Restaurant in Tokyo, Japan
Credentialed counter, bookable, away from Ginza.
Umi in Minami-Aoyama is a credentialed Tokyo sushi counter with OAD Top Restaurants recognition in 2023, 2024, and 2025, plus a Tabelog Bronze Award (score 3.89). It offers lunch and dinner daily, books more easily than Ginza's trophy counters, and suits serious sushi eaters who want quality without a six-month wait. Book by phone or Tabelog; smart casual dress expected.
Yes, with caveats. Umi in Minami-Aoyama has earned consecutive recognition on the Opinionated About Dining Leading Restaurants in Japan list — ranked #206 in 2024 and climbing to #232 in 2025 — alongside a Tabelog Bronze Award (2025) with a score of 3.89. That puts it in credible territory for a serious sushi meal in Tokyo without requiring the months-long wait that the city's most-booked counters demand. If you want a well-credentialed omakase experience that is bookable by a normal human being, Umi is worth your attention.
Umi is a sushi counter in Minami-Aoyama, Minato City, operated under chef Koichi Taira. The address , Minami Bldg. 1F, 3-28, Minami-Aoyama , places it in one of Tokyo's more polished residential and dining neighbourhoods, away from the tourist-heavy sushi corridors of Ginza. Dinner runs in two seatings (17:00 and 20:00 on available days), which is the standard omakase format: you are booking a time slot, not a table. The pacing is controlled, the interaction with the chef is central, and the format rewards guests who arrive with some knowledge of what they are eating. This is not a venue for a casual drop-in.
The Google rating of 4.5 across 295 reviews is a useful signal: high enough to confirm consistent quality, broad enough to suggest the experience translates across different diners rather than serving a narrow audience. The Tabelog score of 3.89 sits comfortably in the range that Tokyo regulars associate with dependable, high-craft sushi , not the rarefied 4.0+ tier, but a clear step above the mid-market.
Sushi, by its nature, is among the least portable cuisines. The precision of omakase , temperature, texture, the moment between the chef's hand and your plate , is inseparable from the counter experience. If you are asking whether Umi's food works as takeout or delivery, the honest answer is: not the way it is meant to. Nigiri loses its integrity within minutes of leaving a warm hand. That is not a criticism of Umi specifically; it is a structural truth about the format. Book the counter, eat there. The value proposition here is entirely in-person.
That said, for travellers planning around this meal, the split hours , lunch (12:00–14:00) and dinner (17:00–22:00), available Monday through Sunday , give you more scheduling flexibility than many comparable Tokyo counters, which run dinner-only. If you have a full Tokyo itinerary and need to fit sushi into a lunch window, Umi's daytime service makes that easier to engineer than it would be at, say, Harutaka, which operates on tighter availability.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy relative to Tokyo's sushi tier. The Tabelog phone number (050-5872-1963) is the primary contact point. Reservations via Tabelog's platform are also available. Given the two-seating dinner format and the consistent review volume, booking a week or two in advance should suffice for most dates , but for weekend dinners, add a buffer. Lunch slots tend to be more accessible than prime Friday or Saturday evening seatings.
Reservations: Via Tabelog or phone (050-5872-1963). Hours: Mon–Sun 12:00–14:00, 17:00–22:00 (dinner seatings at 17:00 and 20:00). Dress: Smart casual is appropriate for the Aoyama neighbourhood and omakase format. Budget: Price range not published; expect omakase pricing consistent with Tabelog Bronze-tier sushi counters in Tokyo.
Umi is the right call if you want a credentialed, bookable sushi counter in a quieter part of Tokyo , not Ginza's trophy row, not a Michelin-starred venue with a six-month queue. The OAD ranking and Tabelog Bronze signal genuine quality without the circus. Experienced sushi eaters who want a focused counter meal rather than a spectacle will find this format suits them well. It is also a reasonable choice for visitors whose Tokyo schedule allows a lunch sitting, given the midday availability.
It is not the right call if you need a fully accessible group dining format, if you require advance price transparency before booking, or if you are visiting Tokyo specifically to compare the city's top-five sushi counters. For that bracket, see Sushi Kanesaka or Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongiten.
For a broader view of where Umi sits in Tokyo's dining scene, our full Tokyo restaurants guide covers the full range. You can also explore hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences in Tokyo to build out your trip. If your Japan itinerary extends beyond the capital, compare notes with HAJIME in Osaka, Gion Sasaki in Kyoto, akordu in Nara, Goh in Fukuoka, 1000 in Yokohama, or 6 in Okinawa. For sushi at a comparable level elsewhere in Asia, Sushi Shikon in Hong Kong and Shoukouwa in Singapore are the relevant benchmarks.
Dinner is the stronger choice if your schedule allows. The two evening seatings (17:00 and 20:00) follow the traditional omakase rhythm and give the meal its proper context. Lunch (12:00–14:00) runs daily and is worth booking if you have an inflexible evening schedule , the quality should be consistent, but the pacing and depth of an evening omakase sitting tend to feel more considered. If you are travelling specifically for this meal, book the 17:00 dinner seating.
Omakase formats are inherently inflexible , the menu is set by the chef, and sushi depends on fish, shellfish, and sometimes roe or egg. If you have a significant allergy or dietary requirement, contact the restaurant directly before booking via Tabelog phone (050-5872-1963). Do not assume accommodations are available; confirm in advance. Vegetarians and those avoiding seafood are not well-served by the format regardless of venue.
For sushi at a higher price and prestige tier, Harutaka and Sushi Kanesaka are the natural comparisons. Both carry greater booking difficulty and higher spend. If you want a sushi counter closer to Umi's accessibility level but in a different neighbourhood, Edomae Sushi Hanabusa is worth considering. For something outside the sushi format entirely, Hiroo Ishizaka offers a different lens on Tokyo's high-craft dining scene.
Yes, with the right expectations. The OAD recognition and Tabelog Bronze Award signal a meal that will feel considered and purposeful , appropriate for a birthday or anniversary where the emphasis is on food quality rather than theatrical service. The Minami-Aoyama setting adds some atmosphere. What it will not deliver is the visual drama of a hotel dining room or the name-recognition factor of a Michelin-starred address. If the occasion requires a famous name, look elsewhere. If it requires a genuinely good meal, Umi is a reasonable answer.
Sushi counters in Tokyo typically seat all guests at the counter by design , that is the format, not a secondary option. Umi operates as a counter restaurant, so eating at the bar is the standard experience rather than an alternative seating mode. There is no separate table section to request. If you prefer a traditional table arrangement for a sushi meal, the format here is not suited to that preference.
The omakase counter format limits group size. Without published seat count data, it is not possible to give a firm number , but most Tokyo sushi counters of this type seat between 8 and 12 guests per seating. Groups of 3–4 are direct. For groups of 6 or more, contact the restaurant directly on 050-5872-1963 before booking to confirm availability; a full seating buyout may be the only option at that size, which will affect pricing and logistics.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Umi | Sushi | Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Japan Ranked #232 (2025); Tabelog Bronze Award 2025 Score: 3.89 Cuisine: Sushi / Tokyo Phone: 050-5872-1963 Hours: Mon, Thu, Day after public holiday 17:00 - 19:00 20:00 - 22:00 Address: MinamiAoyama328 三Minami Bldg. 1F, Minato City, Tokyo Tabelog:; Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Japan Ranked #206 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Japan Highly Recommended (2023) | Easy | — | |
| Harutaka | Sushi | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| L'Effervescence | French | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| RyuGin | Kaiseki, Japanese | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| HOMMAGE | Innovtive French, French | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Crony | Innovative, French | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Tokyo for this tier.
Dinner is the stronger call. The Tabelog listing shows dinner service running across two seatings (17:00–19:00 and 20:00–22:00), which is the standard format for serious omakase in Tokyo. Lunch is available but the two-seating dinner structure suggests that is where the kitchen is set up to perform at its best. If your schedule is tight, lunch works, but don't skip Umi on a dinner slot just to fit a midday slot.
No public information is available in the venue record on dietary accommodation. As a sushi counter operating omakase format, the menu is chef-led and ingredient-driven by design — shellfish, fish roe, and raw proteins are core to the format. check the venue's official channels via the Tabelog phone number (050-5872-1963) before booking if restrictions are a factor; omakase counters vary significantly in how much flexibility they can offer.
Harutaka in Ginza is the closest peer comparison for serious sushi at a similar OAD tier, but considerably harder to book. If your priority is access over prestige positioning, Umi's Easy booking difficulty makes it the practical choice among credentialed counters. For something outside sushi entirely, RyuGin or L'Effervescence operate in a different format but sit in the same calibre bracket for special-occasion dining in Tokyo.
Yes, provided omakase is the format you want. Umi has held consecutive OAD Top Restaurants in Japan recognition from 2023 through 2025 — including a #206 ranking in 2024 and #232 in 2025 — which gives it the credentials to anchor a meaningful dining occasion. The Minami-Aoyama location is quieter than Ginza, which works in its favour if you want dinner without the tourist-circuit atmosphere. It is not a Michelin-starred venue, so if that specific signal matters to the occasion, factor that in.
The venue operates as a sushi counter, so counter seating is the format, not an add-on. Based on the Tabelog listing placing it in a compact 1F space at Minami Bldg., this is a small counter-only setup rather than a restaurant with a separate bar area. There is no information on walk-in availability; reservations via the Tabelog phone number (050-5872-1963) are the documented booking route.
Small groups are the natural fit for a sushi counter of this type. No private dining or group booking information is documented in the venue record. For parties larger than four, check the venue's official channels on 050-5872-1963 to confirm capacity — a 1F counter space in Minami-Aoyama typically seats between eight and fourteen, so larger groups may not be accommodated in a single seating.
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