Ohshima

I’m coming realize that Orange Country has some pretty darn good sushi at an amazing price point. While I’ve never been to LA’s high end sushi places like Sushi Zo or the bang-for-your-buck joints like Hama Sushi, I have been to the ever popular Sushi Gen. I was quite impressed with the omakase at Sushi Gen, but I was a bit miffed by the price tag. I was kinda hungry after $75 worth of sushi. So I’ve been pretty happy to find a place like Ohshima, where $50 gets you about 8 pieces of high quality sushi. It’s key to sit at the bar to enjoy the best fish because I was unimpressed with my dining room experience. This applies to ALL sushi restaurants. If you haven’t been sitting at the bar when you eat sushi, you are doing it all wrong. I liked that Ohshima serves many of their pieces as-is meaning, no extra soy sauce for dipping is needed. Some people might find the put off by the nazi-like style, but I don’t mind being told how to eat my food. I guess they embody the true meaning of omakase, “to entrust.” Keep in mind, the following is a mix of 2 separate meals at Ohshima so it’s more pieces than $50 will buy you.

Sea Bream
Light. Clean. Always a good way to start.

Blue Fin Tuna chu toro
Particularly delicious without being overly fatty and lingering on the tastebuds.

Scallop

A true delight here!

Amberjack

Sea Bass

A little kick of yuzukosho was yums!

Cherry Salmon
As vibrant in flavor as it is in color.

Goldstripe

I get pretty excited when I see any sushi with bits of something on top.

Black Cod
You don’t get a lot of this at sushi places. It might have been the tastiest piece of the meal. The char seemed so subtle but made a huge impact on the taste. It brought out the more fatty and umami characteristics. So good!

Roe
I’m only just lately beginning to develop a palate for this fishy salty buggers.

Uni

Taken with my iPhone so forgive me for being out of focus. It wasn’t the sexiest piece but goddamn so good! I do prefer my uni with the nori wrapped around though.

Sweet Shrimp
I also never liked sweet shrimp much, but I love it these days.

I always opt for frying the shrimp head. They serve it on top of a lightly dressed salad. I love Japanese salad dressings.

Blue Crab Hand Roll

I ordered this in addition to the set omakase because I was feeling fat assy and wanted to eat more. Uggghh, so good!!

I ain’t gonna lie. Ohshima is pretty frickin’ good sushi, price aside. And then when you factor in how much you pay compared to other sushi places that might charge you $50-100 for something similar, well then its just yippy skippy fantabulous! The crappy thing about Ohshima is that it can be quite a wait and if you want to make reservations you can only call between the hours of 5-5:30pm. So weird, right?! I’ve missed that narrow window so many times and actually have only eaten here for lunch as a result. I feel bad that I brought Perpetually Underwhelmed and The Gunner here to eat in the dining room. At that time, I didn’t know the experience would be far superior at the bar. Next time guys! I highly recommend Ohshima for really solid sushi in the good old OC.