You’ve gotta really trust a chef to simply hand over 80 bucks and hope for the best. People do it every night at Posh Improvisational Cuisine, where Chef Josh Hebert whips up courses of eye catching and palate pleasing food in the restaurant without a menu. People also do it at some of the top Japanese restaurants in town, like Shinbay or Nobu at Teeter House, opting for Omakase menus–meaning send us what you will, chef, show us what’s on your mind.

Last week, we stopped in for Omakase at Sushi Roku, the spot inside the W Scottsdale. Why Roku? Well, the food is always A++ for one. But since we’re always in for lunch, and usually dine with a budget (somewhat) in mind, we were tempted to finally give the blowout Omakase meal a try. See if Shin Toyoda, the head sushi chef there, was still at the top of the food chain when it came to making menus on the fly.

Omakase at Roku runs $80 per person, add $18 for sake pairings. We hate jumping to conclusions, but here’s the result: we ate for over two hours, small bite after small bite, experiencing the fish you’re used to (tuna) and ones you’re probably not (skipjack), making the meal’s price totally worth every dollar. Other folks around the sushi bar would peer over as Shin would set the next set of bites down, even on this mildly low-key Wednesday night.

One thing you might like to hear about Omakese is that nothing is served family style. If one course involves four fish types, each accompanied with a particular sauce or salt or something-or-other, each diner gets their own plate. Not only does this avoid the inevitable “I was going to eat that last unagi” dilemma, but it ensures that you’re going to leave feeling full.

Here was our Omakase menu last week:

1. We opened with Kubota Hekijyu sake (a Gingo served cold that lasted through the first few courses)
2. Kushi and Kumamoto oysters on ice, each topped with sea urchin (Uni) and Osetra caviar
3. A salad that was more like an entree of lobster and scallops (Hotate) with mixed Asian greens, white truffle sauce, vegetables, and garnish of whole black truffles
4. Then it was on to a slightly warmed Kubota Senju sake (Honjozo) which Shin comments, “don’t be afraid of it because it’s being served warm. Even some great sakes should be heated up to complement food’s flavors.”
5. Sashimi course of amberjack (Kanpachi), skipjack (Katsuo), halibut (Hirame), and squid (Ika), each at 2-4 bites, with an accompanying element, be it a simple squeeze of lemon or a spicy chili based oil.
6. A main course, if you will, of baked miso cod with shishito hijiki eggplants. If you’re not full by this point, you have an eating disorder. So naturally, the next two courses comes as a surprise:
7. Miso soup with Asari clams
8. A sushi course of marinated tuna (Zuke Maguro), blue fin tuna belly (Toro), sweet shrimp (Amaebi), sea eel (Anago), salmon egg (Ikura), and the show stopper: a baked hand roll with (what felt like) a whole damn crab.

Naturally, the topic of conversation moves from how delicate and delicious everything is, to how we just got our ass kicked by a sushi chef. The experience is not only fun because this menu can change according to what you want, or what Roku has in stock, or how Shin feels, but it’s fun watching him put this menu together just for you. In a sea of salmon sashimi and caterpillar rolls, Omakese gives a chef the chance to be creative, hone their skills, show off.

So our suggestion: book a reservation, make a couple suggestions, then sit back, relax and enjoy the journey.

Sushi Roku
W Scottsdale
7277 E. Camelback Rd.
Scottsdale, AZ
www.sushiroku.com/sushiroku