However, if sake or wine is more your style, those particular pairings are specially curated to enhance each piece’s grouping, so you can’t go wrong. The house pairing offers a variety of sake, wine, Japanese whiskey and gin micro-cocktails, and local beer that pertain to each grouping of bites and encompasses the full experience. Not to be overshadowed, the drink pairings are worthy of praise as well! There are three pairing choices: the house pairing, the sake pairing, and the wine pairing. Cool off with a remarkable bite of matcha white chocolate and black sesame seed-covered green tea ice cream to top off the night. In between bites, make sure to nibble on the palette cleanser, pickled cucumber slices, to ensure you’re tasting everything to the fullest extent. The toro quite literally melts in your mouth, and both the seared bone marrow and A5 wagyu beef will leave you asking for more. That piece immediately sets the tone for the rest of the meal, which features hamachi, salmon, king crab, Santa Barbara uni, and a fan favorite, the seared unagi with bone marrow drippings. A few menu highlights include the first course, a deliciously creamy bite of tuna tartare sandwiched between dried seaweed and topped with sturgeon caviar. Sushi by Scratch Restaurants‘ menu varies based on availability and the vastly fluid omakase experience, so you will never have the same 17 courses twice. Before each course, the chefs explore the flavor profile and explain their choices for that night. A blowtorch is often used to crispen various fish dishes or sear the bone marrow and wagyu beef. A team of expert chefs take care to hand-shape each bite and delicately apply freshly ground wasabi, bright red beet mustard, or house-made soy, among a handful of other unique sauces and dressings. The restaurant, located at Montecito Inn on Coast Village Road, is a dimly-lit wooden bar with a layout that allows guests to watch each course as it’s prepared. Created by the combined talents of chef-owners and husband/wife duo Phillip Frankland Lee (a contestant from TV’s “Top Chef Season 13,” “Chopped” and other shows) and pastry chef Margarita Kallas-Lee, the pair has done just that, meticulously crafting an incredible 17-course meal, one bite at a time. The term “omakase” translates to “to entrust” and is used when ordering food to “leave it up to” the chef to choose. We tried the house dressing and it was great having it on the side to add as little/much as we wanted.Sushi by Scratch Restaurants is a MICHELIN-started, omakase-style sushi restaurant that focuses on fresh seafood found locally in Santa Barbara. Just as with Mura, the staff is really accommodating in that you can have the dressings on the side in case you don't like it. The build-your-own was also fun we chose octopus and shrimp tempura with both being a good portion and tasty. The former had a perfect amount of heat which we confirmed by our 9 year old daughter's aversion to it.

We also tried the spicy love poke bowl, and a build your own one.

The broth for both was so flavorful and rich- definitely had a 'wow' factor. We also have been going to nearby Naruto ramen for years, and found Mura's Tonkatsu Ramen and Shoyu Ramen to be so good that I'm predicting it might give Naruto a run for its money. We've been going to Mura for years, and were so excited to try their new ramen and poke location which is across the street from Mura.

Fromscratch restaurant