Oishii Rose Street

 Terrible pics, I apologise, but a great little Japanese place on Rose Street.

Australia's ties with Asia are something I really miss. Knowing the quality of international food that was available right on our doorstep; Having a Chinatown; Japanese food being a cheap-eat... over here Japanese food is certainly a luxury, but one that I do allow myself, on occasion.

Oishii on Rose Street has the feel of the little (sorry for grouping) Asian cafes we got back home, be it Japanese, Szechuan, Vietnamese et al, there were always a couple of guarantees- food is gonna be great, it's gonna be a cheap eat, and service is how they want it to be, ie, you eat when they tell you. But that is part of the feel. That's what I've found it to be like in the parts of SE Asia I have been through; and I love it.

For what it is, Oishiis menu is greatly varied, and as far as I can tell, everything is made to order.

Menu

The sushi menu most definately is all  made to order and the seafood is always glistening and wonderfully fresh.

On this occasion I ordered the #12 Hotategai Nigiri, which is fresh scallop atop rice. It comes served very simply on a small dish,with pickled ginger and wasabi but was absolutely divine.

 From the specials board I ordered a Seafood Ramen noodle soup. This arrived steaming and full to the brim. The broth was salty and flavoursome, plenty of delicious noodles, a solid handful of beanshoots, prawns, squid, seafood cocktail, and veg.

This was a hearty meal and probably would have done me by itself.

This funny little character here, and last to arrive about 2/3 of the way through my soup was the #73 Nasu Dengaku which is pan fried aubergine with sweet miso. I was expecting a small bowl of aubergine slivers or pieces, perhaps stirfried, so was quite confused when this was brought to me... mostly, how I was supposed to eat it. But I persevered with spoon and chopsticks in tow, peeled back the skin was was greeted to the most beautiful, succulent, velvety aubergine flesh I had ever tried. It's texture is difficult to relate to anything, except maybe hot toffee, or slightly overripe mango. It was just out of this world. I have no idea how it was cooked. I think possibly pan fried then baked but it really was a treat.

So my meal including a Ramune (Japanese lemonade) came to £20 +tip, which is not a cheap lunch. But they do what they do really well. Definitely worth a try of you're after some really good, made to order Japanese comfort food.