Omakase Tasting Counter
The full ten course evening at the counter, built from that morning market and served in one steady arc. The chef decides the order and you follow the rice from the lightest piece to the last warm bite.
S1Chef Board Hinoki, oiled each morning before service
Glass aging case — held at two degrees
Aji, cured at the pass
SUSHI SECRETS INC. is a small omakase counter at 2110 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, 94704-1209, United States. We seat ten guests a night, we serve a single seasonal menu, and we take reservations only, so every seat is held for one person and every course is counted before the doors open. The kitchen buys that morning, the rice is seasoned at the pass, and the room is kept calm on purpose.
SUSHI SECRETS INC. works as a computer systems design practice in name and as a sushi counter in practice, and both halves share the same discipline: a small system, tuned carefully, watched closely. We designed our own reservation ledger, our own seating logic, and our own timing sheet so that the dining room runs with the calm of good software.
There is no dining room behind a curtain and no second seating waiting in a hallway. The counter is the whole restaurant. One chef stands at the board on the left, one cook keeps the case and the rice on the right, and ten stools look straight into the work. Because the room is small, the menu does not change per table; it changes per night, and sometimes it changes between the first seat and the last when the market hands us something better than what we planned.
Guests arrive together, sit together, and leave together. That single seating is the reason the pacing feels even. We do not rush the front of the counter to turn a table, and we do not leave the back of the counter waiting on a dish that was promised too early. The room is quiet because the system is quiet. You can hear the knife meet the board, the rice turn in the hangiri, and the low scrape of the case door when the next slab comes out of the cold.
We keep the room warm with cedar and paper rather than with music. Voices carry here, so we ask guests to keep phones face down unless they are photographing a plate, and we ask for patience when a course takes two minutes longer than the last. The reward is a dinner that feels less like a service and more like being let into a small, well-run workshop for a few hours.
Every service we offer is clipped to the same rail and counted the same way. Read the tickets below, then open the full descriptions on the services page when one of them fits the evening you have in mind.
The full ten course evening at the counter, built from that morning market and served in one steady arc. The chef decides the order and you follow the rice from the lightest piece to the last warm bite.
S1A shorter seated flight of seven pieces chosen for the week, poured alongside a small sake set. It is the right introduction when you want the counter without the full ten course commitment. Full detail lives on our services page.
S2Hold two stools at the rail for a relaxed two hour window with a la carte pieces and tea. Reserved bar seating keeps the pacing in your hands while the counter stays in front of you.
S3Four pours matched to the arc of the menu, from a dry junmai to a soft nigori at the close. Our steward writes the pairing each week so the cup and the fish arrive in the same moment. See the program in full on the services page.
S4Take the whole ten seat room for an evening that belongs to your table alone. We close the doors, write a menu for the occasion, and staff the counter just for your group.
S5A hands on afternoon session at the board covering rice, knife care, and the shaping of nigiri. Six seats, one apron each, and a small meal at the end of the lesson.
S6We cook small batches through the evening rather than one large pot at the start. Each batch rests, then meets a red vinegar blend and a pinch of salt while it is still warm enough to take them. The temperature of the rice is the difference between a piece that tastes alive and a piece that tastes like a leftover, so the hangiri never sits idle for long.
The board is sharpened and the blade is oiled before service, and the case door is opened only when a slab is actually about to be cut. We age carefully, not theatrically. A piece of salmon rests four days to soften its edges, and a firm white fish may rest one. When the aging case says the fish is ready tonight and not tomorrow, we listen to it. Guests who want to see the whole process should look at the Chef Table Classes ticket.
Cold is a tool here, not decoration. The glass case stays at two degrees, the slab sits on a slate board with a frost line above it, and nothing comes out of the case until the second it is needed. The small blue fish form that cures at the pass is served the same day it arrives, which is why it appears so briefly on the menu.
Together these three habits hold the menu steady from the first seat to the last. The Seasonal Nigiri Flight leans hardest on the rice, the Omakase Tasting Counter leans on all three, and the Sake Pairing Program leans on the cold, because temperature is what a cup of sake is really about.
SUSHI SECRETS INC. opens its seasonal counter calendar this month, and seats for the new menu are released on the same day each week.
Because we seat one group a night, a reserved stool is a held stool. We ask that you tell us about allergies and strong dislikes when you book, and we ask that you arrive within the first ten minutes so the opening course meets you at the counter instead of waiting under a lamp.
Parties of one and two are seated at the rail; parties of three and four are seated together at the corner where the case meets the board. Larger groups are best served by the Private Counter Buyouts option, where the whole room turns to your evening and the menu is written for the occasion.
Cancellations are painless more than forty eight hours before service and harder inside that window, because the fish is already bought. When a seat does open late, we call the waiting list before we call anyone else, which is one more reason to join it when you book. The Reserved Bar Seating window is the easiest way in for a first visit, and the contact page carries our address, hours, telephone number, and a short list of answered questions.
We keep the counter small on purpose and we keep the pace slow on purpose. If that is the evening you are looking for, we would be glad to hold a stool for you under the noren and count the courses once you sit.