Josh S.
Yelp
I absolutely love sushi, everything about it from the flavor to the ceremony that goes with eating it. Ooka does a good job deliverying on both but does leave somethings to be desired.
First, the service of the restaurant is phenomenal, from the time you enter the restaurant until you leave you certainly feel appreciated. It seemed that our server was always on standby, never overdoing it but there exactly when we needed him. I enjoy this level of service and in all honesty it doesn't exist much outside of the top tier restaurants in a large city. I would have to give them an A+ for this!
The food overall is as I expected. I guess I could consider this a gateway into sushi but nothing that really wowed me.
We started with the Edamame and Gyoza with pork. The Edamame was good and as expected, steamed soy beans with a nice sprinkle of salt. The Gyoza in flavor was good, I enjoyed the pork and I was happy when I saw what appeared to be a crisp bottom but, after tasting they were the same texture all over. There's nothing like a delicate Gyoza with a crisp seared bottom...didn't happen here. They're not bad by any means but could be a little better.
My wife isn't a seafood fan so we grabbed a table around a Hibachi, she opted for the Chicken Hibachi with a side of fried rice. The typical fanfare followed that you'd expect at the Hibachi, the food was cooked in front of us, with flames and a flaming onion and then of course the obligatory toss of food to us like we're dogs. Maybe this is why I never liked Hibachi, my ability to catch something flying at my face is pretty weak, so in this case (like so many times in the past) the slightly warm piece of zucchini bounced off my nose like a wild golf ball. At least it was kept to the side on the hibachi and only warmed, not hot or covered in oil.
The fried rice was decent but lacked some flavor (I should've snuck in some MSG), the chicken too was lacking in flavor. However, the noodles and the vegetables were perfect. A great sauce clung to the noodles and the vegetables the right amount of char on them. Very good!
Both of our meals came with salad and a soup, clear for my wife and white miso for me. I always have had miso soup after I eat sushi, so mine sat there the entire time until I was done. It was good and as expected, a good mix of seaweed, tofu and mushrooms with the funky flavor of the miso paste. A good way to finish the meal and help aid digestion. The salads, I could leave them, typical iceberg with tomatoes and cucumbers and that dressing that is supposed to be a mixture of ginger and carrot but never quite tastes like it.
For my entree I opted for the Sushi and Sashimi combo for one. It was a selection of mixed Nigiri and Sashimi along with a roll and a crab salad. Honestly, I enjoyed the crab salad much more than I thought I would, but it was served atop an imitation crab roll (their Rainbow Roll). I had hoped that since I ordered a platter of raw food, my roll would match, that was disappointing.
The rice on the nigiri was perfect and all of the fish was extremely fresh and cut correctly. What was lacking was the variety, only serving salmon, tuna, yellow tail and what I believe was striped bass both as sashimi and nigiri was an easy out. It would've been great had they mixed in something different as a sashimi that I hadn't already had as a nigiri. But again, the quality was good, flavor was good and preparation was good. And I have to remember where I am, looking around at the crowd, I'm sure they're not looking for some adventurous food. The restaurant probably does this to fly through product and maintain freshness.
They also have a very good beverage list with a number of different Sake's listed. I simply opted for a carafe of Premium Sake which came warmed and had the ubiquitous fermented rice flavor that I find so addicting.
All in all this is a good place to stop for some decent food and great service. I wouldn't go out of my way but if in the area it's a must try.
