RFK Rankings · Milan
Best Counter-Only Restaurants in Milan 2026
Counter and bar seating · Milan · 6 counters ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Milan's best seat for one is a counter, not a table. That is what this list ranks: the bar, the chef across the wood and the welcome for a solo diner, not the star count alone. The city's grand rooms, Seta and Cracco among them, are superb but seat you at a table with a distant view of the kitchen. The rooms here put you at a bar where an itamae builds Edomae nigiri one piece at a time, or a master assembles sushi for eight, or hand rolls are passed to you the moment they are made. Ranked on the counter first, the cooking second, and the price honestly.
1.IYO Omakase
The purest counter in Milan, seven seats where itamae Masashi Suzuki builds nigiri one piece at a time; book it for the format at its best.
IYO Omakase takes the top spot because the whole room is a counter and nothing else. Seven to eight seats face a single wooden bar on Via Piero della Francesca, near the Sempione park and the Porta Nuova towers, and itamae Masashi Suzuki works an Edomae sequence in front of you across two nightly seatings. The fish is sourced and aged with the rigour the style demands, and the omakase runs about 185 euro, with a sake or wine flight around 85 euro on top. It is the offshoot of the Michelin-starred IYO group and holds its own star in the 2026 guide. For a solo diner this is the ideal seat in the city, a place where one cover is the whole point. Book a seating two to three weeks out and arrive on time, since the counter starts together.
Reserve at iyo-omakase.com.
2.Sushi Matsu Omakase
Milan's most talked-about new counter, a fourteen-seat horseshoe around two chefs working live; book it for theatre with serious Edomae pedigree.
Sushi Matsu Omakase is the room everyone is booking, opened on the first of October 2025 by founder Taka Matsu on Via Alvise Cadamosto in Porta Venezia. The format is pure counter, a fourteen-seat horseshoe wrapped around chefs Hirohiko Shimizu and Daigo Wakui, who prepare a 200-year-old Edomae style of nigiri in real time so the whole bar watches each piece come together. Lunch opens at around 80 euro and dinner at about 160, which makes it one of the better-value serious counters in the city, and it earned a place in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide Italia within months of opening. There are no tables to retreat to, which is exactly the appeal. Book ahead for a weekend seat and sit where you can see both chefs.
Reserve at sushimatsuomakase.com.
3.Ichikawa
A master's eight-seat counter in Porta Romana, Haruo Ichikawa working sushi live; book the bar for the headline format, not the side tables.
Ichikawa puts you in front of a genuine master. Chef Haruo Ichikawa won Italy's first Michelin star for an Asian restaurant back in 2015, at a previous address, and now runs his own room on Via Lazzaro Papi in Porta Romana. The counter is the headline here, eight seats where the chef assembles an omakase of sushi and sashimi one course at a time for about 150 euro, against a quieter table omakase at around 120. The room carries a Michelin Plate in the current guide rather than a star, which keeps the bill below the city's starred counters. For a solo diner who wants a master's hands and a real conversation, the eight-seat bar is the only seat to ask for. Reserve the counter directly and request a bar stool when you book.
Reserve at ichikawa.it.
4.IYO Kaiseki
A one-star sushi bar inside the Solaria Tower, the counter that overlooks the kitchen; book the bar, not the dining room, for the live work.
IYO Kaiseki, recently renamed from Aalto, is the IYO group's fine-dining room on the first floor of the Solaria Tower at Piazza Alvar Aalto in Porta Nuova, and it earns its place here for the sushi-bar counter that runs along the open kitchen. Executive chef Katsumi Soga oversees a kaiseki menu, but the seats to ask for are at the counter, where the itamae works the fish in front of you and the omakase runs from roughly 120 to 180 euro. It holds one Michelin star in the 2026 guide. The room does have tables, so this is a counter by choice rather than a counter-only address, but the bar delivers the live work a solo diner comes for. Specify the sushi counter when you reserve, since the default booking is a dining-room table.
Reserve at iyo-kaiseki.com.
5.Wicky's
The counter where the chef serves you himself, Wicky Priyan's saffron-risotto sushi; sit at the bar for the omakase, not a table.
Wicky's is the most personal counter in the city. Wicky Priyan, Sri Lankan-born and Japanese-trained, works a sushi counter at Corso Italia 6 in the Centro Storico and serves much of his omakase himself, folding Mediterranean ingredients into Japanese technique. The signature is a saffron-risotto sushi that reads as pure Milan, and the chef's-table omakase runs in tiers from about 110 to 150 euro for eight to eleven courses. The room is listed in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide and holds Gambero Rosso's Tre Bacchette rather than a star, which is a fair reflection of an inventive, less orthodox kitchen. Tables are available, so ask for the counter when you book to get the chef across the wood from you. Reserve the bar seats directly and arrive ready for a single set sequence.
Reserve at wicuisine.it.
6.CasaNori
A made-to-order hand-roll counter from revered veterans, the city's gentlest seat for one; go for temaki built in front of you, not a long tasting.
CasaNori closes the list as the casual counter and the value pick. It was opened in 2024 in Isola by Kato Shozo and Masako Sato, who spent some forty years at Tomoyoshi Endo, the legendary Milan sushi room that shut its doors in March 2024. The format is a counter running along the prep island, where temaki hand rolls are assembled to order and handed to you across the wood, with sets from about 21 to 36 euro and an omakase formula on request. It is more neighbourhood bar than destination tasting, which is exactly why a solo diner can drop in for a quick, expert counter meal without the spend or the ceremony of the rooms above. Sit at the counter, order the hand rolls as they come, and ask about the omakase if you want the chefs to lead.
Enquire about counter seats and the omakase formula direct.
Not for a table dinner
Grand rooms that seat you at a table, not a counter
If what you want is a long, seated dinner with a companion across the table, skip the counters and book a dining room. Seta at the Mandarin Oriental and Cracco in the Galleria are among the best tables in Milan, but they are table restaurants with a polite view of the pass at most, not counters. The rooms on this list are built around a single bar, where you sit shoulder to shoulder and face the kitchen, which is the wrong shape for a private conversation over a leisurely meal.
Not for a large group or a slow, lingering night
A counter seats two or three together at best, and the small ones, IYO Omakase and Ichikawa among them, run a single set sequence on a fixed clock. For a party of six, a celebration that needs its own room, or an evening you want to stretch for hours, take a table from the Milan dining guide instead. The counter rewards a solo diner or a pair who came to watch the chef work, not a group that came to talk.
How to book a Milan counter
Treat the small counters like the scarce seats they are. IYO Omakase has seven or eight stools across two nightly seatings and Ichikawa eight, so book two to three weeks ahead and name the counter when you reserve, since some rooms default you to a table. Sushi Matsu's fourteen-seat horseshoe and Wicky's counter release tables earlier but fill on weekends. CasaNori in Isola is the easiest, a temaki bar you can often catch at a quieter hour. For any of them, confirm the price and the format as you book, because omakase menus are usually prepaid or settled at reservation and the figure moves by date. A counter is the best seat in the city for a solo diner, so if you are eating alone, ask for the bar by name and arrive on time. For the full picture of the city, see the Milan dining guide, the best Milan restaurants for solo dining, and the RFK rankings index.
Frequently asked
What is the best counter-only restaurant in Milan?
IYO Omakase is our top pick, because the whole room is a counter: seven to eight seats where itamae Masashi Suzuki builds an Edomae nigiri sequence one piece at a time on Via Piero della Francesca, near the Sempione and Porta Nuova edge. It holds a Michelin star in the 2026 Italia guide and the omakase runs about 185 euro. Book one of the two nightly seatings well ahead.
Where can a solo diner eat well at a counter in Milan?
The counter is the friendliest seat in the city for one. IYO Omakase, Sushi Matsu Omakase and Ichikawa all seat you at a bar facing the chef, where a single cover is the norm rather than the exception, and conversation with the itamae fills the place a dining companion would. CasaNori in Isola is the casual option, a temaki counter where hand rolls are made to order in front of you for around 21 to 36 euro.
How much does an omakase counter cost in Milan?
It spans a wide range by room and time of day. Sushi Matsu opens at about 80 euro for lunch and 160 for dinner, Ichikawa runs about 150 euro at the counter, IYO Omakase about 185, and IYO Kaiseki from roughly 120 to 180. CasaNori is the gentlest, with temaki sets from 21 to 36 euro. Most counters are prepaid or settled when you book, so confirm the figure as you reserve.
Which Milan counter restaurants are Michelin starred?
Two of the six. IYO Omakase holds a Michelin star and IYO Kaiseki holds one as well, both in the 2026 Michelin Guide Italia. Ichikawa carries a Michelin Plate, the legacy of chef Haruo Ichikawa winning Italy's first star for an Asian restaurant back in 2015. Sushi Matsu is listed in the 2026 guide, and Wicky's is in the guide with Gambero Rosso's Tre Bacchette rather than a star.
Do you need a reservation for Milan omakase counters?
Yes, and well ahead for the small ones. IYO Omakase seats only seven or eight at a single counter across two nightly seatings, so its tables go first, and Ichikawa's eight-seat counter is much the same. Sushi Matsu's fourteen-seat horseshoe and Wicky's counter release tables ahead and fill on weekends. CasaNori is the easiest walk-in, but even there the counter is small, so call for a hand-roll seat at a busy hour.
Related rankings
More from RFK
Browse the full Milan dining guide, compare the best counter-only restaurants worldwide, read our verdict on IYO Omakase and Wicky's, find a seat for one in our Milan solo-dining ranking, or open the full RFK rankings index.
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