We first told you about then month-old Oh! Sushi in early November -- and since then, we've been on the hunt for someone with a good eye (and a good palate) to check the place out (and to spice things up,) and dish their details to Short Order.
Enter Fatgirl Hedonist. Born and raised in Miami by way of Hialeah, this devoted food blogger and self-proclaimed "Fatgirl" stealthily scouts out new Miami joints and then rates and reviews them on her blog. Sometimes restaurants know she's coming, other times not - but none know her real name or what she looks like. Put simply, she's another face in the crowd (avidly taking mental notes and sneaking photos on her iPhone). The CBS 2011 Most Valuable Blogger recalled her experience with us and gave us the scoop on the Doral sushi joint.
New Times: How did you find out about Oh! Sushi?
Fatgirl Hedonist: I had come across [it] on Twitter, but what really caught my attention was their pink fish scavenger hunts -- where a pink fish was hidden somewhere throughout the city and the first to find it would win a $25 gift certificate.
One could easily pass it up and never know they missed it -- do you agree?
From the outside it looks simple and unassuming. A small restaurant in an almost hidden shopping plaza on the west end of Doral. Once you walk in you're slapped in the face with an explosion of color and cartoon characters. [...] like a Hello Kitty factory exploded.
Did they know who you were when you arrived?
When I first walked in the waitress didn't know I had a food blog.
On to the food... did you leave with a favorite dish?
[It's] a three-way tie between the ika sansai salad (off menu but readily available upon request), the salmon fingers ($3.99 for two pieces) and the soft maki roll ($1.99 each). The calamari in the ika sansai was insanely fresh and the sesame dressing gave it a funky, nutty flavor -- impossible to stop eating. The salmon fingers were ridiculous -- the salmon was tender, the avocado [...] fresh, and the 'special sauces' gave it a great kick. The soft maki roll was delicious... the raw salmon was fresh and the combination of the wakame, avocado and roe gave it a delicate and delicious flavor.
Least favorite?
The takoyaki ($3.59 for three pieces) -- think octopus fritura. I wasn't a fan of the texture or the flavor of the fried octopus. Nonetheless, something to definitely check out for the more fearless and adventurous.
As a Miami native, do you think it will do well where it's located?
With a little word of mouth and their continued use of promotions and social media, I think it'll do well. Location-wise, it's definitely not where you'd expect to find a funky sushi restaurant such as this but [...] it'll do well.
One of the highlights for FGH (and surely other germaphobes out there) was a TV set up to watch the sushi chefs make the dishes as they're ordered. The food lover further went on to dish that as a reasonably priced, quality sushi joint (Japanese beers under four bucks, $11.99 lunch specials), she'll definitely be going back.
"The place is bright and colorful and unlike any sushi restaurant I've seen in South Florida," she says.
It seems to us that Oh! Sushi is giving other Doral sushi joints a run for its money and FGH agrees: "There is a good sushi restaurant in the same area called Sushi Joe. I think both restaurants will only get better with some slight competition [...] it's a win-win for the consumer."
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