Student Japanese Diner Near the University – Oishi-Q

The pork katsu from Oishi-Q was just oishii!

S noticed the restaurant due to the name of Oishii which means delicious or tasty in Japanese. The restaurant is located next to Chimaek; the Korean chicken restaurant. Though the restaurant is not on the main street, however, you will not miss it by the stand out sign.

The interior is simple with a bit of Japanese style decorations. S noticed the smell of the food and the sound of cooking from the open kitchen since the second she walked in. S couldn’t help but felt extra hungry because the smell was just too good!

The menu is in 2 languages; English and Chinese. Furthermore, the prices are quite reasonable since it’s close to the university which make it more approachable for students. You have to order your food at the counter and pay straight away before you get your food, and the food will be brought to you. The food S ordered that day were pork katsu curry(£8.95) with extra boiled egg (£1.3), Japanese mayo and tonkatsu sauce with chicken katsu (£8.95) and spicy tofu (£4.5).

The spicy tofu was absolutely amazing. S misses the silken fried tofu so much since it’s quite hard to find here, and S can’t ever make it right. The flavour of the lime with the spicy mayo and spicy seasoning went really well with the fried tofu.

This dish was supposed to be chicken kara-age, not chicken katsu which might because the staff misheard the item when S ordered. The food was still delicious despite this little mistake, since S would still love to try a different type of chicken. S guesses this could give her another reason to visit here again. S really loved the lime with these fried dishes, and the flavour of lime really eased the grease from the fried food.

Last but not least, the pork katsu curry with extra boiled egg! S missed some good pork katsu, and the katsu here sure was good. Moreover, an extra egg is always a must when you have katsu curry! Yet it was a bit of shame that the egg was hard boiled but not soft boiled as S saw on their instagram. Overall the curry was tasty with some potatoes and carrots in it which was the standard Japanese style of curry. The batter of pork katsu was crispy with the tender pork inside, S would love to come here again!

The food here was great and the price was accessible due to the location. If you’re looking for a quick meal with some good Japanese food, this is definitely the place you should visit. Furthermore, they also do delivery if you don’t feel like going out. S would like to try their skewers and the kara-age chicken the next time she visits!

Restaurant info:
Address: Hulme St, Manchester M1 5GL
Phone: 0161 237 1112
Opening hours: Mon.-Sun. 12-10pm
Site: https://www.facebook.com/oishiqmcr/