Oma Sushi had been in my bookmarked collection of places to visit when craving an AYCE sushi/Japanese fusion meal. Several friends who had visited Oma when the establishment first opened raved about the freshness of the fish in both sushi and sashimi, the unique variety of hot and fried foods, as well as the seating layout. My party and I finally got the chance to visit Oma on a weekday during lunch hours, and we opted to do the dinner which is available for a higher price point but also includes many other things the lunch menu does not offer, such as sashimi, specialty nigiri and sushi rolls, and others.
It started off fine when we were seated at the very back of the restaurant on the lower level. There seems to be upper level seating on the second floor as well. Our server introduced us to their menu as it was our first time and he explained it quite well. Drinks are not included in the AYCE along with some menu items that are purely available a-la-carte. We proceeded to place orders for various appetizers, mains, sushi and sashimi...our typical favorites from any AYCE Japanese spot.
The orders came out fairly quickly with only a handful of tables being full at the restaurant. Some appetizers we tried include the seaweed salad (very fishy compared to all others I've had), fried shrimp tempura (not fresh or flaky, very firm and stiff), pork gyoza dumplings (good flavor, nice char), fried harumaki (nicely crisp and filled with veggies inside), age dashi tofu (umami broth and light crispy exterior batter with medium firm tofu inside, A-OK), takoyaki (firm and very little filling), pork & shrimp shumai (was fried, I expected steamed, overcooked, flavorless), fried calamari (overcooked, chewy but not bouncy), baked mussels (A-OK, nothing special, similar to ones found at Chinese buffets), Thai chili garlic hamachi (nice thin slices with good garlicky flavor, hint of spice).
Moving on, we tried the beef fried rice (this was the best thing on the whole menu, packed with flavor, hibachi style rice and generous amount of beef), combo fried rice (similar to the beef one but a mixture of beef, chicken and shrimp was in it, somehow less flavorful though), beef bulgogi sizzling hot plate (slightly sweet, beefy flavor, pretty good taste but meat a bit tough to chew through), beef kalbi sizzling hot plate (not as good as the kalbi from typical KBBQ spots, tough and chewy, also very sweet), Viva Las Vegas roll (packed with kani, cream cheese, spicy tuna, crab mix, wonton chips, eel sauce, spicy mayo, and crunch, did not taste fresh), salmon hibachi kitchen classic (overcooked and dry, the sauce on outside was its only saving grace and only flavor).
For sashimi, (salmon, tuna, yellowtail, albacore tuna, super white tuna, squid, octopus, mackerel) these were decently cut sizes/slices of fish but also not fresh, had strange chewy bits, and even scales that I had to spit out. We also had seared nigiri (salmon, yellowtail, tuna, and scallop) all very disappointing as the searing made the fishy smell worse. The scallop one was the only one tolerable, as it was covered in spicy mayo.
For dessert, there was only one choice that was offered for both lunch and dinner AYCE...a 4 oz serving of ice cream. Yes, one serving per person only. The ice cream flavor choices were vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, green tea, or red bean. I shared the green tea and red bean flavors with my friend while the other members of my party had the vanilla and chocolate. Again disappointed with the quality and serving size...not a good impression for an AYCE spot.
For the price they charge for AYCE, it would be nice to have a drink (non alc or alc) like their nearby competitor as well as better quality food. For my friends who had visited in Oma's earlier days, they haven't returned recently nor have the desire to. The fish may be slightly smaller cut in other AYCE places but the quality is definitely better than at Oma. If I'm only enjoying their beef fried rice overall, I definitely do not see the need to come back for AYCE.
Really wish that I could love this place and give it a much higher rating, but it is not in my top, but at the bottom of my AYCE sushi/Japanese fusion restaurant list. At this point in time, I do not see myself returning for another try. read more