If there’s one single meal I recommend you splurge on it’s Omakase at Naked Fish. Omakase simply means “I’ll leave it to you.”  And when the chef is this good you’re better off if you do. When I go to Japanese restaurants (or any really high end restaurant for that matter) I’m probably in better hands leaving my menu decisions to the one cooking. They know what’s fresh and when given the creative freedom they are excited to thrill you with new flavors throughout the tasting journey of an evening out.

We recently took the omakase challenge and it paid off.  Every bite was new.  Fresh flavors overtook all my senses. This was the best meal we’ve had in a long time and I think it will be a hard one to trump.  Here’s just a sample of what was on our menu that night. (Keep in mind that the menu changes daily for omakasee because, as I said, it’s all up to the chef!).

Hot tea with sage thyme lemongrass orange peel
Sea urchin with salmon roe
Silky seaweed
Oyster with yuzu and radish
Yellow tail belly, tuna, salmon belly, Japanese makarel
Crispy Skin of smoked trout with powdered nori and yuzu creme friache
Custard grilled fish bone with dashi gelatin, Utah trout roe and sweet pikled diakon
Yam gnocchi in miso and orange sauce with shaved walnuts
Toasted grains with roasted greens and a smoked poached quail egg in fish bone broth
Scallop with shishito peppers and chicken wings
Mushrooms with sous vide elk and a nori disk

I’m probably missing a course or too because the meal was just too good to think too hard about or record. The way best meals are!  But I hope this gives you a glimpse of what a fantastic omakase experience is like!
Also, Naked Fish serves a house made soy sauce blend that is less in sodium and for a real treat ask for their table-side, freshly ground wasabi grated on a shark skin grater!

After being on our list of places we’d like to go for way too long, we finally went to Takashi, one of Salt Lake City’s best restaurants, in my opinion. It is located in a narrow downtown street surrounded by several other great restaurants and bars. Market Street is one of downtown Salt Lake’s most fun areas with Takashi, Market Street Grill, The New Yorker, and Kristauf’s.We had heard all about Takashi and their amazing, high-grade, fresh sushi but had never been there because their prices are quite high. But for a special occasion it is well worth the money you spend. We celebrated our anniversary there and after polling friends on twitter, we were loaded with lots of great recommendations. So many recommendations, that we were unable to try many of them, so it looks like we will have to go back. I took lots of pictures so I won’t bother you with words, you can see for yourself.

The Sable Fish was amazing, probably the best fish I’ve ever had. It was perfectly buttery with a touch of sweetness and almost melted in your mouth.
The T n’ T Roll, perfect for the spicy lover, a deep fried yellowtail & salmon roll served with a very spciry horseradish sauce
The Strawberry Feilds Roll, was very unusual and came highly recommended to us so we had to try it. I would suggest it more as a dessert or last roll of the evening. But it was good even dipped in soy sauce for the perfect salty-sweet balance
The Spicy Tuna roll is my go to roll at any sushi restaurant and it was exceptionally good at Takashi!
I realize that we were going out on a limb ordering a Dessert Crepe from a sushi restaurant but Takashi proved its diversity because it was really tasty and it was also nice being a lighter dessert because of the fresh fruit.
What we’ll try next time:
The Box- made with 3 different types of fish
The Mermaid- a version of spicy tuna
Green Papaya Salad

Our favorites:
Easy Rider- not pictured above but this was my favorite: a salmon and basil-filled roll
T n’T- tepura yellowtail & salmon served with a very spciry horseradish sauce

Takashi Sushi
18 West Market Street

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