We are proud to serve unique Tokyo-style sushi and authentic Okinawan cuisine.
Our sushi is a unique Kanto or Tokyo-style. Our rice is prepared with a special blend of rice vinegar and Japanese sea salt, and is purposely served warm unlike others that you may have experience.
To bring out the natural seafood flavors, OHSHIMA sushi is individually glazed with special soy sauce or with sea salt and yuzu (Japanese citron).
Additional soy sauce is not necessary, but we will provide it upon request.
Established in 2007.
Ohshima was established to help preserve the art of Japanese and Okinawan cuisine.
Itamae (Sushi Chef) Shige’s dream was inspired after he saw the rise in popularity of sushi; he sees sushi not just as a food genre but a form of art. To stray from the mainstream sushi, he does not make the popular sushi rolls.
He composes his sushi in the traditional way; delicately balancing flavors enhancing the natural essence of fish using his original house-blended shoyu (soy sauce) or yuzu (Japanese citron) with sea salt. This method of infusing pure flavors to excite your palate is how sushi is enjoyed in Japan.
Itamae (Sushi Chef) Shigenari Kimura studied his sushi making skills in Tokyo at the acclaimed Shinjuku Chourishi Senmon Gakkou. He has been honing his craft for over 30 years at various sushi restaurants all over the world, until he decided to open his first restaurant in Camarillo, CA in 1989.
There he started to develop his own style of sushi combining the tastes of the American palate with traditional homestyle-washoku (Japanese fare.)
Perhaps I was coming on a rare off day last time or a recent trip to Japan may have put the quality of the sushi here back into context but my most recent visit to Ohshima really reminded me why Ohshima is THE sushi place to go to in the OC and well worth the trouble of going through the daily half hour reservation window (between 5 and 5:30 pm) to get some coveted seating at the sushi bar.
We came here to get the omakase and almost all the pieces of sushi had this fresh, buttery quality that is as good as high end sushi you will find in Japan but is definitely harder to find in California. As I may have stated in previous reviews, this is sushi that does not need soy sauce or wasabi to taste great – most pieces of sushi you’ll get will have a bit of wasabi placed between the rich and fish and the fish will most likely have a light layer of soy sauce already brushed on it. In addition to that, each piece is presented in impeccably fashion and almost look more like a floral arrangement.
My favorite pieces from my last visit included the cherry salmon, bluefin tuna, and lightly seared black cod.
Service here is solid and the price is right…for $40-$45 you will get 8 high quality pieces that I guarantee many other places will charge much more for in LA.
-Albert
Hands down, best sushi i’ve ever had.
Dont hesitate and just go.
Get the omakase and order a side of sweet shrimp, uni and toro (most likely wont be included).
Cherry salmon, black cod, uni, toro, yellowtail belly all stood out to me. I literally started laughing after I ate each piece.. it was THAT good.
-Jenny
This has to be one of the best valued Omakase dinners in OC. The omakase comes with 8 beautiful cuts of fish, all in generous portions. What I like about Ohshima is how the chef prepares the fish/nigiri. Each piece is cut slightly different. The chef makes thin or wide incisions on top of the fish before adding marinade or seasoning. This will not only make the dish more appealing but also enhance the taste & texture. You will hardly reach for the soy sauce here but I do fancy an extra dab of wasabi.
-Laura
Me and husband always wanted to try an omakase (chef choice) style dinning. We’ve heard mad raves about this place, so, we got a sitter and decided to go.
First off, you can only call between 5-5:30! How crazy is that!?!? So after trying for about 2 days we finally got through and made a reservation for the omakase dinning in 3 days.
We had a reservation at 5:45. It was fairly crowded when we got there, but got seated right away when we checked in.
It was nice casual. Nothing fancy, but little more than shorts and t-shirt.
We sat at the bar and started with an appetizer of what seemed to be an upscale lomi lomi salmon (hawaiian relish – tomatoes, onions, and salmon). It was tasty!
We had a total of 8 differnt nigiri (finger sized rice with a slice of fish on top) pieces. If I can remember correctly, we had scallop, cherry salmon, blackened cod, amberfish, yellowtail, and I dont remember the others. We ended with some type of assortment of fish with micro green salad thing. I liked it, my husband, not too much.
After dinner I was surprisingly contented! I didn’t think 8 pcs of nigiri sushi + a palm sized appetizer and a salad would be enough! I guess it’s the way the sushi chef spaced out each sushi.
Instead of giving us everything at once, there was about a 5 min gap in between each sushi. I guess eating slowly fills you faster than scarfing everything down at one time.
For $40 omakase, I would definitely go back again!! The fish is so buttery! Not fishy! And so fresh!!!
-Joy
When I first heard about their reservation policy, I thought this must be some high end sushi bar that I’d never would get a chance to try. Every day there’s only a 30 min window to make a call and you can only cross your fingers hoping it would go through. I later learned they take walk ins. To my surprise it isn’t as prestigious as I’d thought! Just a local sushi restaurant inside a neighborhood strip mall. I’ve now been here two times. First time on a weekday with no wait and second time with a 45min wait on a Saturday.
They offered the best and cheapest omakase! Ten pieces of fresh fish for only $30ish. What a steal! Most of the fishes are marinated so no soy sauce required. This isn’t the best sushi I’ve had but for its price, it’s more that worth it!
-Jackie
Found my go to Omikase spot…so deelish and sooo good, and a very hard to beat price. Was looking for a sushi place close by to maybe get some good Sashimi, and when Ohshima popped up; I thought…I guess I could splurge for lunch today…man oh man, I am SO glad I did.
We got here around 12:45 and the place was still super packed, when I asked how long it would take for our party of 2, they said it could take up to 25-30 minutes, just depending on when the other parties left. We got super lucky because a bunch of people closed up their tabs and left and we wnded up waiting just about 15 minutes total for our table.
Like I said before, for Omikase, a 10 pc serving is $40…I think they used to have an 8pc, but took it out, or at least they did for lunch. One thing with Omikase…you don’t add anything, well, at least they really don’t want you to. I had to remind my co-eater about that when he asked for soy sauce before we got our items. Not terrible, but remember that this is a chef’s choice-type of thing, so they want you to have it as is. I agree with one of the other reviewers that for the total Omikase experience, you need to sit at the bar so you can get each piece as it’s prepared, but even here, I think they’re SO busy that that may not be the case.
So for the food, when we went, from memory, I believe we had: Scallop, Neptune, Mackerel, Amber Jack, Gold Stripe, Black Cod (seared), Se Bream, Blue Fish (I can’t remember what exactly, maybe she actually said blue fin tuna, hehehe), and Big Yellowtail.
My absolute favorites were the scallop, the amber jack, and sea bream (which I don’t think i’ve ever had before). The others were pretty good too, and like I said, it was just form memory…the server kinda went over it super fast. I kinda wish we had a printed guide that day, haha.
SERVICE – A lot of people complained about the service, which I kinda prepped myself for, but other than messing up on our bill when I asked them to split it between two credit cards (they charged one card the split and mine the full amount, which we corrected quickly), they were very nice and friendly. A lot of the people there that day seemed to be regulars because the servers and the chefs greeted them and asked them questions about stuff, which alluded to the fact that people come back for a reason, and it seems to be the service in addition to the food.
PARKING – Place can get PACKED…like I said, we lucked out waiting just 15 minutes. I haven’t tried doin reservations yet, but I would try to come before they open or during the non-rush times of lunch and dinner. Parking is easy enough, the plaza is kinda small but I don’t see it being a problem.
Really get the most bang for your buck when it comes to higher end sushi/ omikase…I’m DEFINITELY coming back more often than not.
-Jay