Yoshii’s Omakase, Sydney, dec 2025

This is almost a "restaurant within a restaurant" adjacent the Nobu in one of the infamous Sydney gambling establishments. Most omakase in Sydney aren't strictly traditional but follow the formula of having a bit of everything in terms of dishes before and after the sushi. The plated dishes change roughly monthly or so, and the sushi is as available. Being a casino restaurant, the chefs were poached (in dashi?), having previously run their own establishments a few years ago. Also being a casino restaurant, it's rather pretty place with a show and parade of luxury ingredients.

The course begins with a cold dish of pearl meat, sea grapes, foie gras shavings, zucchini noodles, ikura and apple sorbet.
Next is the signature sashimi plate, featuring a miniature kagoshima crab, paradise prawn, king dory, ootoro, vegetables, salmon/kingfish/tuna roll, maguro, cuttlefish, etc. This is also a showcase of the knifework with vegetables and such cut intricately.
The warm dish is a clear dashi with lobster and scallop in a mousse thing with vegetable pearls.
The meat dish (noting the deviation from what you'd normally find in Japan) is A5 beef in a starchy sukiyaki sauce with daikon, sesame sauce and truffles.

Intermission is a granita before the sushi.

The sushi course this time has
Bass groper (with salt)
Amberjack
John dory (oroshi)
Maguro (soy sauce marinated)
Chuutoro
Kamatoro
Squid (lemon juice and sesame)
Pearl meat (kaffir lime and caviar)
Hokkaido sea urchin (white truffle)
Anago (33 year old sauce)
Rice
Tamagoyaki with snapper and prawn

And dessert being Christmas special, is a matcha mont blanc.

There are a few notes I will make. As above, this is a parade of expensive ingredients, but it's a damn good one and the chefs are very personable with conversation and also have subtle but distinct styles of sushi. Due to venue, the choice of flavours is pleasurable, but you can see there is an effort to ensure it's also maximally inoffensive for some of the intended clientele (most however, are asian foodies) that may pass through this place and so some traditional items such as kohada aren't often seen here. The flipside is you have characteristic local ones such as pearl meat. The tuna is definitely peak for Australia and the anago is better than many places I've been to in Japan. The onigiri is a fun way to examine the sushi rice (a lot of akazu, cooked over charcoal) and also clean up that beautiful eel sauce.
While they have upped the price of ingredients, over the years there were definitely 1 or 2 more plated courses. I don't know if this is shrinkflation, or due to time constraints (there are 2 sittings on fri/sat), or both, but the total volume of food is sufficient.
The second chef (pictured) has since left for Japan for family reasons, with his replacement being poached from the Nobu though from a more recent visit he's just as good.