said. Wagyu beef, caviar, real crabmeat, fish flown in fresh from Japan, ingredients from all over the world, Lexington has a lot of a lot of good sushi restaurants, he said.
“All our ingredients are made with high standards,” he said. “We don’t use imitation crab meat.”
Lexington is not short on sushi restaurants but this one will stand out, he said. “People who know about sushi know $5 sushi and $50 sushi is a bit different,” he said.
The menu will vary seasonally, depending on the what’s freshest. Vegetarian options are available.
Omakase also will have a full bar with American and Japanese whiskeys as well as sake.
And, on some nights, live Japanese music on a small stage in the front of the dining spot, he said.
He hopes that the restaurant will appeal to the growing international population in Lexington from the University of Kentucky, Keeneland and other businesses.
One recommendation: Make a reservation. Because the restaurant won’t seat more customers than the chef can properly serve, Ni said. And it’s already booking up fast.
Omakase will close between lunch and dinner on weekdays so the chef can prepare for dinner, he said.
Omakase
Where: 848 E. High St.
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, then 4:30-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 4:30-10:30 p.m. Friday, and noon-10:30 p.m. Saturday, noon-9 p.m. Sunday.
Online: omakaselex.com
Call: 859-269-9291
