Omakase by Prime Fish
Omakase by Prime Fish: A World-Class Sushi Experience
About a year after opening Prime Fish—the best neighborhood sushi restaurant in Charlotte—the team launched a high-end omakase experience in the Cotswold neighborhood. If you aren’t familiar omakase, it’s essentially a sushi tasting menu — but that’s oversimplified. The word "omakase" translates to "I leave it up to you" or "chef's choice." It’s more than that though. In its traditional form, the chef creates a series of dishes right in front of you, serving them over a counter to highlight their technical skill and showcase the absolute best ingredients available at that moment.
The Best Omakase in the South. Period.
I don’t say that lightly. I’ve been to Michelin-starred spots like Hayakawa, Mujo, and Omakase Table in Atlanta. I’ve done the seatings at Sushi | Bar and Nozawa Bar in LA. I’ve eaten at Kase x Noko in Nashville and eaten at more omakases than I can count in NYC (clearly, I have a sushi problem). Every single one of them has its pros and cons, but for a high-end experience, Omakase by Prime Fish is one of my favorites anywhere in the world.
The Caliber of Ingredients
The quality here is staggering, and it all starts with the ingredients. They import everything directly from Japan—and only the highest tier. For example, they buy competition-winning tuna from Toyosu Market. We aren’t just talking about the fish, though; it’s the rice, the A5 Miyazaki Wagyu, the fresh wasabi root, and even the specific rice vinegar. They even fly in luxury fruit, like the legendary Yubari King Musk Melon.
While these products are incredible on their own, the real magic is how Chef Robin Anthony transforms them. He creates beautiful bites with layered flavors and perfect textures that honor the ingredients and elevate them, without overcomplicating the dish.
The chef’s creativity, balanced with a refined restraint to create truly elegant bites, is what is most impressive at Omakase by Prime Fish. You can go almost anywhere and find an omakase serving tuna and salmon nigiri. Most higher-end spots will include seasonal varieties like Needlefish or Firefly Squid. But very few chefs are able to completely transform those ingredients into something that is uniquely their own. At Omakase by Prime Fish, you aren't just eating great fish; you’re experiencing a perspective you simply can’t get anywhere else. On more than one occasion, I’ve witnessed middle-aged women having a visceral reaction throughout the meal, audibly moaning over how good a single bite is.
A Constantly Evolving Experience
At this point, I think I’ve been to Omakase by Prim Fish over 50 times, and every experience is different. Of all the dinners I’ve attended, the menu has never been the same. While you’ll see small transitions in the menu from week to week as the season progresses, with the exception of a few signature items, the entire menu will change from season to season.
Even when some of the core ingredients remain the same, such as the Otoro, the preparation will largely change. This isn't just about variety; it’s a true reflection of the Japanese philosophy of shun—the practice of eating ingredients at the absolute peak of their seasonality. It’s that commitment to the "now" that keeps the experience fresh, even for someone who has sat at this counter dozens of times.
The Menu: 15 Courses of Technical Perfection
The dinner experience at Omakase by Prime Fish is a meticulously paced 15-course journey of small plates and seasonal nigiri. At the time of writing, the dinner investment is $325 per person (excluding beverage, tax, and gratuity). If you’re looking for a slightly shorter entry point, they offer a 10-course lunch for $175 on Saturdays only, at 1:00 PM.
Both are world-class, but book the dinner if you can. Trust me—the food is so exceptional that you’ll find yourself wishing for more than 10 courses. Plus, the dinner menu typically features the A5 Miyazaki Wagyu, which is an absolute showstopper you don't want to miss.
There’s only 1 course that doesn’t change
There is one iconic dish that never leaves the menu: the A5 Miyazaki Wagyu Tartare. It is, without a doubt, the single best tartare I have had in my life. Bar none. It’s served on bread toasted in Wagyu beef tallow and topped with fresh truffle (black or white depending on the season) or occasionally caviar. It is rich, creamy, and incredibly savory—a perfectly balanced bite of pure luxury.
Beyond that tartare, the menu is in a constant state of flux. Because Chef Robin sources based on what is at peak quality for the moment, you never truly know what to expect. Even within a broader "Spring" menu, there are dozens of micro-seasons where certain fish are only available for a fleeting two-to-three-week window, and those windows shift from year to year. It’s a relentless pursuit of the absolute best, but that’s one of the reasons the experience is so interesting. Depending on the week, you might see:
The Bluefin Tuna Trilogy: Akami (lean), Chutoro (medium fatty), and the prized Otoro (fatty).
Highly Seasonal Varieties: Barracuda, Baby Snapper, Winter Yellowtail, Needlefish, Firefly Squid, Blue Mackerel, Bigfin Reef Squid, Giant Octopus. This is the bulk of what is served.
Delicacies: Abalone, Sweet Shrimp, Golden Eye Snapper, Salmon Belly with Black Truffle, or even Filefish served with a sauce made from its own liver.
The preparation is where Chef’s "restraint and creativity" really shine. One night, the Bigfin Reef Squid Nigiri might be served simply with salt; the next, it’s topped with Uni. He might serve Blue Mackerel as a nigiri course, or transform a Spanish Mackerel into a complex small plate with the best sauce you’ve ever tasted. One of my absolute favorites is when he serves different varieties of crab in its own shell, topped with a sweet corn velouté. It comes back one the menu for a few weeks every year, and it’s always one of my top bites of the year. On special collaboration nights with wineries or sake brewers, the menu goes even more off the rails — it’s even more indulgent if that’s even possible. I’m still dreaming about a bowl of A5 Miyazaki Wagyu ramen from a recent event.
The Flow: From Apps to Luxury Upgrades
While the sequence can shift, the typical flow includes:
6 Small Plates (Appetizers): A mix of dishes that really showcase the chef’s technical skills. You might find a cooked fish, like salmon in an herbaceous cream sauce, or lightly seared scallops topped with caviar. You might find a croquette made with king crab, or “noodles” made from tuna, topped with uni and caviar. There could be a chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) topped with uni or ikura. An there’s almost always two Wagyu-based dishes — the tartare made from an A5 Miyazaki Wagyu filet, and typically a seared ribeye course.
The Palate Cleanser: Not technically a course — you’ll get a sipping miso, made from the bones and shells of the seafood that the chef has prepared. Because of that, it changes slightly every night, but it’s always soul-warming.
5-6 Nigiri/Sashimi: This is where there is the most variation in flow. Sometimes the menu will feature 6 nigiri. Sometimes it will be 5 nigiri and a sashimi course. Other times it might feature 5 nigiri and a handroll (which is my favorite. Chef Robin’s handrolls are spectacular).
The Tamago: Some nights, Chef serves a tamago course. Traditionally prepared, he serves it in both traditional and modern ways — plain, as nigiri, and sometimes as a modern dessert with coconut cookie crumbles and whipped cream.
The Upgrades: Do not skip these. Like the rest of the menu, the preparations change and they are subject to availability, but the Uni upgrade is a must. If they are serving the Uni “Risotto”, I will ALWAYS order it. And the Caviar upgrade: currently it’s a meringue topped with caviar and paired with Krug Champagne, but the caviar cone is also delicious. You really don’t want to miss these.
The Sweet Finale: Two dessert courses. There is almost always a luxury melon — usually the Yubari King Musk Melon, although sometimes its a Golden Melon — but occasionally other "lucky" guests will also get Oishii strawberries, Asian pear, or persimmons. And then the other dessert is often a clever play on classics, like vanilla ice cream with aged soy sauce that mimics salted caramel, or peanut mochi in a warm ginger broth.
Reservations & Hours
Omakase by Prime Fish is strictly by reservation only and extremely intimate, with only 4–6 seats per session.
Monday & Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday – Sunday:
Session 1: 5:15 PM – 7:15 PM
Session 2: 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Saturday Lunch: 1:00 PM (6 seats available)
National Recognition: James Beard & Michelin
After years of performing at this level, Executive Chef Robin Anthony is finally getting the national spotlight he deserves. For 2026, he has been named a James Beard Semi-Finalist for Best Chef: Southeast, a massive nod to the technical mastery happening behind this sushi counter in Charlotte.
Beyond the Beard foundation, Omakase by Prime Fish has also earned its place in the Michelin Guide. Chef Robin is the only Michelin-recommended sushi chef in North Carolina,. Whether you care about the "shiny red sticker" or not, the recognition confirms what I’ve been saying for years: this isn't just a great local spot; it’s a destination that can hold its own against the best sushiya in the country.
Final Verdict
There is a recurring problem in the Charlotte food scene where "high-end" is often confused with "high-budget decor" or a flashy show. We have plenty of spots with a trendy atmosphere serving fish that was frozen three weeks ago and drowned in spicy mayo. Omakase by Prime Fish is the antithesis of this.
It is a sanctuary for sushi lovers. It’s an intimate, quiet space where the distractions are stripped away so you can focus on the singular perspective of a chef operating at the top of his game. While the atmosphere is nice enough, you aren’t paying for a "vibe" or a scene; you are paying for quality — highly seasonal fishes, some of which sell for over $100 per pound, competition-winning Bluefin tuna, and the technical skill of a master that has been recognized by both James Beard and Michelin.
If you are a sushi snob who has spent years chasing the perfect bite from New York to LA to Asia itself, your search in the South ends here. It is expensive, no doubt, but it is worth every single penny. Chef Robin Anthony isn't just serving the best sushi in Charlotte—he’s proving we don’t have to settle for mediocrity; a world-class culinary experience can thrive in Charlotte.
Omakase by Prime Fish
Address: 2907 Providence Rd STE 101, Charlotte, NC 28211
https://omakaseclt.com
