I doubt Nobu is going away anytime soon. I frequent the uptown location and it’s always busy.
For the Bourdain fans…
150 is absurd… that’s like Yasuda/Nakazawa pricing.
Agreed. For that price I’d rather go to Japan and have it
To be honest, these sushi places aren’t worth the price of admission. Sushi of Gari was the only place I was willing to fork over my cash before Garisan retired… Best sushi was always omakase when he’s in front and preparing for you. After that, I’d rather save up a few omakase outings and fly out to Japan to have it there.
Have anyone of you guys had the sushi nazi experience in Honolulu?
Missed it when I was there…although I did not miss the Missile Alert. I was at Pearl Harbor when that happened.
I don’t know if this thread is still active, but here I go. Wasabi House on Route 34 in Matawan has omakase. We have eaten there four times now, and each time the chef has prepared different dishes for the omakase. This is some seriously good sushi, not your run of the mill rolls or even the usual. We have had grilled mackeral jaw that was out of this world, baby octupi(?) grilled, broiled cod in a bowl licking broth, cod/salmon liver, everything was delicious. Be open minded and try everything. Omakase is around $35 per person. This is not a fancy restaurant. You can definitely sit at the sushi bar. We are going again tonight for dinner.
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@Shayna - Welcome to HO!! I’m not much of a sushi person, but look forward to hearing more about places you recommend.
My interest was piqued so I went to yelp to see what their omakase looks like. It appears to be a big plate of sushi and sashimi. They do seem to be trying to do a little more than the typical sushi joints around here which is awesome - I saw things like lobster sashimi and geoduck and other things you don’t see often, some sweet shrimp too (how sad is it that sweet shrimp and shrimp heads are a rarity in NJ?) - but it doesn’t appear to be the kind of omakase OP was looking for. Maybe it would be different if you ordered it at the bar but I can’t speak to that one way or the other.
stuff
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/wasabi-house-matawan-2?select=mtU0qADpXS5xMQ27wdiHrA
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/wasabi-house-matawan-2?select=PFyp24Qu7AOrVbuHfpRO7w
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/wasabi-house-matawan-2?select=YaZu7k_XBJg19dxEHVT2Ig
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/wasabi-house-matawan-2?select=YBW39IxosNNqFxf1mUBLUg
@Shayna welcome to Hungry Onion! You mentioned a lot of interesting things in your post, were those a part of the omakase? So far on yelp I’ve only really seen sushi and sashimi.
Welcome aboard and thanks for the cool info. Did you happen to snap any pics? Also, I’m sorry for the specific question as I’m big into fishing ( and eating) but do you have any clue what kind of mackerel it was?
This sounds like an interesting spot. 2 rolls at a local spot can cost more than this so I’m definitely intrigued.
@joonjoon I’m down to go give this a shot. In fact, I’m ready to go right now lol. Maybe we can round up some fish fans
Did you go yet? How was it? 
We took pictures every other time we went. This time my husband said “ah, let’s leave our phones in the car for once and talk” lol. We very much enjoyed our meal this week at Wasabi House (actually it is called Wasabi 34). On their website they do not show any photos of the omakase because it changes according to the chef’s ideas for the day. I don’t know what kind of mackeral it was, just that it was a portion that was as (estimating) about 6 inches long and about 3 inches wide, with a fin attached. It was grilled and delicious. We did get a mixed salad on the omakase that appeared to be a mixture of greens, crispy salmon skin, bits of salmon, white tuna, and other fish I could not make out. Another plate was broiled eel sushi. We think this is a wonderful place for the $$. In comparison, in July we were in Florida, and for my birthday my husband took me to Sushigo in Boca Raton. We wanted to try the omakase there. The waitress asked if we were sure, and then wrote a figure on the back of her ordering pad and showed it to us. It was $300 PER PERSON. Waaaaay beyond our budget, even if the chef was a NOBU trained chef.
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Wow! 300 is nuts!
Thanks for the info on this place. Here is a question…
Do you get charged 35 automatically or do you just order and they charge you what they want?
A couple of somewhat off-topic comments here:
I was reminded of the 2003 (fictionalized) TV-movie “The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth about Enron” in which as the employees’ stock rose to dizzying heights, a group went out for sushi and the new guy was surprised/horrified at the end to discover that his share was $300 (or something like that). meanwhile, everyone else was very blase about it, because they figured they were multi-millionaires.
Which brings me to the second point: Whenever people suggest HO-Downs, it would be nice if they also said what the price range was going to be. I’m not poor, but I still would like an idea of whether something is going to be $20/person or $75/person (or $300/person).
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Copied directly from the website menu:
Chef’s Special for Two 64.00
standard: kamikaze roll, Alaska roll, California roll, 10 pieces of sushi, and about 21 pieces of sashimi
or you can ask for Omakase (Japanese phrase that means “It’s up to you”)
Omakase (“up to the Chef”) 38.00 per person
38 isn’t bad.
Here is my question. Do you guys think they truly are trying to put out the best spread they can, or is the chef saying “hmmm, this fish will be no good in about 2 days so let me whip something up with this piece .” I’ve always wondered this.
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Hmmm, that is a good question. I truly believe it depends on the integrity of the chef. I am sure that there are chefs that do try to offload their “on the edge” sushi/sashimi, but if you are a sushi afficiendo, you will immediately know it and never return to that restaurant. I think that a chef that cares about his customers and wants to have those customers return will truly offer his best, his omakase.
Sushi/sashimi is my favorite food, and I have enjoyed it in Asia, Europe and here in the U.S. I have been enjoying it for many, many (many) years. You know, like how the late great comedian John Pinette knew his bacon, I know my sushi. I have in fact been to a sushi restaurant here in Monmouth County who did serve us sushi that did not taste fresh. They lost my business forever.
Just an aside. I am wary of this trend in restaurants to offer all their rolls as “spicy rolls”. That, in my personal opinion, is a way of getting rid of the oldest fish, because that spicy mayonnaise will somewhat disguise or alter the taste of the fish. I never personally order a roll with “spicy mayonnaise”. I always wonder what the “spicy mayonnaise” is hiding.
One final thought. Most of the sushi restaurants in Monmouth County seem to offer the exact same menu, with the same types of fish being offered. Wasabi 34 offers fish I have not seen offered anywhere else. They offer the different varieties because they know they will sell it, their clients will order it.
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Nice report! So do you remember any of the unique fish they have? I’m always down to try new things. I wish some places around here did wahoo and blackfin.
Off the top of my head, I remember fresh scallop sashimi as well as uni. Your best best would be to call the restaurant and see what they have that day. We found that we had a better omakase when we went on the weekends. This weekend we were in NYC, and wanted to go for omakase, but several of the places we looked at on Yelp had very mixed reviews, and then a friend who was with us absolutely shot us down with regards to sushi, so we ended up coming back to NJ and having pretty authentic Szechuan food at Sichuan Cottage in Marlboro. (I lived in Chengdu, Szechuan Province) for six months a few years ago so I have a fair idea of what real Szechuan food should taste like).
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