Ocean Sushi & Ramen — Restaurant in Friendswood

Me and my boyfriend were craving sushi in the area and thought we would try a new restaurant. We were hesitant to go in because the parking lot seemed empty, however I am glad we took a chance and dined in.

Upon entering, we were greeted to some cute decor. Walking in, the restaurant seemed very spacious, clean, and beautiful.

Our waiter was Jenny. She was very kind and knowledgeable about the menu. We went with most of her recommendations. We got 1) King crab special roll, 2) Oahu roll, 3) Kyle Special, 4) bluefin tuna truffle, and 5) takoyaki.

I will leave the ratings down below: King crab roll 5/5: My boyfriend's favorite roll! This was an elevated version of a tempura roll. It has a bit of spice, but it complements the roll well. I personally found this a bit heavy but I know this will be a lot of people's favorite!

Oahu roll 4/5: Me and my boyfriend's least favorite roll. We could tell the quality of the fishes were very good. However, the roll was lacking sauce. The king crab roll and the Oahu roll came with (an in-house?) ponzu sauce. Even with the ponzu sauce and soy sauce, the roll was very bland and lackluster.

Kyle Special roll 4.5/5: My personal favorite roll (yes, even though I rated it less than the king crab roll). This roll was very refreshing, but I know it is not everyone's cup of tea. It is not a typical roll with the heavy sauce and umami flavors, but is very light and fresh. I would say there was a smidgen of too many raw onions, but my boyfriend thought it was the perfect amount.

Bluefin tuna truffle 4.8/5: ALMOST perfect in my opinion! I think the sauce at the bottom was a tad too salty for my taste. My boyfriend with saltier tastebuds than me found it perfect! Jenny told us they just shipped the tuna like 2-3 days ago so the fish was fresh! Would 10/10 order this again though! My favorite dish that I ordered today.

Takoyaki 4/5: Would be a 5/5 if they had about 2-3x more sauce.

Overall, love the ambience, service, and food! I am happy that there is good sushi in this area and I will...

Before I elaborate, I must explain that my harsh criticism comes from the fact I recently returned from a year long station in Oahu so my pallete and critiques in cuisine are from the fact I indulged in this type of diet for 12 months. That being said, first impressions were very good. The scenery and overall ambience was increbible and authentic. The menu is vast and extremely open for those to try a variety of sashimi and appetizers options. First order round of miso and hot sour soups. Hot and sour was completely flavorless. For appetizers, we ordered shumai, takoyaki and edemame. Edmame was good, shumai had similar flavour to the frozen packaged and the takoyaki was not cooked in the middle at all which was disappointing. Our entrees came out at very reasonable time. The one Shoyu ramen we got was perfect including flavorful broth and delicious "drug eggs" as they're called. The three rolls, the crazy, fatty tuna, and california, were also very good and well balanced in flavor. The Chirashi entree consisted of 16 sashimi pieces across a bed of seasoned rice with added pieces tamago and kani. From description, I expeceted a platter of nigiri instead of bowl display but I digress, it was beautifully presented as well as the rest of the food. All of that said, with its flaws, the food was decent and the fish was very fresh, albiet expensive. My last critique was with our server. During service, she was fantastic and readily availible when needed. However, I noticed when serving our soup, her fingers dipped into each one of our misos without gloves and brushed it off. Secondly was being quite rude while we correctly pronounced our fish (escolar) and made it confusing to me, who was ordering it. Overall even with it's flaws, I recommend this place for someone who's both familiar and unfamiliar with types of sushi and willing to expand...

update 12/19/23: came back a year later to try their sushi and was a bit disappointed. the prices also went up a bit since I last came. I got their sushi and sashimi lunch, and the fish tasted old, not fresh at all, sort of like a sour-ish taste lingering - didn't end up finishing this. their specialty rolls were alright, but a bit pricey. for friendswood it's okay, but I don't think I'd rec eating here for sushi if you can make the drive to Houston. review for some ramen below - prices incr by ~$1 since last.

Jan 2023: came back for the holiday season and was surprised to find this new restaurant ! for a small town like friendswood, I'd say this place is a gem - perfect spot for dates, family dinners, or group gatherings (they have a semi-private tatami room w/ floor cushion seating). leaving an open star for when I try their sushi, but their ramen was pretty decent, maybe not my #1 favorite, but I'd return for more. we tried the shio tonkotsu ($15), sapporo miso ($15), and hakata red ($16) - was a little disappointed that the Sapporo wasn't spicy though, despite having a pepper symbol next to it (would highly suggest the hakata though). also tried their lycheetini (lychee martini $12) which tasted like a lychee soju (personally not for me, but I'll give their mules a shot next time). we were seated almost immediately for a table of 3, and our server, kaitlyn, was very kind throughout our dinner. overall impressed - fairly priced items imo for the freshness and authenticity in their creations - I would say it's the better ramen around town and excited to try...