Oishii Sushi — Restaurant in Lake Elmo

Oishii is a great all-you-can-eat sushi experience. I had lunch during their soft launch and had a great time. Our server was attentive and welcoming. He patiently answered all of our probing questions about the menu and the restaurant. The food came out timely and everything tasted amazing. The portion sizes are plentiful and you can easily fill yourself up. They do give you a bowl of rice with each hibachi order, so I do recommend you to ask for no rice on some of those orders if you don't plan on filling yourself up with rice.

Even with their lunch menu, they had an abundance of appetizer options in addition to sushi options. The karaage tasted fresh and were deep fried perfectly. The poke bowl was well-seasoned and portioned well, not too much to fill you up but also not so little that you feel cheated. The pepper tuna had much more bite than I anticipated and had a lot of flavor. I also enjoyed the dragon ball and sushi taco appetizers. The yaki tori had a great sear and tasted amazing. I wish I could have tried all of them.

I loved the salmon teriyaki and the steak and shrimp hibachi dishes. The shrimp tempura was great also.

The sushi rolls tasted fresh and were well -crafted. Compared to other all-you-can-eat options, Oishii is better than Akita and Tokyo Sushi, but not yet at the level of Ichiban... emphasis on the yet. I can't wait to see if they are even better in a few weeks.

All in all, I was incredibly impressed with Oishii, especially considering they opened just a few days ago. The restaurant was large and spacious, with plenty of space in between tables. This is especially helpful for people with a disability, as tight spaces in restaurants can present significant challenges. Navigating the restaurant was very easy in that regard.

The tables and chairs were very comfortable and chic. The design was visually appealing but not in a ostentatious way.

In some ways, I want to gatekeep a gem like Oishii, just so I don't have to worry about having to make a reservation to come for lunch. But the word will get out eventually, so gatekeeping will inevitably be a fruitless endeavor. So I encourage everyone to come try Oishii, but if you can, don't come until after noon so I don't have to make a reservation in the future. And if you come during their soft launch, have...

First time here, my husband and I were curious about the place as he hadn't had sushi in a while and wanted to have a little taste of home. We came around dinner time (7pm). Hubby had placed his name on the waiting list on the online site, by the time we arrived in hopes of an open table, there were a lot of other guests waiting as well. A waitress had informed us and other groups that it might be about an hour or longer before a table opens up, which had some groups look a bit upset and they later left. My hubby had checked our "wait time" online and it claimed that our wait was over, however we had to wait and additional hour or so before a few tables opened up. Upon waiting I was watching how the restaurant was functioning, servers appeared kind, but movements and services were definitely chaotic and not very stream lined as I noticed servers bumping into each other at the kitchen doors and spillage of sauces when carrying food items or empty plates. We were finally seated at around 8:10pm.

Dinner time was all you can eat, so we ordered as we pleased. Some orders though were mixed up, luckily we came during all you can eat, otherwise we would have had to pay extra for food we didn't order. Other orders were forgotten so we had to wait for them or mentioned them again. Aside from that though, sushi and food is very delicious. Presentation is very nice and hubby approves if the sushi. Our server, Blake, was a pleasant server.

I'm still thinking this restaurant is on its "soft open" stage, but definitely improvements can be made. For those coming in, it's definitely recommended to make a reservation and hopefully OS will get you seated by the time you made your reservation, otherwise be prepared to wait. For OS staff, I know it's not your guy's specialty but definitely work with IT or whoever manages the electronic aspect of the business to make waiting times more accurate so guests can be seated on a timely manner, especially if they already submitted to being placed in the wait list online. Have servers and cooks manage/ organize tables better so orders don't get mixed up, forgotten, or mistakenly added on, as this could be bad during lunch hours. Overall a delicious restaurant that can still...

My wife and I made a reservation for 4:30 PM. When we arrived, we were greeted by a lady who informed us that the restaurant closes from 2:30 PM until 4:30 PM. She kindly told us we could wait in the waiting area since we were about 15 minutes early. As we waited, we noticed how nicely decorated the restaurant was, and we grew even more excited to see the rest of the space, as additional seating is located around the corner and out of sight from the entrance.

When we were finally seated, we were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the restaurant was. The seating, lighting, and table setup were all very well thought out and really set the mood for what we hoped would be a great evening.

However, we were a bit disappointed when we told our server, Sally, that we wanted our calamari appetizer to come out first so we could enjoy it before the rest of our food, and things didn’t go quite as planned. The first thing that arrived at our table was the udon noodles my wife had ordered as her entrée. We asked Sally to check on the calamari, and it arrived about five minutes later.

I understand the restaurant is new, and there will be growing pains, so I didn’t worry too much about the food coming out of order. Shortly after the calamari arrived, our sushi rolls came out, which wasn’t exactly the flow we were expecting either. I did voice my displeasure to Sally, just to make them aware.

That being said, once all the food was on the table, we were pleasantly surprised. Everything was delicious—the sushi rolls were wonderfully flavorful, and the udon noodles were outstanding. We finished everything on our plates!

After our meal, we visited the restroom and were impressed by how well it was set up. Everything was automatic—the soap dispenser, water faucet, and even a Dyson hand-drying unit.

All in all, while they made some mistakes, it was their first day, so we won’t complain. I definitely recommend making a reservation, as I have a strong feeling this place is going to get very...