Okane Sushi Review – Omakase Dining in Downtown Pittsburgh

Okane Offers Omakase Dining Downtown

Guests at Okane have one major choice to make after arriving at the second-floor restaurant, and that is whether they want a 16, 18, or 20-course menu.

In being an omakase restaurant, Okane does not offer a la carte dining at this experience (although they do have a separate casual dining restaurant on the first floor), so if you make a reservation for the omakase, you will have to commit to one of these three options.

The main differences in the example menu (which could vary in person on any given day) are that the larger courses include ikura (roe) as an extra topping on an oyster course, an A5 Wagyu course, and the 20-course menu also features a “Shokuni Secret” course. Although we love a good cut of Wagyu, there was also a pretty serious price jump to move from the 16-course menu to the 18- and 20-course menus, so we started with the smallest menu on our first visit.

At the time of our visit, Okane's drink menu was a bit limited in the listed details, which made ordering tricky. Cocktails didn't list ingredients or flavors, only names, and the sake menu wasn't listed at all (it was available only for bottle sales or within a fixed drink pairing option).

We opted for a round of the Midnight Okane (a charcoal-black, citrus-forward cocktail) and the Yuzurita (a yuzu margarita, although we substituted gin as the base spirit), which were both light and refreshing and did not overpower the seafood in the slightest- something that can always be risky with seafood.

After our drinks arrived, the courses started to come out at a rapid-fire pace, sometimes before we had even finished the prior one. The omakase experience was on!

Our meal began with tempura wakasagi, or fried smelts, which served as a nice palate cleanser. The fish is more of a vehicle for a light and flavorful batter more than anything, which we appreciated.

Miso soup and an abalone rice course followed. If you've never had abalone, you're in for a treat here. This one is like a large mussel with a rich, intense flavor. Although ours was cooked slightly firm, it was a treat to get this somewhat rare dish in Pittsburgh all the same.

The salmon belly tart course was perhaps my favorite of the night, as it was served inside a crunchy wrap that was designed to look like a Cohiba cigar- complete with crushed pistachios on the end to mimic the smolder of a lit cigar (Angie's came with sesame seeds for her allergy).

This one reminded us a bit of the trending sushi tacos, albeit served in a rolled-cigar form over a faux tortilla, and despite the excess, the flavors of the salmon really shone through beautifully.

The next course was served as a set of bites as we were seated at a table away from the chef's counter. This included a selection of sashimi such as yellowtail, sweet shrimp, unagi (eel), roe, and more, with several dishes featuring a sauce to accentuate the flavor of the fish.

The unagi was the standout dish in this lineup, with beautiful char, a perfect, soft texture, and a light coating of the tangy barbecue sauce you would expect in classic iterations of this dish. If it were possible to pause our meal and order an entire entree of a bite we had tried, it would most certainly have been this one- it was simply perfect.

A nigiri course followed, with toro, tuna, and other popular fish. Most of the nigiri here was heated slightly with a torch and served with a sauce or topping. Angie and I were torn on this one, as I thought the torched flavor and toppings added to the dish in a positive way, but Angie, being a nigiri purist, thought it was a bit much and detracted from the quality of the fish ever-so-slightly.

Still, it's never a bad way to wind down a meal with some of the freshest raw fish you will find in the city.

We finished the meal with a warm, soft sesame mochi, which added a nice savory element to the experience. Sesame for dessert is always a winner in our books!

Finally, we'd be remiss if we did not note that we wish we had done one thing differently when dining at Okane- getting a seat at the counter rather than a table. Although some of the tables at Okane are in their own semi-private rooms, which could make for a more intimate experience with your group, this choice resulted in two issues with our meal.

First, we only had a partial view of the counter, which meant we couldn't watch the chefs work their magic on the fish (this is one of our favorite parts of omakase dining). Second, many of the bites in our menu came out in themed sets, like five nigiri pieces coming together. Given the rather rapid service, our meal was over quite a bit sooner than we had anticipated, taking just about an hour in total.

For those who sat at the counter, it seemed like guests were served each piece one by one (a big element of omakase dining that we love), and we would highly recommend it unless going with a large enough group that warrants a table over the bar seating.

Despite this, we really enjoyed our meal at Okane. When omakase dining can often be quite expensive, we appreciate that this restaurant made a point of offering a sub-$100-per-person option before tax and tip at opening to introduce more visitors to this unique dining experience. We look forward to returning soon for another visit to try one of the larger courses with Wagyu!

Okane Sushi is located at 245 4th Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh. The omakase experience is on the second floor, and the restaurant has a more casual menu for walk-ins on the first floor.