O’Shan Sushi

Great food. Sad to hear they are closing ⁰⁷⁄₃₁.

I have been in here a few times trying to give this place a chance since we live so close by but not anymore. The last time we went it took forever to get our food. I was so hungry that i almost ate the bowl that our appetizer came in. When it finally did come my roll was a mushy sticky mess. It’s also never fun when people who have ordered after you get their food way before you. They must have been regulars cause they got awesome service as opposed to us! Should have went to qfc for a sushi roll and a six pack of elysian beer instead. ;)
Not for me especially when shiku and moshi are so much better for the same price (better food, service, ambiance and quality). However if you have the patience of a monk and stick to the nigiri you may like this place.

I hesitated on giving O’Shan 5 stars because I don’t want to have to wait for a table there. It’s already popular enough! :)
Went here twice so far, and was impressed with the quality of the food, the portion is decent. I can’t complain about anything. I’ve been lucky both times that we were seated right away, waitress was attentive, the chef behind the counter was very accomodating and my children loved the fresh salmon and tuna unagi. I will be back!

I have eaten at O’Shan twice and the food was not bad. Not great, but not bad. The service however is the absolute worst. The restaurant is small and when we’ve gone there’s usually only one waitress which is fine and understandable but the waitress that was there the last time we ate at the restaurant as well as the last time we TRIED to eat at the restaurant has more than a thing or two to learn about customer service.
She is generally rude and dismissive and got my order wrong more than once when I ate there. Then, last time I tried to go to O’Shan my husband and I waited in the foyer area for 20 minutes to even be acknowledged. She walked within 2 feet of us at least 5 times and wouldn’t even look at us. It was not close to closing time, there were 5 empty tables (3 of which needed to be cleaned off), and she was not even paying much attention to the customers who were seated. She was mostly socializing with a table in the back of the restaurant. I was totally floored. There was another couple outside who had gotten there before us who were also waiting to be acknowledged. I can’t believe we even waited 20 minutes to be noticed … our fault I guess … but I for one will never go back to a mediocre sushi restaurant just to be snubbed by a crappy waitress.

O’Shan Sushi is without a doubt, the best sushi I’ve had in Ballard and possibly in Seattle. My boyfriend and I are regulars and each time we arrive we are greeted with a smile, our usual drink order and a fantastic staff.
All the fish is fresh and well prepared in rolls that are sizable for the price. Not to mention they are creatively delicious. The best deal on the menu are the combination plates– for $ 15 or $ 20, you’ll indulge in perfectly constructed rolls and freshly cut pieces of nigiri. Simply a perfect combination of well done traditional and modern sushi.
If you’re looking for an intimate, well priced, delicious meal to have with a significant other, parents or a night out with friends, O’Shan Sushi is it.

My wife and I came here on a Saturday night to enjoy a bite of Sushi in North Seattle. We sat at the bar, and got drinks and some initial nigiri prettty promptly.
The sushi was alright, but nothing that stood out. We ordered a couple of rolls, and waited for them to arrive. And we waited some more. And then a bit more. Since we were at the bar, it was obvious we were still waiting for food to arrive.
Eventually, it arrived, and it too was ok. After a while, we decided to move on for a drink and asked for the bill. After a long wait it arrived, but by then it was obvious the service was so haphazard and accidental, that I just took the bill to the server to pay it, not wanting to spend another 30 minutes just hanging around.
It seems like it could be a decent enough place if the service improved, but with the selection of amazing places in Ballard now, why would we bother going back?

Been going here think as long as it has been open and it’s still super yummy. PLUS the staff is just fantastic. Like Cheers meets sushi in a special Seattle/​Ballard way. Fresh fish, great selection. And yes, they know my name and my order. I go several times a month for sure!
Note — seating can be tight during typical rush hours, but don’t be dismayed, the wait isn’t crazy and you can always get it to go.

O’Shan is a cozy little sushi joint in Ballard near the QFC.
Friendly servers and softly lit, O’Shan is a great spot for a date. Show up early on a Friday night if you want to get a seat. We arrived and were seated quickly, but if you are rolling more than 2 deep you will want to plan for a wait.
Highly recommend the Seattle roll. It’s crispy and creamy and the salmon is oh so fresh. We also did the O’shan roll with spicy salmon and cucumber topped with albacore and avocado. These two rolls compliment each other nicely.
Highly recommend O’shan for the ambiance, price, and quality of the fish. It’s legit!

Don’t have to convince me — previous Unilocal confirmed all. We visit often as Ballard residents.
Family owned and operated — some of the BEST sushi offerings I have ever downed — anywhere in the USA.
Small, thus busy (Tuesdays through Saturdays). Best to go way early or after 8:30 pm so that you don’t have to wait for a table. (Limited bar seating area.)
Will write again and again as every dining experience thus far has been consistent and creative!

We stopped here while we were on the way to Golden Gardens to catch the sunset. We miss the sunset but found a pretty neat place for some sushi and sashimi.
The interior can use a bit more lighting as it was darker than I like it to be especially when I am eating raw fish. I know they were trying to go for the whole romantic feeling and the tables were just a little bit too close to the others. Usually I like enough space so I don’t feel like other people are eavesdropping my table’s conversation or vice versa.
Service was friendly but slightly forgetful. If you request additional things, you might need a friendly reminder here and there to get the items you wanted.

This place always delivers or exceeds my expectations!
We changed it up this time ordered Sapporo beers! Yum I can’t remember the last time this beer tasted good?
The Agedashi tofu is the perfect combo of crunch and sauce! Kalbi ribs were great as always!
I love the Mango roll and we had a new roll the Volcano roll the scallops and avocado was great it was nice and spicy!

Great quality sushi! We loved it all. Gorgeous chirashi, I asked for no shellfish (allergies) and they said yes right away.
1 less star for the slooooooooow service, my fault in part for going on a Saturday night. Seated for at least 15 minutes before they even took our menus and brought water, this doesn’t include the time waiting for a table. At rush hour, O’Shan should give priority to sit down customers over take out customers. Please. I don’t want to eat good quality sushi from a take out box.

Fresh, tasty sushi! The service was awesome (waitress was extremely sweet and gave us the recommendation of the Volcano roll, which was a win).
What I ordered:
1. Volcano Roll — very good. I’m glad the waitress suggested this. It packed the right amount of spice for me and the scallops were incredibly soft.
2. Red Dragon Roll — the shrimp tempura inside was crunchy and delicious! made my belly happy.
3. Summer Roll — my least favorite. Came in 4 pieces, wrapped in cucumber. I didn’t read the menu entirely so that came as a shock to me. It was refreshing, and it had a lot of fish though.
4. Salmon Roll — Basic salmon roll. Salmon was very fresh.
5. Amaebi Nigiri /​Sake Nigiri — both very very good. Nom.
I think this place is very good for its price range.

This place rocks. I am currently waiting on my roomie to get home so we can go again! I agree firecracker role was amazing but as was the seattle roll. Also I had a pear wine that was so good and complimented the sushi amazingly!
Plus really great service which is rare in this day and age. Will be adding one more star if all subsequent visits remain the same.

Clearly the best sushi in all of Ballard based on both quality and price (and trust me, I’ve tried them all). Their fish is extremely fresh and artistically prepared. Whether I order sashimi or a roll, I can count on the exquisite preparation from the wonderful sushi chefs. It also helps that the waitresses are extremely helpful and friendly. Also, they are the only restaurant in town that I know of that sells my favorite Japanese ginger beer.

Having just moved to this part of town, I’m still in the process of finding My Local Sushi-​ya, but I think O’Shan is going to end up being my pick. The service was a bit slow, but super friendly and knowledgeable, and even in a busy restaurant, I felt like our waitress really gave each table her attention. I’m on crutches at the moment and they were great about giving us a corner table so I could prop my foot up and lean my crutches against the wall. There was no problem when we asked to split the check, which is always nice.
We ordered a selection of small rolls, big rolls, and nigiri, along with sake, and it was all absolutely delicious! I was thrilled to see negi-​toro maki on the menu, as it’s my favourite and not on every menu. We also had the Ballard Roll, the Summer Roll, a Spider Roll, and a Volcano Roll, along with some mackerel nigiri. The Summer Roll in particular was delightful, light and fresh and very filling. The rice in the rolls was seasoned just to my taste — you can clearly taste the rice with a bit of the seasoning, rather than the places that douse their rice in sweet vinegar.
Can’t wait to go back!

Really nice people.
Supergood, tasty sushi.
No Ballard Ave dorks.

What is the best thing about living in a new neighborhood you love? It’s finding that you live 2 blocks from terrifically fabulous sushi! I can assure you that O’Shan will become my second home. We were lucky and were seated right away (7PM), but had we arrived 30 minutes later during the apparent dinner rush on a Friday night we might not have been so lucky. With that said, you may want to think about making a reservation, and note the biggest party I saw here was 6 people (might be able to accommodate a larger party) — just something to consider.
I feel that in all my dining out experiences while service is usually average and adequately friendly it’s actually hard for me to remember when service was exceptionally perfect or memorable, that is until the other night here at O’Shan. Our server was amazing, very polite and humorous throughout our visit. While we only had one server for our table, I noticed just how friendly the server at the next table over was, especially when talking with some overly chatty little kids. I caught myself smiling a couple of times at just how nice everyone here was.
Started with:
Miso Soup — standard, yet delicious
Edamame –generous portion, maybe a little over steamed but no problem
Chicken Katsu — perfect pre-​meal snack portion
Very generous pours on the wine – much appreciated.
Ordered a couple rolls that were both to die for. One of the rolls we originally wanted was covered in scallops, but due to a shellfish allergy we wanted leave those off but get the same roll because it sounded amazing. When we told our server this, she offered up another idea that would essentially be the same thing we wanted, but only cheaper —uhm yes please, thank you and now I sit and wonder why I couldn’t think of that suggestion on my own.
I regret writing this review because I secretly don’t want you to know how great this place is. Selfish much? Yes, why yes I am!

O’Shan has to compete with Shiku in the Ballard area, but kudos for trying. The prices are comparable to Shiku, and the food is pretty good, AND they have Japanese small plates that Shiku doesn’t have, but Shiku just seems so much better.
1. O’Shan is better than Shiku on walk-​in table availability
2. O’Shan is better than Shiku on proximity to my house
3. O’Shan is better than Shiku on small plates like oyster katsu! Yum!
4. O’Shan equals Shiku on price
5. O’Shan is not as good as Shiku on ambiance. Kinda dull, dark, and uninviting
6. O’Shan is not as good as Shiku on sushi roll quality
Overall, I like Shiku better.
Curse you, Unilocal,for not letting me use greater than or less than symbols. Weird.

This is my favorite sushi restaurant in all of Seattle, hand’s down. I’ve been going since they opened. I used to go once a month until I moved out of Ballard. I’m upset they get written up all the time, as it has greatly increased the crowds, especially on weekends. :-)
Best night to go is Tuesday, when all of the new fish seems to come in. If you want fatty tuna it is usually gone by the weekend.
Their house sake is pretty good as well. I usually don’t get anything fancier than that, although the other ones are quite good as well. I love the glasses they come in too, although watch out if you try and pour it wrong as ice water will be dumped out on the table. Ya, we’ve done that more than once.
Start your meal off with a spicy yellowtail hand roll, you won’t be sorry, unless you don’t like spicy yellow-​tail…