How a sushi chef in Hong Kong is breaking with centuries of tradition to offer a ‘more fun’ omakase experience

Top sushi restaurants generally follow the Japanese convention of serving light, cool dishes at the start of their omakase menus and heavier, hot ones at the end

But Sushi Zo’s Michikazu Yoshida has made a menu that radically ‘jumps around’ to keep diners on their toes. We try it as he explains what makes it ‘memorable’

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Chef Michikazu Yoshida of Sushi Zo in Hong Kong. The chef explains how he aims to create a “memorable and interactive experience” through the restaurant’s non-traditional omakase menu. Photo: Sushi Zo

Published: 12:45pm, 28 Jun 2023Updated: 9:59am, 30 Nov 2023

As sure as spring follows winter, the order of items served during a typical sushi omakase meal proceeds from the lightest of flavours – usually in the form of sashimi – to increasingly heavier dishes with stronger aromas, such as tempura and meat.

This tradition is rarely broken by classically trained sushi chefs, in reverence to the art form they have been entrusted to uphold. To break it would be considered sacrilege.

Many of Hong Kong’s famous omakase restaurants follow Edomae tradition – which originated during the Edo period (1603-1868) in what is now Tokyo, and on which most modern sushi is based.

Such restaurants include Michelin-star Sushi Saito and Sushi Shikon. These institutions have retained their loyal customers even in a city like Hong Kong where new restaurants open frequently.

The interior of Sushi Zo, in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood. Photo: Sushi Zo

While Sushi Zo, in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood, has been in operation for a few years now, its executive chef, Michikazu Yoshida, has recently designed a menu that “jumps around” between mild and strong flavours and hot and cold dishes in a way that distinguishes the restaurant from other omakase places in the city.