Thursday, 26 July 2007
(Ferret Food) Julian Lynch proves he eats out too much.
~
'Oisi Master'
49 St Clements
Oxford
OX4 1AG
My meal:
1x diet coke
1x octopus maki
1x breaded chicken curry
1x boiled rice
Oisi Master is a cosy (perhaps even slightly small) oriental restaurant on St. Clements, serving a selection of Chinese and Japanese food, but undoubtedly specialising in the latter. Going out for the evening, Oisi Master was not our original choice, but when the Pink Giraffe couldn't seat us (no un-booked tables for four on a Wednesday night??!?!?!), we drifted in its direction.
A reminder of the break down of marks:
30 marks for food
30 marks for ambiance
20 marks for service
10 marks for price
10 marks for drinks
--
In terms of food, I was not disappointed by Oisi Master's selection. The menu was fairly extensive, and helpfully divided into Japanese, Chinese and set menu sections. It also helped the uninitiated in oriental cuisine (like myself), by generally avoiding Japanese and Chinese terms for the food. There was an especially big sushi menu, and helpful photographs with the sushi options; again a help to the uncultured.
The food was pretty good too. The sushi was fresh, and the main courses we had afterwards nice. I have to admit I wasn't wowed though... there was a certain lack of originality, and the presentation of the food was rather poor on three out of the four dishes we ordered. All in all, the sushi was far the best part of the meal - but then, since sushi restaurants are rare, there was less competition to live up to here.
Excellent vegetarian selection though.
So, for food: 19/30
--
Judging the ambiance of Oisi Master in a fair way is a tricky business. As I write this, large portions of Oxford are under water, which makes going out a challenge, and it was a Wednesday night besides. This left Oisi Master very empty; in fact, my group were the only people in there. Decor was good, although some of it recognisably from Ikea. There were also some pleasingly authentic touches like chopstick rests - something I always feel builds atmosphere.
There was one small let down though. When our main meals arrived, a couple of us were given forks or spoons as well as our chopsticks. We didn't need them, the food didn't need them, and it breaks the spell of eating in a restaurant serving non-European cuisine. When I'm in a Chinese, Japanese, Lebanese or whatever restaurant, I like to see myself as being in the country the food comes from - as stepping out of wet, cold England for a while and arriving somewhere exotic. Cheap forks do not help this. I also find it mildly insulting (I know how to use chopsticks dammit!), but that's just pride talking.
None the less, not too bad. Assume this mark would be higher if the place had been full...
Ambiance: 13/30
--
Service wise, all was good - quiet and efficient, and the staff managed not to get under our feet despite the absence of other customers. They did spill a little soup on one of my companions, but it would be churlish to excessively punish them for that mistake.
Service: 13/20
--
Price-wise, Oisi Master was a little expensive. The set menus were particularly ruinous and the main meals cost a lot for what they were. The sushi was reasonably priced if you ordered it in small amounts, but the cost climbed quickly. No doubt sushi is labour intensive, but I still expect to pay for the pleasure of my eating rather than the difficulty of the dish's making.
Price: 3/10
--
Drinks... hmmmm. Well, there was nothing alcoholic on the menu for a start, just soft drinks. That's a shame not just because I'm a raging alcoholic, but because sweet soft drinks just don't really go with food to my mind - I like the option of having something complementary, especially at the price I was paying for the food. There was a reasonable selection of teas though, plus an ice cream floater (which one of us had...), and a drink mysteriously called 'Happy'.
Drinks: 4/10
--
So, Oisi Master gets an overall score of:
52%
A fine restaurant, enjoyable if you're a connoisseur of Japanese food. Edamame on Longwall Street is probably better, but suffers from only serving sushi once in a blue moon. Oisi Master would have got a better score if it hadn't been let down by being a little over-priced and disappointing in terms of drinks. None the less, this would be a good place to take friends or relatives you're introducing to Japanese food... especially if they're paying.
49 St Clements
Oxford
OX4 1AG
My meal:
1x diet coke
1x octopus maki
1x breaded chicken curry
1x boiled rice
Oisi Master is a cosy (perhaps even slightly small) oriental restaurant on St. Clements, serving a selection of Chinese and Japanese food, but undoubtedly specialising in the latter. Going out for the evening, Oisi Master was not our original choice, but when the Pink Giraffe couldn't seat us (no un-booked tables for four on a Wednesday night??!?!?!), we drifted in its direction.
A reminder of the break down of marks:
30 marks for food
30 marks for ambiance
20 marks for service
10 marks for price
10 marks for drinks
--
In terms of food, I was not disappointed by Oisi Master's selection. The menu was fairly extensive, and helpfully divided into Japanese, Chinese and set menu sections. It also helped the uninitiated in oriental cuisine (like myself), by generally avoiding Japanese and Chinese terms for the food. There was an especially big sushi menu, and helpful photographs with the sushi options; again a help to the uncultured.
The food was pretty good too. The sushi was fresh, and the main courses we had afterwards nice. I have to admit I wasn't wowed though... there was a certain lack of originality, and the presentation of the food was rather poor on three out of the four dishes we ordered. All in all, the sushi was far the best part of the meal - but then, since sushi restaurants are rare, there was less competition to live up to here.
Excellent vegetarian selection though.
So, for food: 19/30
--
Judging the ambiance of Oisi Master in a fair way is a tricky business. As I write this, large portions of Oxford are under water, which makes going out a challenge, and it was a Wednesday night besides. This left Oisi Master very empty; in fact, my group were the only people in there. Decor was good, although some of it recognisably from Ikea. There were also some pleasingly authentic touches like chopstick rests - something I always feel builds atmosphere.
There was one small let down though. When our main meals arrived, a couple of us were given forks or spoons as well as our chopsticks. We didn't need them, the food didn't need them, and it breaks the spell of eating in a restaurant serving non-European cuisine. When I'm in a Chinese, Japanese, Lebanese or whatever restaurant, I like to see myself as being in the country the food comes from - as stepping out of wet, cold England for a while and arriving somewhere exotic. Cheap forks do not help this. I also find it mildly insulting (I know how to use chopsticks dammit!), but that's just pride talking.
None the less, not too bad. Assume this mark would be higher if the place had been full...
Ambiance: 13/30
--
Service wise, all was good - quiet and efficient, and the staff managed not to get under our feet despite the absence of other customers. They did spill a little soup on one of my companions, but it would be churlish to excessively punish them for that mistake.
Service: 13/20
--
Price-wise, Oisi Master was a little expensive. The set menus were particularly ruinous and the main meals cost a lot for what they were. The sushi was reasonably priced if you ordered it in small amounts, but the cost climbed quickly. No doubt sushi is labour intensive, but I still expect to pay for the pleasure of my eating rather than the difficulty of the dish's making.
Price: 3/10
--
Drinks... hmmmm. Well, there was nothing alcoholic on the menu for a start, just soft drinks. That's a shame not just because I'm a raging alcoholic, but because sweet soft drinks just don't really go with food to my mind - I like the option of having something complementary, especially at the price I was paying for the food. There was a reasonable selection of teas though, plus an ice cream floater (which one of us had...), and a drink mysteriously called 'Happy'.
Drinks: 4/10
--
So, Oisi Master gets an overall score of:
52%
A fine restaurant, enjoyable if you're a connoisseur of Japanese food. Edamame on Longwall Street is probably better, but suffers from only serving sushi once in a blue moon. Oisi Master would have got a better score if it hadn't been let down by being a little over-priced and disappointing in terms of drinks. None the less, this would be a good place to take friends or relatives you're introducing to Japanese food... especially if they're paying.
~
Specifically, if you remember I had the fried chicken and curry sauce rice box, while you had the fried chicken and curry sauce with plain boiled rice on a plate, and if you recall you got more chicken and more curry sauce than I did, while they stuffed my rice box with far, far more rice than the meal actually merited. It was nice enough stuff, but it left me wishing I'd just ordered more sushi.