Oishii Donburi

I'll start by admitting that I really wanted to love the food at Oishii Donburi. Japanese food is something I don't get anywhere enough of.

For the most part, in ordering the Katsu Curry Don, Gyudon and veggie tempura, I got exactly what I hoped for.

The Katsu Curry was as good as any place I've ever been, including in Japan. The pork cutlet was perfectly crispy. I could see how some might think it's too thin and maybe a bit dry, but that's 100% how I'd want it in this dish. In order for the meat to stand up to a bath in curry sauce, it needs some structure. While I'd want something thicker if it wasn't on a bed of curry rice, there's absolutely room in my heart for a thin Tonkatsu on a donburi.

It's not just the fried meat that was good... The addition of pickled diakon is fantastic, a nice texture and change of flavor when eating the bowl. If you go to a Japanese curry house you'll often find different pickled vegetables as condiments, so very welcome as far as I'm concerned.

To be completely honest the curry sauce itself isn't anything special. It more or less tasted like boxed curry. I'm not really counting that as a negative. For this dish, it's really just a sauce. I wouldn't view this as any more of an issue than a restaurant that used store bought ketchup. Granted, it's a more substantial part of the dish than the ketchup on a burger. So, I wouldn't be surprised if someone was put off by that.

The vegetable tempura was the kakiage style of a bunch of shredded veggies, fried up kinda like a birds nest. The portions were generous and it was a very tasty appetizer.

Finally, the Gyudon. Which... I didn't like. Gyudon might be my favorite donburi in general. So imagine my surprise Marinated, shredded beef cooked in a sweet sauce with a little raft of braised onion? All stacked on a pile of rice? What could go wrong?

The addition of egg.

I think egg isn't used enough. A fried egg might be my favorite burger toppings. I always get one on my Primanti sandwiches. I even like it on a breakfast pizza at Spoonwood.

But I hated it on the Gyudon. It didn't add anything. It actually seemed to mute the flavors. The dish lost all it's beefy, savory sweetness. Really really disappointed.

I'm not letting that affect the score much, it could just be a personal preference. Simply because I don't think it belongs there doesn't make me right. Egg is an extremely common ingredient in other donburi... Just not on gyudon.

All told, a really good experience. We'll absolutely go again.