I’m still looking for those perfect Asian dining spots to have meals with JJ. In terms of Japanese cuisine; well there’s Tanuki, where JJ does like the service and we thought some of the dishes were enjoyable; but it’s more of an early dinner spot for us as the lunch menu is quite limited. I had read about Oishi Sushi on Blvd and thought that perhaps JJ and I should give it a shot for an early lunch. So we headed on over.
Remember when this tiny shop that faces ECB was Medina Moroccan-Baja Kitchen?
Anyway, we arrived and took a quick peak around the tiny dining area and front porch before the nice Server sat us.
We didn’t have a chance to see the sushi bar area, but I can imagine how packed things can get here.
I was handed a menu, of which one whole side is “specialty” sushi rolls; like 41 in all with “14 basic rolls” on the other side of the menu. Yes, I did count them. The other side has more of what I’m looking for as I’m not a “sushi roll” kinda guy. Everything from ramen to yakisoba to nigiri to pulled pork sandwiches? Hmmm….. I guess they’re trying to please everyone here.
You know my strategy when wanting to see the quality of the usual “sakana”. I got the Chirashi ($28).
My goodness, the amount of rice was crazy? Did I look like I was a sumotori in training? I was able to finish less than half of the rice and took the rest of it home! Which was of decent quality; the shari was quite vinegar forward.
While the fish was routine; in my opinion, it was of much better quality than Kiiro, and the cuts much thicker.
My least favorite was the overly chewy and slightly metallic tasting Akami Marugo, much too lean. The Salmon was cut quite thickly and was fine.
The Hamachi was pretty tender, though on the drier side. As was the hirame.
The “Spicy Tuna” was made with scrape (nakaochi) which actually had a nice texture.
I thought the tamago was on the sweeter side and my favorite item in the chirashi was actually the hotate; scallop which, even though was a half slice was very tender and sweet.
Like I mentioned earlier, while the fish was fairly routine, it seemed to have been handled with some care; the quality, portion size, and execution much better than Kiiro in my mind.
I would also say that Oishi is more “Dogs Allowed” than dog friendly, though JJ didn’t mind.
A few weeks later I decided to revisit with JJ. It was basically at the same time as my previous visit and the place was quiet and relaxed. It was also the same woman as before.
This time I decided on some Chicken Karaage ($13) and not really wanting any otsumami or sunomono….I had thought the scallop was good on the Chirashi so went with a Scallop Handroll($7.50).
The portion size of the Karaage was quite large, but you see the immediate problem I had with this, right?
Yes, the chicken had been sliced…probably to check doneness? Real amateur hour here as this results in drier chewier pieces.
This also seems to be white meat; sigh…what’s up with places serving that as karaage these days? Perhaps it’s to control inventory, since they already make katsu and teriyaki chicken, so they only want breasts? Which are too dry and bland for karaage.
The batter got fairly soft rather quickly, but the seasoning had good soy-savory, slightly sweet tones. Still, the cutting before serving and the use of white meat is a deal breaker for me.
The hand roll was also quite large.
The hotate coated with salty-briney-crunchy tobiko. Like before, the scallops were nice and sweet and the amount of hotate was quite generous as it ranged all the way to the end of this rather large temaki.
The rice was a bit drier this time around; but that shari was just as strong. No complaints and I’d say that this was well worth the $7.50.
Overall, I’d say Oishi is pretty much in the same vein as Kiiro. Kind of a Westernized fusion (and portion sizes) of Japanese food serving everything. I enjoyed it more than Kiiro and it was nice having JJ along for lunch. Both lunches were on weekends at 11am and we were the only customers dining in until just before I finished my meal. I think it’s time for me to return to those more traditional favorites of mine…..
Oishi Sushi on Blvd
2850 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92104
Current Hours:
Sun – Wed 11am – 10pm
Thurs – Sat 11am – 11pm
First off, let me say that the rice was perfect, just what I'd expect from a good sushi bar. The wasabi bright, fresh, sinus clearing.
The Ika and Salmon were decent; the salmon was decently fatty and the texture of the ika was quite good, not overly chewy.
Think of this as Daikon no Nimono crowned with a sizeable piece of seared foie gras and caramelized onions. As 
Which was perfectly fine, except that the Sesame Dressing was quite salty. I came to find out that this is the "house" dressing that they actually sell. My favorite item in the salad were the kyuri-asazuke, the pickled cucumbers which held up well to the salty dressing.
I'm not going to go into excruciating detail here. I will say, that my favorite item was the scallop; the hotate was tender and sweet. 
Was it what I thought it was? Because you can't really interact with the Itamae, I asked the young lady working and she confirmed that it was 