Sticks'n'Sushi Oxford — Restaurant in Oxford

We spent the day in Oxford and hadn't planned any dinner. Luckily Sticks'n'Sushi was able to fit us in. Initially just for an hour but then thanks to a cancellation we were able to stay for dessert as well

We were a party of 4 and went for a la carte in that each of us essentially ordered just food for ourselves. They also do offer sharing platters but we tend to always prefer to just get stuff we each like

Everything from the cooked food to the raw sushi was excellent

The yakitori (meat/fish on a stick cooked over a Japanese grill) were all amazing from the salmon to the chicken meatballs we actually all ended up ordering additional portions of them at the end of our meal

The sushi was great with a stellar variety of both classics and modern style innovative sushi recipes. One thing very nice here is that they do it properly as in that most of the sushi recipes they put the wasabi inside the dish which is how they normally do it in Japan but outside of Japan I've not seen that done much out of fear that people might not like wasabi. So that was a really pleasant surprise

The classics are perfectly crafted and the modern sushi recipes are bursting with flavours. Even recipes I normally don't like were done in a way here that I actually loved it. For example I'm not a fan of cream cheese in sushi rolls. However their Alaskan Salmon roll with cream cheese was absolutely delicious as the proportions were perfect and the flavour of the cream cheese did not dominate the dish

I also loved that they brought special sashimi soy sauce when you order sashimi. I think it was umami soy sauce but not entirely sure. Whatever it was it was perfect for the sashimi and much better for it than the normal table soy sauce you get

Another dish I'm not normally a fan of is the Chocolate Fondant cake and yes I took a gamble and had it here but it was absolutely delicious! The matcha core really helps with the overpowering taste of the liquid centre and the combination with their homemade vanilla ice cream was perfection. All the desserts we ordered were great though from the Yuzu cake to the Chocolate Fondant cake to the trio of sorbets

Price wise I actually found this to be all very reasonably priced. For the quality of the food the prices are actually quite low. You can expect to pay substantially more per person for this kind of quality in London

Perhaps a good thing that Oxford is so far of a drive from us as otherwise we'd be tempted to eat here on a monthly basis!

Looking forward to the next time we are in Oxford and we have no doubt where we will eat on...

It used to be my favourite place but the last year has started taking the downhill. I visited s&s twice in a week. (once I had booked the table and the other my friend did)

The food has got a lot more expensive but the quality has defo gone down. The colour of the tuna in both days was definitely not correct. In all fairness I struggle to believe the fish we were eating was sushi grade.

The cocktails, is another sad part, where corners are being cut more and more. At the beginning they used to garnish the cocktails and crash the ice(which makes a massive difference to the flavour, it is not just aesthetics) Now there is not garnish and sometimes they crash ice on the top just for aesthetic reasons. But I want to be fair and say when I asked for crashed ice they did deliver 3/4 times my request.

But the worst is the staff behaviour and level of service. On Thursday I had to wait for 45 minutes for a bottle of beer and 2 of my tables guests had to wait for two rounds of food to be brought a fork, which I had to go and ask from the staff twice(although we asked when we ordered the food) - my Thursday meal cost me 250 (including the imposed staff tip) for a service that was worse than mcdonalds. I also had to clean the table before they served the food because they had no intention of doing it.

But Friday was what topped the threshold and made me write this review. The whole place was in shambles. They didn't have plates to serve us! I was served my sushi in a bowl.. Lol(although we had made a reservation and paid £80 upfront because we were a group of 8) and they said there are other people eating in plates so they dnt have enough. I find this at best laughable. And this is not about, covid or brexit, it is pure lack of care.

The lights were broken and were going on and off to the point that it felt like I was in a trance party with bad fish.

When we complained for it the waiter (a tall guy with a beard) he went well u complained too many times, we can't do something.. Well u can, u can apologise, you could have plates and you could be a bit more preffesional to a table that left £400.

All in all, I am quite understanding in someone having a bad day but this is a pattern of bad attitude and lack of professionalism. That said, I had a few of the staff that were nice but were not attending my table any of the two days.

It used to be my favourite place but I won't be going again...

I’ve attended this restaurant before, and they were excellent. However, my visit yesterday was extremely disappointing.

I have an alliums allergy, which I understand can be challenging. On a previous visit, we ordered one of their sharer platters. The restaurant adapted some dishes, and those they couldn’t were eaten by my dining companion. It worked brilliantly.

Last night, I booked a table for three at 5:45 PM. When I arrived, I informed the server of my allergy. They asked me to check the allergy menus online. I explained there wasn’t one for my specific allergy. The server acknowledged this but went to check with their manager. When they returned, they insisted I check the online menus again. I complied, thinking maybe something new had been added, but there wasn’t. The server then stated I had a “pretty specific allergy” and assured me they could make anything work.

We decided to order the “Set for Success” for three. I clarified that the gyozas could remain unchanged as they were fine for the others in my party. The server seemed happy with this arrangement and walked off.

However, they returned shortly after with a colleague—possibly a manager—and informed us it would be easier to order from the à la carte menu since most sauces contained garlic. When I asked what I could eat, they repeated they could adapt dishes but didn’t give clear guidance. As most dishes on the à la carte menu also included sauces, I felt increasingly frustrated, embarrassed, and unsure of what to do.

After some deliberation, my party and I decided to leave. Managing my allergy is already difficult, and the lack of support or clarity made the experience stressful and unpleasant. I also felt like a burden to the restaurant.

When we requested the drinks bill, I noticed a service charge had been added, which felt unfair given the lack of assistance. The server seemed annoyed when I asked for it to be removed.

This experience was upsetting, especially as my previous visit had been so positive. Unfortunately, this time, I felt unsupported and unwelcome, with no clear solutions offered...