RESTAURANT REVIEW - Well Madera finally has a real sushi restaurant in town. They’ve been open for a few months. We so badly wanted to be able to give a positive review that we waited a while to let them get through all the hiccups of opening a new restaurant. The last place, Litto Sushi, we went to on opening week and it was just horrible.
Litto Sushi, was sushi of the ‘Mexican’ variety, which I have had before and liked. But their version included things such as health department level problems. I can’t say I was too surprised when it folded fairly quickly. I must start by saying that while this new place, Oishii Express, still has problems they are not at the level of the previous owners. For example, the décor has been spruced up a little and is nicer at first glance than the previous restaurant located here.
However, after looking around for a moment, it became obvious that we were expected to know what to do next without any assistance. There were two girls behind the counter, but neither bothered to greet us or offer any direction until we picked up one of the folded take out menus and took it on ourselves to sit at a table. Then we were directed to the first of many signs – ‘Order here’ hanging over the cash register.
OK, so I got up and walked to the cash register to place my order for four rolls. I was told they would call me to come back and pick it up myself when it was ready. This as unusual enough that I was a little flustered and forgot to order drinks (the girl behind the counter didn’t bother to ask if I wanted drinks). So my wife walked to the register to order and pay for a three dollar 12-ounce soda that she had to walk to the far end of the seating area to fetch herself from the soda fountain. Our total at this point was just south of Fifty Bucks. Did I mention the half a dozen flags out in front of the restaurant claiming NEW LOWER PRICES?
The second issue was waiting to hear my name called only to go to the counter and find out I would have to come back because my whole order was not ready. Did I mention I walk with a cane and my wife has multiple sclerosis? You know even McDonalds offers to bring your food out to you if you have to wait or are handicapped.
The third issue, the longer we were there, the more signs and rules we noticed about what we were expected to do, or not do in this place. When I got my soda there was a sign on the straw box telling me to THROW AWAY THE PAPER WRAPPER. Walking back to the table there was a sign on the Coca Cola Refrigerator that was above some sauces that said NOT FOR CUSTOMER USE, DO NOT TOUCH. There was a sign at the front counter that said NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES and multiple signs throughout the restaurant that said to CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS. I wish I would have checked the restroom to see if there was a sign saying DO NOT EAT THE URINAL CAKES or DON’T PEE ON THE FLOOR.
The fourth issue was the food. Three out of four rolls were tasty but nothing to write home about. The fourth roll, the California Roll, tasted like rice. Just rice, because the fake crab meat in the middle had no flavor at all and the rice overpowered everything else. There was a very thin slice of a cucumber and I am pretty sure the roll was made somewhere near an avocado so it at the very least had its essence in the roll. For seven bucks I’ve had better sushi at Pak n Sav.
As for the other three rolls, in Fresno where this place would have some real competition, this place would not be in business very long. I’ve read the other FIVE STAR reviews on YELP and can’t help but think of a line in the movie AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT, “They don’t drink the sand because they are thirsty. They drink the sand because they don’t know any better”.
I have eaten sushi at some of the best places in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. Same with Fresno, I’ve dropped hundred dollar bills by myself sitting at the sushi bars in Fresno at every price point (expensive to all you can eat). What I had tonight in Madera at Oshii Express was just average sushi. The fish was fresh as it should be and other then the California Roll, the rice was properly cooked (texture) but had a little too much rice vinegar in the mix. I’ve had better (much better) and I have had worse (much much worse).
The fifth issue is after I drop a tip on the table and my wife and I get up to leave, this twenty-something girl behind the counter called out to remind us rather bluntly to bus our own table. I just dropped fifty bucks on four rolls of mediocre Sushi and a three dollar twelve-ounce fountain soda. We had stacked all their dishes up neatly on the table, but she gave me the impression that she expected us to take them to the back and use the dishwasher. After everything else tonight, now ‘twiggy’ just pissed off my wife. I am always the first one to complain about bad customer service and my wife will always keep me from making a scene. So when the chick who didn’t have the time to welcome us properly or hand us a menu now starts telling us where we need to move their dishes, I hear under my wife’s breath a “Hell no” as she picks up the tip and we walk out. Being me, I did turn to the girl and say ”For Fifty bucks, that’s your job”.
We will not be back. This place can take their NEW LOWER PRICES to the next level and close their doors. There is much more to running a restaurant than food. There is customer service. In fact, in every other Japanese restaurant I have ever experienced, there was at least the semblance of hospitality, which was completely missing here. For our fifty bucks, there are two other restaurants in the same shopping center that would have busted their asses to make us feel welcome (Sal’s and IHOP). Across the street, fifty bucks would have gotten us a tri-tip sandwich and a prime rib at the Sugar Pine Smokehouse with table service thrown in. Down the street, for fifty bucks my wife could have ordered anything on the menu while I enjoyed the last place in Madera that serves Liver and Onions at Perkos and they would have said ‘hello’ and shown us to a table. People complain that there is nothing in Madera but there are more choices for good customer service and great food than you might think.
The owners of Oshii might want to take some lessons in customer service and take down all the signs telling me what not to do in their restaurant and take the time to welcome their customers and be appreciative that we walked into their restaurant to spend our money. There are choices even in Madera and my choice for sushi will continue to be the twenty-mile drive into Fresno. Great sushi and customer service beats a bad attitude every day.
All You Can Eat Sushi Locations in Fresno & Clovis
You Me Sushi - 389 E Shaw Ave, Fresno, CA 93710 Around $25 for dinner $20 for lunch
Sendai Sushi - 8064 N Cedar Ave, Fresno, CA 93720 - Around $17 for dinner $14 for lunch
Ooi Sushi - 840 Herndon Ave, Clovis, CA 93612 - Around $26 for dinner $20 for lunch