Oishii Sushi Bar

Oishii Sushi Bar
Shop 2, 70 Pinelands Road, Sunnybank Hills



About 2 weeks ago, I discovered that restaurants, like many other things in life, can be very 'trend-based'. I first heard about Oishii Sushi a while back... my goldfish memory forbids me from recalling the exact source but comments that prompted interest included 'have you been to that new sushi place in Sunnybank Hills?' and 'oh, so good'.



I then forgot all about this. I mean, come on, I absorb an average of 3 restaurants weekly that make it to my 'must visit' list and I end up going to maybe a quarter. Oishii Sushi faded from my mind until Byron mentioned he saw appealing photos taken there on Facebook.



I don't know if this happens to other foodies but my interest in a restaurant always soars if I hear recommendations from a diverse range of sources. Suddenly, Oishii was re-elevated to the peak of my 'go to's. However, my expectations where somewhat squashed when I asked Mochi about it.

Mochi has been mentioned numerous times on my blog and she's a restaurant fiend like myself. When I asked her 'have you been to that new sushi place...', she scoffed 'it's not new!'

Apparently, I'm waayyyy behind with the times. According to her, people have already 'gotten over' it. Ah well. I guess I'll never be a foodie trend-setter.

Despite all this, I was still slightly curious so when my other friend Hien was craving sushi (or was it me that was craving sushi... I can't remember), we decided to give it a crack.

I got him all excited about this 'new sushi place' but once we got there, he proclaimed 'oh THIS place. Yeh, I've been before'... *sigh*

OK, I GET IT.

Well I hadn't been before so this is my first taste (no pun intended) of Oishii Sushi.


Firstly, we got there before it was open and there was a drove of people loitering outside, waiting for them to open their doors. This is usually a promising sign. When the curtain was finally raised, we flocked in and were seated. I noticed several reservation notices on the larger tables - another indicator of popularity.


The menu comprises some usual Japanese snack items: miso, edamame, tempura etc. What was different to most other Jap eateries and yet expected from a restaurant with the word 'Sushi' in its name was a whole selection of sushi. They aren't served in rolls like ordinary sushi places but rather, arranged decoratively on a plate with a few blobs of condiments. Oh, and they're much pricier too.

Hien decides to go all out and we order a selection of things to share. He also got a miso soup for himself but I just don't dig miso.

Salmon sashimi

Food didn't take very long to come out. The salmon sashimi was very fresh and it was a good quantity too. It's been some time since I went through my salmon craze and I'd forgotten how lovely it is on it's own with a touch of soy.

Tempura soft shell crab

I was really looking forward to the soft shell crab tempura and this did not disappoint. It can be argued that soft shell crab is difficult to get wrong: it's crab, which is good and it's deep-fried, which is also good. This is unfortunately, a naive misconception. I've had soft shell crab in the past that was too oily or too 'fishy'. This contained neither of those flaws and was quite tasty to munch on. I wasn't crazy about the sauce though... would have preferred a dollop of mayo.

Dragon roll

Finally, my verdict on the sushi. We chose the dragon roll. Or was it 'black dragon'? It was meant to be spicy but we both agreed that this was blatant false advertising. I found the sushi extremely underwhelming. My usual lunch sushi from the city leaves a better impression and it's only $2 a roll. We paid a 2-digit figure for this plate.

I thought Oishii Sushi was a reasonable Japanese eatery. We enjoyed our food but was disappointed with the sushi itself. For the price they're asking, you expect something extraordinary, not something that is on par with or even, less impressive than your average sushi train.