Seattle's sushi counters plate Pacific Northwest seafood in the Edomae idiom: omakase nigiri with local king salmon, spot prawn and geoduck served paddle-to-counter, the rice still body-temperature.
Seattle's modern sushi tradition runs back to Maneki (founded 1904 in Nihonmachi), among the oldest Japanese restaurants still operating in the United States. The city's Pacific Northwest seafood (king salmon, Dungeness crab, geoduck, spot prawn, Pacific oysters) gave Edomae sushi an American regional dimension that Japanese chefs adapted directly. Sushi Kashiba (Shiro Kashiba, who trained under Jiro Ono in Tokyo, opened 2015 near Pike Place) is the reference omakase counter; Wataru in Ravenna is widely cited (Seattle Met, Eater) as the chef's-counter standout. The contemporary form sources king salmon, hamachi, ankimo and ikura day-of from Pike Place Fish Market.
4 editor picks for Edomae sushi in Seattle, ranked by editorial score. All Seattle signature dishes · Edomae sushi across every city.
Sushi Kashiba ★ 4.7
pike-place-market · 86 Pine St, Ste 1, Seattle, WA 98101
Sushi Kashiba in Seattle's Pike Place Market is Shiro Kashiba's bar: the chef who opened Seattle's first sushi counter in 1970, now back behind glass at 86.
Wataru ★ 4.7
ravenna · 2400 NE 65th St, Seattle, WA 98115
Wataru in Seattle's Ravenna is the 2015 edomae omakase counter: aged nigiri, Toyosu-sourced fish, and a 10-seat bar that runs two seatings a night.
Maneki ★ 4.5
international-district · 304 6th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
Maneki in Seattle's International District is the oldest Japanese restaurant on the West Coast: opened in 1904, surviving wartime internment.
Rondo Japanese Kitchen ★ 4.4
224 Broadway E, Seattle, WA 98102
Rondo Japanese Kitchen in Seattle's Capitol Hill is Taichi Kitamura's 2020 izakaya, an omakase counter, sake from Japan-only allocations. Book 2 weeks ahead.