My wife and I are big-time sushi eaters. Now the quality of sushi in Appleton is, unfortunately, not very high. Going to the Muramoto restaurants in Madison, or Sai's in Chicago is pretty much the rule--if you're going to stick around the FVA, it's better just to settle for a different type of cuisine. At least that used to be the rule. We stopped into Osaka today and were just blown away. This place is high-quality, hip, and shockingly affordable. Their sushi is just as good as Muramoto 's, as good as anything we've had in Chicago--it bruises those limits where it's pretty much as good as it gets. We had escolar, fatty tuna, sweet shrimp, sea urchin, and salmon nigiri--the rice was perfect, the presentation beautiful, and the fish uncommonly fresh. For rolls we tried the "Lisa Crunch" (shrimp tempura, cream cheese, avocado, unagi sauce and spicy mayo), and the black dragon, which has cooked lobster inside. The sake selection is really impressive; they're stocked in every type you'd need for pairing with the variety of meals on the menu (and the menu is HUGE). The interior of the restaurant is gorgeous--BIG thumbs up for the atmosphere! Subtle lighting, understated wall installations, large, wide spacing between the bar, sushi areas, and hibachi rooms, etc. Even the bathroom was worthy of a GQ photo shoot! In short, we had a really nice time. This is a great new addition to the local dining scene.
