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euonym's review
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
czven's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
this was so funny and entertaining and relatable from the New York description and the immigrant parent lifestyle. I didn’t fully understand what to make of the tension in the end until I googled some reviews of this story (the only reason I gave it less than 5 stars) but once I did it definitely confirmed some of my suspicion towards the white boyfriend. I did not realize that the chef and the woman had such a tense Chinese-Japanese micro-aggression moment until after and I feel like this story is great at showing what we think we represent as a person vs what we actually think and believe after all (the mask began to slip when we were able to see her innermost thoughts and her safe and common routine was threatened by change)
wopdewop's review
5.0
An absolutely fabulous piece, piercingly true to the Asian American struggle for identity.
sarabrennan's review
3.0
Had to read this for Uni, went in knowing nothing so was very pleasantly surprised by it!
hsinjulit's review
The title, Omakase (お任せ), means “I leave it to you.” Think of it as no-menu dining.
This short story follows the POV of a 38-year-old Chinese American woman having a meal at a sushi bar with her white boyfriend. Over the course of the dinner, she reflects on her two-year relationship with this man as he flirts with the young Asian waitress and befriends the Japanese sushi chef.
All of the characters were unnamed. Wang seldom names her characters. I think that provides the sense of shared experience, especially since “Omakase” focuses on the multiple identities of an Asian woman growing up in an immigrant family. We get to see some relatively conservative values the woman’s Chinese parents indoctrinated her, and I have to say a lot of them are what I learned growing up, too. There was one brief mention of the Sino-Japanese War, which the woman insisted was way before her time and that she held no hostility toward the Japanese, and I love how, toward the end of the story, we see the Chinese-Japanese tension between the younger woman and the older sushi chef. No matter what she thought she believed in, she still stands with her people (Chinese).
In the beginning of their relationship, the woman wondered if it was an Asian fetish. On their first date they watched the Wuxia film “House of Flying Daggers” (2004, 十面埋伏; note: I watched this movie in 2005 when I was 10, so I loved seeing it mentioned). People around her coddled this white guy for his knowledge of Chinese history (I love seeing Tang sancai, 唐三彩, mentioned since he is a potter) and that he is good at using chopsticks. It’s ridiculous but also very real. I once chatted with a random American during a flight, and she told me about her white friend and Asian friend in Taiwan, receiving very different reactions when they speak broken Mandarin. I am going a bit tangent here, but yeah, double standards and what Wang portrayed is sadly reality.
One other thing to note is that none of the dialogues have quotation marks. It gives the sense of everything replaying in the woman’s head as she perceives whatever is happening around her. It also blends unsaid thoughts with what has been said. The woman’s insecurities is mainly seen in her inability to voice her discomfort, and of course, her thoughts, such as “She did not want to take up too much space.” When she finally did in the end, to the sushi chef, her boyfriend got annoyed because he was having a nice time chatting the Japanese up. Through all the character interactions, we see the sureness in the man’s conversations and how he always wanted to be “right,” never-failing, amongst the other three characters, who are all Asians. Also, the woman was always the one adjusting to the man’s life, moving from Boston to New York, finding a job as a financial analyst, and “would frequently wonder, but never ask, if he had looked for a job as diligently as she had.”
But as the title suggests, the interpretation of the story is entirely up to the readers. I leave it to you.
This short story follows the POV of a 38-year-old Chinese American woman having a meal at a sushi bar with her white boyfriend. Over the course of the dinner, she reflects on her two-year relationship with this man as he flirts with the young Asian waitress and befriends the Japanese sushi chef.
All of the characters were unnamed. Wang seldom names her characters. I think that provides the sense of shared experience, especially since “Omakase” focuses on the multiple identities of an Asian woman growing up in an immigrant family. We get to see some relatively conservative values the woman’s Chinese parents indoctrinated her, and I have to say a lot of them are what I learned growing up, too. There was one brief mention of the Sino-Japanese War, which the woman insisted was way before her time and that she held no hostility toward the Japanese, and I love how, toward the end of the story, we see the Chinese-Japanese tension between the younger woman and the older sushi chef. No matter what she thought she believed in, she still stands with her people (Chinese).
In the beginning of their relationship, the woman wondered if it was an Asian fetish. On their first date they watched the Wuxia film “House of Flying Daggers” (2004, 十面埋伏; note: I watched this movie in 2005 when I was 10, so I loved seeing it mentioned). People around her coddled this white guy for his knowledge of Chinese history (I love seeing Tang sancai, 唐三彩, mentioned since he is a potter) and that he is good at using chopsticks. It’s ridiculous but also very real. I once chatted with a random American during a flight, and she told me about her white friend and Asian friend in Taiwan, receiving very different reactions when they speak broken Mandarin. I am going a bit tangent here, but yeah, double standards and what Wang portrayed is sadly reality.
One other thing to note is that none of the dialogues have quotation marks. It gives the sense of everything replaying in the woman’s head as she perceives whatever is happening around her. It also blends unsaid thoughts with what has been said. The woman’s insecurities is mainly seen in her inability to voice her discomfort, and of course, her thoughts, such as “She did not want to take up too much space.” When she finally did in the end, to the sushi chef, her boyfriend got annoyed because he was having a nice time chatting the Japanese up. Through all the character interactions, we see the sureness in the man’s conversations and how he always wanted to be “right,” never-failing, amongst the other three characters, who are all Asians. Also, the woman was always the one adjusting to the man’s life, moving from Boston to New York, finding a job as a financial analyst, and “would frequently wonder, but never ask, if he had looked for a job as diligently as she had.”
But as the title suggests, the interpretation of the story is entirely up to the readers. I leave it to you.
kxmjxxnx's review
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
aquamariaa's review
3.0
I thought about the author's motivation and questioned the intention in their message. A lot of people will read this and react to the intersectionality of being an Asian woman compared to the privilege of being a white man. Was this the author's intention or did she just want to write a cute couple story that came out this way? I'm leaning towards yes based on the title she picked which means "I'll leave it up to you", but I'm not sure what is the takeaway she wanted to portray, besides what we already know from career literature.
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