Ooka Japanese
| Address: | 1109 Easton Rd, Willow Grove, PA 19090, USA |
| Phone: | +1 215-659-7688 |
| Site: | ookasushi.com |
| Rating: | 4.4 |
| Working: | 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 12–3PM 12–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 6
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Bobby Sapovits
While I have never had a bad dinner here, I have always found Ooka to be very crowded and noisy. This is the only local place my wife will eat sushi at though, so I tolerate it. But on Fathers day, she took me and my daughter and it was extra bad. We arrived promptly at 6:30, our reservation time. After about ten minutes of waiting I asked the hostess when we could expect our table. Her reply was that a table had paid and they were just waiting for them to leave. We waited another fifteen minutes and we could see one table clearing. It sat empty for about five minutes before being bussed. We were finally seated at a little after 7. When the server came for our order, he warned us that the kitchen was backed up and my daughters cooked meal may take longer. I asked him how long this would be and he could not say. At this point I was ready to leave but my wife said to stick it out. He came back a few minutes later to tell us that the chefs would move her order up. Our sushi showed up in a reasonable amount of time and after a couple of bites, it became apparent that our daughters Yakatori was not coming out anytime soon. So we stopped eating to wait. It took 20 minutes for the chicken to be served. The server informed us that we would be offered free dessert for our troubles. I refused telling him it was little recompense for our wait. What went wrong? Yes, it was a holiday and most likely extra busy. Why didnt the hostess recommend for us to sit at the sushi bar and start our dinner there? There were more than enough seats and it would have been better than sitting in the crowded waiting area. When I asked how long do I have to wait, I wanted a number, not some vague excuse. I believe that I was lied to about my daughters order being "moved up". At the very least, a complimentary nibble while we wait for all of our entrees to show up AT THE SAME TIME. And any apologies need to come from management, not the server. We will look for a new local sushi purveyor.
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A Private User
Ooka in Willow Grove has been my fav sushi and Japanese food place for 5+ years. Two weeks ago I took my fiance and his family there and something had happened. While the fish is still wonderfully fresh, other things such as service and the cooked foods had slipped. Our waitress not only asked questions like "how many tea (refills) do you want?" but actually interrupted lively conversation no less than 6 times. Point is, she also just brought a teapot, not individual cups so that question was irrelevant. She also forgot to put in an order so that when we reminded her, they had run out of the item. Then she misheard soybean soup for soybeans, so we got the soybeans instead of soup. Then she forgot something else, too. When the previously exquisitely prepared cod in miso was served this time, instead of the delicately balanced dish with just the right amount of miso sauce on a small plate, a large soup bowl with fish drowning in sauce appeared. Gone was the visual appeal that has been key in Ookas preparations, gone was the understanding of how to balance flavours. Still edible, but no longer a masterpiece. Heavy-handed is the best way to describe the new preparation. The same was true for the other cooked dishes. The service was incredibly intrusive and bad, and the food has lost its appeal. Only the sushi remains as top notch. And, no attempt to rectify the mistakes was made - as in a free dessert or not charging for the soybeans. I hope this restaurant with a fine history can regain its quality in food and train its waitresses. Ill give it one more chance, but thats it.
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Lilly S
Went to Ooka with my kids for an early dinner. Wed been there several times for hibachi. When we arrived and asked for hibachi, it was clear they werent enthusiastic about accommodating us, maybe because no one else was there yet. So to make things easier, we switched to eat at the other side of the restaurant (non-hibachi). We were sat at table with AC blowing on us and very cold. After trying to deal with it, we decided to ask to change tables. The server asked the host to come talk to us. We explained why we wanted to move and he finally agreed. I shouldnt have to explain anything! So without any niceties on their part, they moved us. The new server at this table was very brisk with us. No workers smiled or seemed willing to be kind. One of our dishes was going to be shared and we were not given plates to serve onto, so I asked for some and were told they tiny appetizer plates that we had still on the table were all they had. I told her wed make do. Several minutes later she came with larger plates for us. In all, the food wasnt so spectacular as to warrant its prices nor the terrible service. That was my last and final visit to Ooka.
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A Private User
The taste of all most all of kitchen dishes was too sweat, if I compaire with the traditional Japanese taste. Some of dishes were changed from the taste & style from the original name of dishes. I visited 2 times, but I could not find the good fresh sashimi in their sushi counter. The color is not so good. Normaly, the sushi roll indicates the capability of suchi chef. May be this is 50 points or less out of 100. I ordered Yakisoba and they served the completely strange dish. It seems me that they think the "Yakisoba" should be made from Japanese traditional "Nippon-Soba noodle" instead of Ramen type noodle. I brought several Japanses gusets for business and everybody laugh and took picture for this strange dish. We enjoined a lot for this dish. I would like to appreciate for this dish.
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A Private User
We were there for dinner with reservation. I called them in the early morning for dinner and they said they would keep my place for sure. Well, I had to wait more than 40 minutes!!! and there was no good excuse about our inconvenience at all!! Oh yeah, waiters and waitress looked like high school students near there and I couldn’t see any professionalism. Maybe I expected too much? And during dinner, guess what? Suddenly they asked us move our table to other table due to other group of customers. We didn’t even finish our dinner yet !!!. I love Japanese food and I love to eat at cozy space. This is the worst experience I’ve ever had for Japanese restaurant. The food quality is nearly acceptable. Go other place instead of this nasty one.
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ali vee
I absolutely love Ooka. Weve been here several times and it has been delicious every trip. We have had so much on the menu. Its consistently fresh, and prepared well. This time we tried the Kumomoto Oysters and they were refreshing and delicious. We also tried the fish tasting plates (I ate them too fast else I would have snapped a photo) and it was nice. The staff is also very nice too, and great service in general. Their teppanyaki is delicious, but we usually stick to the fresh sushi. I highly recommend the lobster dynamite and the garlic tuna sashimi appetizer if youre new. Delicious!! Will be coming back soon :)
