oishii is the famous sushi bar just up the road from pineland plaza. the restaurant has been a long term tomcat family fav and the preferred place this year to celebrate mother’s day. for this special occasion with a group of 4pp, we ordered: black dragon, white dragon, spider roll, tempura delight, hand rolls, omu yakisoba & omu chya han. being mother’s day, a macaroon was given to each mum. a very nice touch!
three varieties were chosen for the hand rolls: prawn & avocado, tempura prawn & bbq eel. the hand rolls were freshly made with well-cooked and seasoned sushi rice. the bbq eel was warm, juicy and presents a chargrilled flavour. the disappointment however was the cold, almost chewy tempura prawn. 3.5/5
spider roll was up next with fried soft shell crab, shredded egg and cucumber all covered with fly fish roe. the dish was well presented with generous amount of ingredients in each sushi piece. first bite and everyone went a bit quite. the soft shell crab was cold and chewy and shredded eggs near flavourless. the only positive was the well-seasoned rice. what a disappointment for my favourite dish! 2.5/5
tempura delight contains tempura prawns and shredded cucumber covered with fly fish roe, mayo & tempura flakes. cold fried ingredients remains to be an issue with the tempura chewy and virtually flavourless even with the shower of mayo. you can tell the tempura was cooked hours in advanced by the chewy texture and stale taste of the tempura flakes. 2.5/5
the white dragon was made with little red lobster salad (not the expensive kind), shredded cucumber topped with raw scallop, and spicy mayo. the dish was my mum’s fav in the past but again lacks flavour compared to previous visits. flavour profile was linear with spicy mayo and slight hint of fishiness. the crab salad tasted bland and failed to deliver any punch to this dish. 3/5
the black dragon with tamago and cucumber topped with teriyaki bbq eel was the highlight of the night. the eel was warm, flavourful & juicy. all ingredients worked perfectly together and well-balanced. that was the only dish my mum gave the thumbs up. 4/5
the omu chya han was ordered for my young one. the well-presented dish contains fried rice with teriyaki marinated chicken, carrot & onion all wrapped in a single piece egg sheet. visually speaking, the dish seems very appetising. a taste of the rice you will realize it’s mildly warm and lacks flavour. what's disappointing was the rubbery and cold egg sheet which again presents a pre-cooked for hours stale taste. 3/5
omu yakisoba was the last dish to arrive with diced chicken, carrot, onion, green capsicum wrapped in egg sheet. taste wise, a bit more flavourful with japanese style bbq sauce and well-cooked veggies. the chicken on the other hand was totally taste less. the egg sheet is the same story as above. 3/5
overallservicewas average at best. tea refills and requests were followed up a number of times. from observation, i realized a few waitresses developed the habit of looking towards the sushi making area and totally avoiding attention to any of the tables. for a full house, that’s quite unacceptable. 3/5
the dining experience that night was a disappointing one & inconsistent with my previous visits. it was clear short cuts were taken. mrs tomcat had a weekday lunch with friends two weeks prior where the same complaint regarding tasteless sushi and poorservicewas noted.
hint: be good to your mum