Crawl #6 - Ozumo (8/11/10)

On Wednesday evening, August 11th, nine oaktown-crawlers met at Ozumo for a drink and some sushi!!!

First, our pictures. Some of us were veterans, some brand-new newbies, and others merely guests who we hope will return! :-)


Jessica, Holly, Charlotte


Randi, Gayle, Nancy


Susan and Connie


(not pictured: Kathy)

Second, the scores (out of 5):

• Food/Drink: 4.2
• Ambiance: 4.3
• Service: 3.0
• Overall: 3.7

Quotes: Favorites were the sushi and the corn fritters. Service could definitely user an improvement - loved everything else! Loud, but good food. Loud and stylish, with good food and excellent cocktails! Beautiful, but too noisy. Fun to do this - although pretty pricey for me!

It was a fun evening! We came for Happy Hour, so sat in what they call the "Sake Lounge" - basically a large, tall multi-sided bar in the center of the room surrounded by one row of small (high or low) tables against the wall. It's a small area, and was packed even at that time (6:15/6:30), but we lucked out and found 2 small tables that they very willingless pushed together for us, so we were all able to sit together (they don't take reservations in the Sake Lounge). We had to do some juggling with our plates (cramped quarters), but it worked out fine. Some of us sat along the wall in a built-in banquette, others in chairs, and a couple of us sat in these very cool (and surprisingly comfortable, at least for a little while) rustic, backless benches (loved the design!).

The setting was beautiful. Dark. Browns and oranges. Touches of spark. Warm. Inviting. Sophisticated. Classy. Fun. However, not unlike many of the restaurants that Oaktown Crawl has visited so far, the decibal level was fairly high! It was, in fact, loud enough in there that it was difficult to hold a conversation with someone two seats away from you (and mind you, our seats were close!) - and there was absolutely no way that you could talk with the person at the other end of the table. While I appreciate the "energy" and "excitement" that some degree of noise brings to a place (especially in the bar area, where we were), I have to admit that it does get a little old to have noise to the level where conversations are difficult. Yes, we're there for the food, and for the ambiance/experience - BUT, we also want to talk with our friends! :-)

The food was great (in my humble opinion). Mind you, I'm not an experienced "sushi" person, by any stretch of the imagination. I devour the various kinds of rolls that show up at various tennis events and parties, have been known to eat the Trader Joe's version for lunches on ocassion, and even tried to make "vegetarian sushi" on New Year's Day at home (!), but that is the extent of my sushi-eating experience - until Ozumo! Our two ends of the table ordered separately from one another (for how could we hear what the other end wanted?!?!), so I'm not at entirely sure what the West end of the table ate that night, but the East end (are my directions correct?) enjoyed (hopefully at least most of this is correct): Garlic-soy edamame (hot, and delicious!), corn fritters (not my favorite, but others really seemed to enjoy them), vegetable skewers (great flavor, but so tiny!), and for sushi, we had both rolls (maki?) and nigiri (overall, my favorite). It was all too new and it was way too long ago for me to remember precisely, but I believe we sampled on tuna, spicy tuna, salmon, unagi (eel), I think there were more (maybe somebody else will remember and add a Comment!). Although I loved the rolls (what's not to like, especially when you add soy sauce and wasabi!), it was the nigiri that I especially liked. They were big bites, and if you ate slowly (and closed your eyes, like I did), you could really taste the fish. I thought that they all might taste alike (especially for someone like me, who doesn't have any sense of smell), but I was wrong. Each one had its own taste, texture, and essence. I almost didn't try the eel, but I did, and I'm really glad that I did, because I found the flavor different, yet great (and I could *almost* get past the texture of the skin). All in all, the food was great! And fun for me to try "real" sushi for the first time - thanks, ladies, for guiding me through this experience!

The East end of the table ended up spending $30 (inclusive) per person for the evening. Not bad for sushi, I understand, especially since we each had 2 drinks. However, in full disclosure mode, I must say that I didn't leave stuffed. I am normally a big eater, and while I'm sure that I had all that my body nutritionally needed for one dinner, had it been less expensive, I certainly would have enjoyed eating more! Charlotte tells us that they have an all-you-can-eat sushi dinner for $30 on Monday nights. That wouldn't include your drinks, or tax/tip, but all you can eat? THat sounds like a fun splurge, and a mighty fine way to try a whole bunch of different types and really get filled up on sushi! Text me sometime if you're headed that way - I may just join you! :-)

To summarize: Great food, great drinks, very swanky. Too loud, and too hard to get the server's attention.

I'll leave you with one (poor-quality) photo of some rolls. Thanks, ladies, for a fun evening! Can't wait to see you all next time!