Omakase @ Barracks Row

The North Carolina Spanish mackerel at Omakase @ Barracks Row is cold-smoked on straw and brushed with Japanese mustard.

Why go

Ricky Wang was the senior sushi chef at Sushi Nakazawa in Washington, the offshoot of the New York counter that Jiro Ono's protégé Daisuke Nakazawa opened after Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Born in China, Wang also cooked at José Andrés's Minibar. He opened his own 14-seat marble counter above Han Palace on Barracks Row in November 2023 (Washingtonian). He seasoned his rice with red akasu vinegars made from sake lees. He told Washingtonian that year: For my tasting palette, red vinegar has more umami to it (Washingtonian). His Chinese side showed in 2024 in a wagyu siu mai in dashi. He described it to Tom Sietsema of the Washington Post in 2024 as a reverse soup dumpling topped with mustard air (Washington Post). The MICHELIN inspectors gave the counter one star in 2025.

Dinner runs to about 20 courses of small plates and then nigiri. Wang sources seasonal fish from Japan's Toyosu market and from the East Coast, like the Carolina mackerel. Washingtonian's critics wrote in January 2026 that diners may be told to eat the mackerel pike at once so its fat melts on your tongue (Washingtonian). Even the miso soup is made with the heads and bones of the fish served through the meal. A raw filet of black sea bream goes into it and cooks in the heat of the broth (Washingtonian). Sietsema ate the uni with salmon caviar and sea grapes in 2024 and wrote, If the ocean produced butter, it would be uni (Washington Post). He also watched Wang thwack a fresh orange clam with his hand to kill a nerve. Wang explained that this firms up the fish and gives it a slightly crisp texture (Washington Post).

Nothing in the room competes with the fish. Jonathan Smith of The Infatuation found that the bright lighting and sparse white walls make it feel almost clinical (The Infatuation). A text the day before your booking warns you off strong perfume. The talk comes from Gabriel Enjamio, the service director, who met Wang at Minibar. He told Sietsema: I'm the museum guide to his Rembrandt (Washington Post). Smith called the meal a sort of TED Talk and put the $180 a person, before extras or drinks, in the class of dinners best saved for big life events (The Infatuation). Ken of the KenScale blog found the pieces slightly smaller than at other counters in 2025 and wanted a few more showstopper pieces (KenScale). Washingtonian's critics had written in January 2025: No other sushi counter in DC presents as much detail about its fish and has so much fun along the way (Washingtonian).

Order this / avoid

On the menu: the straw-smoked Spanish mackerel. Smith for The Infatuation: like something spit out of an underwater BBQ shack.1 The MICHELIN inspectors in 2025: bold but balanced.6
On the menu: the uni rice with salmon roe and sea grapes. Smith: it tastes like an earthy Easy Mac, in a good way.1
On the menu: the o toro, roughly the consistency of a pad of warm butter to Smith.1
On the menu: the smoked steelhead salad with an ankimo (monkfish liver) emulsion that Smith found so rich it threatens to overpower the steelhead. His advice: Pick as much of it up with the fish as you can, then eat the rest with a spoon.1
Drink: Orion, a Japanese rice lager that Sietsema found crisp and subtly bitter in 2024. Enjamio described it to him as Sapporo with sunglasses.2

What locals & experts say

Tom Sietsema, Washington Post (October 2025): he put it in the top five of his final dining guide.8

Good to know

Booking: no walk-ins. Buy a prepaid seat on Resy, where tables open two weeks ahead (The Infatuation, 2026).
When: two seatings a night (the house site, September 2026). Sietsema found it open Tuesday to Saturday in 2024.
Price: $180 a person before supplements and drinks (The Infatuation, August 2026). Washingtonian put dinner for two at $300 or more with tax and tip in January 2026.
Seasons: Sietsema wrote in 2024 that "selections might change even between seatings on the same night," so any dish above may have gone.
Access: only stairs lead up to the dining room (Washington Post, 2024).

Verdict

should-visit — Save this for a milestone dinner. Ricky Wang, once the senior sushi chef at Nakazawa, serves Toyosu and East Coast fish at a counter for fourteen while a host details each bite. A seat cost $180 before drinks in August 2026.

Omakase @ Barracks Row.