Having thoroughly enjoyed the omakase experience at Kuon but not seeming to feel that it was worth the high price tag, I went in search of a more wallet friendly omakase to see if it there would be a large sacrifice in quality for the cheaper price.

Yachiyo is a cosy neighbourhood restaurant, where the chef here also does omakase at the back. You can also order the omakase to your table a la carte, but given there’s no difference in price I would recommend waiting out until you can get an appointment at the countertop.

The restaurant is fairly casual, which is already quite far removed from many of the current omakase places in Sydney, and I rather enjoyed that environment instead of the usual stiflingly quiet restaurants.

Location: 346 Victoria St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Price: Premium omakase $130 (also al la carte, $100 omakase mix and $80 omakase available)
Social: https://www.instagram.com/yachiyojapanesebistro/?hl=en
Website: https://yachiyo.com.au/menu

Melissa: 4.5/5 A meal worth the price, with a good balance of quality and flavour and plenty of potential to return

We opted for the omakase premium, because we want to try all the different dishes. The toro selection consisted of two pieces, one lightly seared and one raw, alongside a salmon and another bluefin tuna. The restaurant was short on kingfish that day, so we (luckily) were treated to another bluefin tuna. I’m no expert but they were all very good.

One of the highlights of the food was the toro hand roll. Super creamy and delicious, it didn’t come with all the other fancy additions that they had at Kuon (caviar, uni/sea urchin, fish roe), but I think I preferred the simplistic version served here that allowed the tuna to shine.

The first warm dish was the grilled scampi, served with yuzu miso sauce and tiny spring onions. Perfectly cooked, it was a nice umami dish. If ordering a la carte I probably would not order this for an entree, just because the serving/portion was quite small.

Next up we had a delicious miso cod. This has all the elements you would look for in the dish – the fish was super tender, to the point of falling apart, the mushrooms caramellised and buttery. The only thing that would could be added to improve this dish here would be a side of rice to go with the dish.

The John Dory with ponzu jelly was the next item that arrived on the countertop. This was an interesting dish, the yuzu jelly was very sour on its own. It needed to be eaten and balanced out with the John Dory, otherwise it was way too sour. Wasn’t my favourite dish of the night (white fish raw can sometimes be chewy) but it was nevertheless an interesting combination and technique.

The Hokkaido scallop and eel were both very tender, the eel was seared slightly and nice and fatty. The tempura zucchini flower was the perfect mix of sweet and salty, stuffed with a minced prawn. I didn’t expect the abalone dish to be on the menu because it wasn’t specifically called out. It was cooked perfectly and served with soy and rice. A simple dish but a very effective way of serving the abalone.

The bonito carpaccio was another great dish of the night, topped with spring onion, yuzu and tiny pieces of unidentifiable fried bits. The oyster roll was probably my second favourite dish of the night after the toro hand roll. It was so fresh and so creamy, the briny flavour of the ocean was really captured in the dish.

The sea urchin was sadly extremely bitter. The chef must have noticed because he came over to explain to us that it was currently out of season so extra bitter and sour. There is probably an expectation to serve sea urchin at omakase, but I honestly would have preferred not to have it if it was going to be out of season and not tasty.

The meal was finished off with a very clean oyster dashi and tempura oyster. It was served with a tiny spoonful of rice with egg roe and was a nice warm dish to round off the night. The dessert was two little white chocolate bites dusted with matcha.

Overall a lovely omakase, very good value for money. I would highly recommend trying out Yachiyo if you are an omakase fan. The toro was still top quality and the other sushi dishes were as well. I enjoyed the different warm dishes as well, which you can order a la carte off the restaurant’s main menu. It was affordable but they didn’t cut any corners and while you’re not sitting in a private restaurant with the chef, the bustling atmosphere of the diner provided a nice cosy atmosphere, kinda like you were in the chef’s own home.

I will definitely be back to try other items on their menu (scampi hotpot, tuna tacos, Balmain bug rolls and their yakitori all caught my eye) or even to see what the omakase is like in a different season.