Sabi Omakase Oslo

Rice, fish, and the room in one hand

The nigiri leaves the hand while the rice is still warm. Airis Zapa, chef, general manager, and co-owner at Sabi Omakase Oslo in Oslo, holds that timing as part of the same station. His path began with apprenticeship at a sushi restaurant in Kaunas, Lithuania, where repetition, knife control, precision, and service habits came before the counter carried his name. Since 2022, he has worked here with a wider responsibility than the pass alone: the sushi, the rhythm of the omakase, and the standards of the room all sit under his daily watch.

That combined role matters at a counter built on sequence. Edomae sushi gives the operating frame, but the service depends on Nordic seasons, local fish, rice, seasoning, and the narrow moment when a piece should be placed in front of the guest. Zapa’s trade record belongs to that discipline: Certified sushi chef and head chef in 2017, Certified sake sommelier in 2022, Black belt, 1st dan in 2024, and World champion in sushi, Japan, in 2025. The restaurant itself holds one Michelin star, and the award belongs to this Oslo house.

A ten seat counter paced by the hand

Sabi Omakase Oslo works as a 10-seat omakase bar, not as a room that happens to serve sushi. The format sets the method. Guests sit close enough to read the knife, the press of the rice, the brushing of seasoning, and the interval between one serving and the next. The menu moves through otsumami appetizers, sashimi, and nigiri, with dishes prepared quickly and served immediately rather than held at the edge of the pass.

The technique follows linked disciplines rather than a single flourish. Fish preparation decides texture; rice decides temperature and pressure; seasoning decides whether the seafood stays clean or becomes heavy. Traditional Edomae practice gives the long frame, while Norwegian seafood and Nordic seasonality set the day’s material. Sake and wine sit alongside the meal through a curated beverage program, with Zapa’s sake training part of the house’s service-side knowledge. The counter asks for trust, but it also gives evidence: each piece arrives in sequence, made in view, with the chef’s timing exposed.

Minimalism close enough to hear the pass

The room is quiet by design. Japanese minimalism and modern Scandinavian lines keep attention on the bench, the counter, and the short path between the hand and the guest. Seasonal plants are arranged daily, a small changing register of nature beside a service built on control. Nothing in the room competes loudly with the sushi.

That restraint suits the scale. At 10 seats, the counter turns the meal into a shared line of sight rather than private theatre. The work is visible in small measures: a knife lifted, rice shaped, fish set down, a pause before the next course. Sabi Omakase Oslo’s next chapter still rests on that same exposed discipline, Airis Zapa at the counter with Norwegian seafood and Edomae rice in reach.