Oishii Japanese Restaurant & Bar

Had a great lunch here. Good specials. Generous portions.

I ate here a few weeks ago during lunch on a weekend since it’s close to my place. I can safely that I have eaten sushi in many places and I know what good presentation, service and flavour should be. Unfortunately this spot was lacking in all three. However, I will start with positives:
–good location
–portion size for an AYCE is decent.
Unfortunately that’s all I have on positives.
Sadly, the service was horrid. There was one other small group of customers there (a table of three) and the server was not very attentive to either.
The chef’s lack of creativity was evident in his platting and the overuse of rice and lack of ingredients was a bit disappointing.
The flavours were poor and the sashimi sizing was quite small.
I will go back one more time to see if it was a one-​time occurrence and will post if that is the case. However, for now, I would suggest

I have been there a total of 5 times. The first three times were brilliant. Friendly, attentive staff and beautifully prepared food. I raved about it to everyone.
Then comes the fourth visit. I brought an entourage to show off my new find. Mistake. Food-​wise it was average. Not everything arrived as it should, what did arrive was ok at best and the service was about the worst I have ever experienced. I could go on and on about how terrible it was, but you get the idea.
I am a trooper. I really believed in this place and ventured to go there one more time. Surely the prior visit was just an off night. Not so much. It started with us having to wipe down the table ourselves… and it was all down hill.
so sad.
Back to Masa.

Mazui! About half the stuff wasnt very appealing, half of it alright. Gyudon wasnt bad, but not as good other restaurants. Some of the sushi was subpar IMHO
Would maybe give it another try again, but wouldnt recommend it

I went here on their opening night. It was 15 bucks all you can eat sushi/​sashimi buffet. It even included a pop! The food however was horrible and I wanted to order 10 pops just so I can make up for my 15 bucks. Fried tofu, sushi, sashimi, everything!!! I’m not picky at all, but this restaurant has to change their chef or something before they run out of business. :S

Fabranak was full. It was a Friday night, around 7:00PM. I had arranged to have my dinner there. I was excited, full of hope and expectations filled by the reviews of my fellow Unilocalers. To my disappointment, we arrived a bit too late.
With my head hanging low like a droopy and wilted flower, I had no hope of finding another restaurant which would bring me back to par. Oishi Sushi, across the street, certainly wasn’t the best rebound choice we could have made.
I looked it up on Unilocal before entering. My brothers and our girlfriends all anxiously waited for the results. «Ummmmm… two stars… ish?» I said.
Well there was room inside. It was clean, super hungry and we sorta wanted Japanese food. So with a leap of faith, we went for the terrible ride.
By no means does my rating reflect the service or setting. Both were decent. It was a medium sized restaurant, almost the size of 3 Wow sushi’s or 3 Bimbim Qs. I know that doesn’t help too much but just bare with me. We debated whether to try the opening special discount for AYCE for $ 28. I made the executive decision of saying no, and instead ordered a few appetizers and rolls to share.
Everything we had was mediocre at best. Fried tofu, was below Dim Sum standards. Edamame were, well, edamame enough to not complain. The rolls were small however. Freshness was not an issue, just portion size and price.
One of our rolls came 8 mins. after we had finished all others. That was the best roll, the oishi sushi roll. But I could only imagine if the restaurant was slightly busy, we would have waited for eternity.
Here is the take-​away. I was still hungry after a $ 20/​person bill of 6. I wasn’t that hungry to begin with, the rest were but I’m the biggest eater…
The portions are small and each roll is about 10 – 15 bucks. Not worth the time or money if you ask me. Venture down a bit on Church and you’ll find better tastier food for more bang for the buck.

I was impressed with Oishii based on quality/​price ratio, which is key for comparing the hundreds of sushi places in Toronto.
Unfortunately Oishii has taken the space of Kaiseki-​Sakura, an incredible traditional Japanese restaurant, but let’s not compare a high-​end traditional Japanese eatery to a place that offers $ 20 AYCE (after opening special 10% off), which is what my date and I ordered.
We were impressed with the quality of the ingredients used in the spicy salmon maki, white tuna sashimi, crab roe hand roll, and unagi hand roll. Salads were basic with below average base ingredients, but the dressing was quite good. Tempura was tempura, it’s hard to screw up or make amazing. We also had a salmon sushi pizza, which was interesting. It’s the fried rice base topped with small cubes of salmon tossed in a spicy sauce.
I wouldn’t say to choose Oishii if you have to go out of your way, but if you’re around Church/​Wellesley and looking for a quick sushi fix Oishii will fit the bill quite nicely.