Sabi Omakase

Sabi Omakase, now in its fourth year, is still pushing the boundaries of high quality Sushi. The Edomae, or Nor-mae as Chef Roger Asakil Joya likes to call it, is as traditional as it gets in this part of the world, yet as modern and New Nordic as one would expect it to be. This is where you want to go to savor the finest Norwegian seafood available; it’s a costly and extended dining experience to be sure, but it’s definitely worth both your hard earned cash and your time. A meal at Sabi Omakase provides an everlasting stream of delightful pillows of perfect rice dabbed with Icelandic wasabi and topped with an array of squid, skrei, mackerel, pollock, shrimps, oysters and other bounties of the sea.

Set in a charming little house on Pedersgata, we’re welcomed to what can only be described as a dinner spectacle. The Italian, Euro-trance blasting from the speakers makes us wonder if it’s going to be soirée’s main attraction, but as soon as Chef Roger enters the stage kitchen, the auditory assault is dialed down to that same cool and controlled soundscape played at every house of luxury around the world. There are only ten seats at this chef-orchestrated show that also includes a fair amount of personal musings as Roger shares passionate stories about his life, his beliefs, his views on fishing and farming, and how he ended up at this kitchen counter as a co-owner of Norway’s biggest chain of sushi restaurants. Roger’s chatty personality is an intrinsic part of the meal, every dish is explained in a dialogue that engages all diners

Feasting at Sabi Omakase makes it nearly impossible to ever eat sushi from a regular fish-on-rice-joint as the quality here is incomparable. But, as is often the case when a place blows up and becomes popular, Sabi Omakase sometimes suffers from its success, occasionally, it seems as if the focus lies more on luxury than on excellence. The white asparagus with halibut, sea urchin and truffles didn’t provide anything other than boxes to tick off. The sommelier is great at informing diners about the high price of his wines, he might be an informative and lighthearted professional, yet he steers us to the wine pairing as he can’t provide a wine list. When local and sustainably caught Makrellstørje (Atlantic blue fin tuna) is out of season, it’s lackadaisical to simply replace it with Spanish tuna. Being in the crowd-pleasing business is one thing, we just wish the restaurant would stick to its guns and focus on what was previously at the top of the agenda––serving impeccable, local and seasonal fish. That said, whatever Roger presents is always magical, and his ethos can’t be copied.

Published January 2020