Ohshima Japanese Cuisine

Americas - USA West Los Angeles
#1

Ohshima in Orange! Located in some random strip mall in a not so hip area serves up a solid omakase experience along with some hot/cold dishes. In terms of price/food/experience it is probably a step or two behind the West LA Sushi Temples like Mori, Shunji, Kiriko, etc but also way ahead of 99 percent of all sushi places in OC and anything with “Rockin” in its name.

Got the 8 piece omakase that extended to 16 pieces ($80) and a few dishes:

The sushi:
Sea Bream
Blue Fin Tuna
Hokkaido Scallop
Amberjack
Sea Bass
Cherry Salmon
Big Yellowtail
Seared Black Cod
Mackerel (not pictured)
Otoro
Santa Barbara Uni
Crab Handroll
Grouper
Young Amberjack
Halibut Fin
Seared Diced Otoro

Dishes:
Ankimo Salad
Okinawan Pork Ribs
Uni Spaghetti

So the next posts will be the food pr0nz…

3 Likes
#2

Free Appetizer of Tuna Salad (cooked and raw).

Sea Bream. Light, and refreshing. Great starter!

Blue Fin Tuna. Still light with a little umami.

Hokkaido Scallops. One of my favs for the night. Enjoyed the slight sweetness

-continue-

1 Like
#3

Amberjack.

Sea Bass. Kinda neutral with both this and amberjack.

Cherry Salmon. The name fits in comparison to the regular salmon. Sweet and very attractive color. I wouldn’t mind a plate of these for lunch.

Large Yellowtail. Neutral about it tbh

1 Like
#4

Seared Black Cod. Hmm maybe I should have waited a little longer because all I could taste was the torch. Or I could be doing it wrong.

Otoro. Another fav. Rich and flavorful. Got a fat piece, too

Santa Barbara Uni. Oh yes briney and sweet. These were an absolute delight, so much that I ordered the uni spaghetti after the omakase. Another favorite!!

Crab Handroll. I think I prefer Kazunori’s, even though this one is much bigger. Kinda missing that crab sweetness.

2 Likes
#5

Grouper. Neutral

Young Amberjack. Liked it a little better than Old Amberjack

Halibut Fin. I liked this, kinda similar to the sea bream

Chopped and Seared Otoro. I liked the otoro earlier but this is mighty tasty.

That’s it for the omakase.

1 Like
#6

Didn’t take a pic of the Oki Pork Ribs, but they were good I wouldn’t mind a pot of these and some rice.

Uni Spaghetti. Hours later I was having burps that tasted like uni.

Ankimo Salad. Foie Gras of the Sea!

5 Likes
#7

100% agree. It is definitely one of the better sushi places in the OC. Getting a seat at the bar on a weekend night after 7pm is like trying to grab a TV on sale on Black Friday morning at Wal-mart.

#8

it looks as if that omakase lacks texture. Everything looks “soft/buttery”. Yes/no?

#9

Yes you would be correct. It would have been nice to have some contrast. I did enjoy the progression of light to richer/fattier/sweeter flavors.

#10

I don’t even bother and just come on a weekday night.

Also Shige-san is very funny and personable!!!

#11

that’s an unusual looking order of yellowtail. besides the color, i can’t recall seeing it served that way with scallions and grated spiced radish and what looks like ponzu. plus the light color around the edge looks like a very light tataki searing. at first glance i would have thought it an order of bontio or something although it’s not really as dark as most bonito i’ve seen and the flesh texture isn’t quite right either.

#12

We’ve actually waited almost an hour on a few weeknights. But still in our rotation.

Have you ever been to Kaori in Fullerton? We’re going on Friday for the first time.

#13

Kaori is on my to do list (along with Kasen and Noguchi, and a few other Costa Mesa places…I didn’t like Shunka that much)

Let us know how Kaori goes!!

#14

Maybe something was lost in translation??

I distinctly heard “Big Yellowtail. Hai!”

#15

I went couple X, and both times meal was maybe from $45 for 9 piece to $75/each person, and meal was not even 1/4 as good as the places in LA, even Wasabe in Tustin is greater.

#16

I would switch plans.

#17

Any better places in Fullerton?

#18

Sushi?

Probably not but that is not saying much. IMO Sushi Kamon in City of Industry is the closest place I would recommend for sushi in that area.

#19

Noguchi is good for North OC. It’s a notch below Ohshima but it’s our go to local spot bc its 10 mins away and the kids like the udon and chawanmushi. It’s actually expensive if you get their omakaze. The only gripe if that they served us a few varieties of fish we didn’t care for - they were very hard and crunchy like in texture. One of them was parrotfish but don’t recall the others.

#20

I assume that’s the older guy, in the first position?

I greatly preferred my meals with the second chef over the meals I had from the head chef.