Want to indulge in a fiery kick of wasabi or savour delicately crafted, soy-drenched sushi in a way that goes beyond the usual restaurant experience? For those who believe that dining should be an event rather than a usual meal, where you go to a restaurant, order food, wait for your food to arrive and then finish it off just for the sake of filling your stomach.
Let’s dig a little deeper and explore the two different kinds of sushi dining experiences that unlock the Japanese culture on a platter.
What Comes With Omakase Dining?
Omakase, literally translates to ‘I leave it up to you’ in Japanese. This form of culinary experience enables a small number of diners to be seated around a sushi corner in a traditional way, while the sushi chef creates dishes including nigiri based on seasonal ingredients adapting what is served in real time based on the diner’s mood, preferences and interaction with the experience. More than simply enjoying the food, this form of dining establishes a connect between guests and the chef, a highly personal, coveted experience and often high-end experience. Today, omakase, has become synonymous with a dynamic chef-curated tasting menu.
What to Expect During A Kaiseki Meal?
Kaiseki, on the other hand, provides a polar opposite dining experience. Kaiseki is a traditional multi-course Japanese meal that focuses mostly on seasonal ingredients. Dishes are small and artistically presented in ceramics or lacquerware, each highlighting a different cooking or preparation method, such as soup, grilled, sashimi and rice courses. As a practice, rice is always served as the last savoury dish. The experience is highly ritualised and kaiseki is considered Japan’s traditional haute cuisine, with roots in the traditional tea ceremony. This experience is, again, not just about gorging on food but more about indulging in the Japanese concept of omotenashi which means sincere hospitality. In such cases, the restaurants decorated elegantly yet modestly.
While both omakase and kKaiseki are multi-course, kaiseki has a strictly structured set menu where the diners usually know their dishes beforehand, omakase is a more spontaneous way of interacting with food without a menu.
Here are a few spaces in Delhi where you can experience omakase or kaiseki dining.
Megu, New Delhi
Situated at The Leela Palace New Delhi, Megu is all about luxury Japanese omakase dining. The chef leads their omakase experiences that showcase premium seafood, ingredients and meticulous craftsmanship in an intimate setting.
ADRIFT Kaya
ADRIFT Kaya located at JW Marriott Aerocity opens windows to a dedicated omakase menu featuring premium seafood, caviar, toro, uni and other luxury ingredients selected by the chef.
Sakura
Sakura – The Metropolitan Hotel and Spa in Connaught Place, New Delhi offers the authentic kaiseki cuisine along with a multi-course experience rooted in Japanese seasonality and tradition.
Kofuku
A contemporary interpretation of kaiseki introduces Japan’s traditional multi-dining experience through a carefully structured tasting menu.
Kampai, Aerocity, New Delhi
Kampai launched a dedicated menu called omakase in 2022, described as a five-course chef-curated experience. In 2025, it introduced a monthly omakase-sake experience pairing a five-course omakase menu with curated sake selections.
Whether you choose the spontaneity of omakase or the elegance of kaiseki, both traditions offer a deeper appreciation of Japanese cuisine than a random sushi platter ever could. This World Sushi Day, embark on a culinary journey where craftsmanship and seasonality take the centre stage.
