Oishi Sushi and Teriyaki - Brooklyn Center

Ok. Anyone who knows me, knows my sushi predicament. I REALLY want to love sushi. I mean - look at it! It looks so tasty! Unfortunately, the sushi I have tried (high end grocery stores, Kabuki's, Floyd's) I don't like. Too fishy for my tastes, but I think I have an issue with the nori more than the actual fish. I liken sushi to eating a mouthful of sea - good for some, not so good for others! I'm usually up for a food challenge, especially one with so much variety. So my sushi quest continues, and landed me this day at Oishi.

Oishi is a small place inside a strip mall in Brooklyn Center (what whaaaat??) Next to it is a really bad asian takeout place, and a Subway. It is fashioned as japanese cuisine, without all the hardcore fish stuff. The menu includes teriyaki dishes, katsu (japanese fried chicken), noodle dishes (yakisoba, udon), miso soups and bento boxes (totally want to eat bento box style sometime!) It's actually Korean run, but the only sign of this is the offering of kimchee as a side.

So off I went for a sushi adventure. Oishi is really just a small takeout place, so no frills inside. I reviewed the menu heavily before going in, since sushi is somewhat new to me. I have been referred to "rolls" rather than the nigiri sushi (particularly the Caterpillar roll.) I wasn't quite sure how much to get, because I don't know sushi quantity. So i opted for the Gyoza (a dumpling basically-5 pc for $1.75) Philly roll (Cream Cheese, Smoked Salmon, Avocadoes and Cucumbers $4.75) and a Crunchy Roll (Shrimp tempura, Cucumbers, and Avocados covered in Tempura Crunch $7.25.)


Gyoza is familiar territory. So when it came out, I immediately ate it. It was good - not great - not bad. The wrapping itself was actually quite light for something fried. And the edges were delightfully crunchy, giving good contrast to the soft interior. Without the dipping sauce (which i can never recognize, but is a common asian dipping sauce for dumplings) it was a little bland, but otherwise they were happy little nibblers. And 5 of these for 1.75 is a downright steal.




The sushi took about 10 minutes to make, and you can watch the guy at the counter making it. It came out at the perfect time. May I introduce:


Philly Roll
I am always astounded by the beauty of sushi. What I am not amused by is the strategy of eating it. I am a 2-bite-per-sushi-piece person. I ignored that about myself though, and ate the first one in whole. I felt like a pig. It almost over-filled my mouth. I chewed through, and immediately had mixed reactions. The rice was nice and sticky. The avocado was velvety and smooth, the cream cheese wasn't too rich due to the competing salmon flavor, but it served as a great lubricant and buffer for the fish and nori. The smoked taste of the salmon came through very well. Salmon however, is a fishy tasting fish. And while these were decidely fishy, it was delicate. But it's not something I want to eat every day. My biggest complaint is they were awkward to eat. It's not eay to bite through the nori, so I found myself "pulling" at it a lot, and then some of the rice would fall apart. Maybe sushi was meant to be eaten in one bite - but I find it a tad too much for my mouth.

The sushi was served simply, with a little ball of wasabi (funny how much it looks like play-doh!) and a gorgeous mound of pickled ginger. Wasabi is challenging for me, so I mix it a small amount with the soy sauce. I know that in some areas, this is considered to be an insult to the sushi chef. But I also know that in the US, many people do it this way. I find soy sauce alone too salty for sushi. So I also used my Gyoza sauce for dipping, which was more mild and a bit sweet. I love ginger, and this is my first time eating it pickled. It is said to aid in clearing your palette, which makes sense because sushi can be very flavorful and complex. I LOVED the ginger. The heat of the ginger and the slight acidity of the pickling - wonderful. It was not over-pickled or vinegary. Delightful!

After eating about 3 of my Philly Rolls, I moved onto the Crunchy Rolls. These were truly a sight to behold.

With these, I found chopsticks to be a deterrent to the eating. These sushi pieces are more narrow and taller than the Philly pieces. So I just used my hands. The first bite I took was really complex, and I struggle to identify all the flavors. The first thing that hit me was the tempura. It tasted so savory and toasty. I didn't get a fish taste from this, gladly, and the pieces were slightly warm compared to the cold Philly pieces. The shrimp flavor didn't come through significantly, but it is layered in there. I found the soy sauce and wasabi ill-paired with this, but a little Sriracha gave that sweet and savory the spicy I was looking for. I don't know what sauce was on top, but it was sweet and salty. I again struggled with the 2-bites/nori predicament, and found myself holding one piece with two hands like it was a tiny round sandwich. I was suprised by how much of it there was. I was confident I would be able to eat all the sushi served to me. After eating 4 Philly pieces, and 4 Crunchy pieces, I was stuffed!



Overall, I look forward to eating sushi not because I fell in love with it (I didn't) but to understand it more. To explore the variety and depth, and learn what it offers. This is definitely an intellectual food for me, and I look forward to a meeting of the minds again soon! (caterpillar roll!) I feel like Oishi does good sushi, but realize I'm still a sushi novice.

http://www.oishimn.com/