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Omakase is a Japanese word that means “to leave something in someone else’s hands”. It is usually used in sushi restaurants when the customer asks the chef to prepare what he considers, and that is why Jaime Mena, chef at Akase, used the term to name his Japanese food restaurant in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz.
Mena has not always been dedicated to gastronomy. In fact, he comes from the world of osteopathy, but after venturing with some friends to set up his first restaurant, he has not left the hotel business, much less the kitchen. For this he has sought out the best teachers: he was working in Aponiente under Ángel León, and there he got the bug for Japanese haute cuisine. A passion that is beginning to bear its first fruits, since April 2022, when Akase opened, it has already received a Solete from the Repsol Guide and recognition in the Michelin Guide.
To be surprised
The whole concept revolves around the idea of being surprised, starting, of course, from the menu. It is constantly evolving and changing according to the season, the product and customer feedback, always in search of the onomatopoeia: an ‘ohh’, a ‘mmh’, or a gesture that betrays the surprise and taste of the diner. Even so, they have a series of fixed dishes that are a must and have already become a classic.
They are, for example, the grilled eel nigiri with fresh foie gras and cocoa or mullet with toasted skin and shiso, an aromatic herb similar to mint. Combinations of ingredients that are, from the start, striking, and it is not a usual sushi restaurant, one of those that can almost be considered fast food, but they give a twist to their dishes, trying to make them unique. The honeyed croquette of Unagi and sabayon de palo ‘cortao’ and the prawn gyozas with a fried egg emulsion are two other examples that betting on something different can be a success.
They also have a tasting menu of nigiris for 55 € with a selection that includes, among others, the sautéed and flambéed razor clams or red tuna, 5J ham fat and fried nori. Even so, the restaurant recommends ordering from the menu on the first visit, offering other dishes such as tuna eye and sea urchin tartar; Fukuoka nori, fermented butter and ikura roe; or roasted parpatana in okonomiyaki, pak choi and hazelnut praline.
An experience for the lucky few
At Akase you eat with chopsticks, but they have dishes designed to be eaten with your hand and in one bite, and others, such as the lemon fish sashimi, pijotas stew and croutons, that come with a spoon to scoop them up well. There is even a little surprise after the desserts, which for the moment are cheesecake ice cream on ginger crumble and Japanese cherry clouds and English yuzu cream, although they are working on expanding this part of the menu with ideas that have a lot to do with the land and its wines.
To round off the Akase experience, the service is very personalized, since the restaurant has space for 16 diners, something designed on purpose to give a slow and attentive treatment to everyone who eats there. This is one of Jaime Mena’s priorities, whose objective is also that those who visit him go “because they want to go”, not because they have chosen him “by chance while strolling around”. For the moment, here is our recommendation, so if you follow the premise of letting us advise you and try it, it will not have been by chance.
