Osaka

Osaka is a Japanese restaurant on Main Street in Woodland. There are a number of Japanese restaurants with that exact name, but this will be about this particular one.

Osaka has been in town for years. It is a beloved place for Woodlanders to go for sushi, and is probably the local residents introduction to sushi as well. The restaurant is nicely furnished inside a beautiful historic brick building and has both a main floor and upper floor dining area. The age of the restaurant does show a bit, but it is well-maintained and provides a nice place for folks to eat at.

Osaka offers up lunch specials as well as dinner time items. The lunch specials are bento boxes with your choice of main dish. This would be your standard options such as chicken teriyaki, karaage, seasame chicken, tempura, and the like. There are also options like sashimi and salmon too. These last couple of options are nice as typically these tend to be premium items and not offered as a bento box special.

The bento boxes also come with your choice of California rolls or gyoza and a side salad. It’s a nice little meal for a decent price. These will typically be under $15 total if that’s all you choose to get.

Similar to the lunch specials are the dinner combinations which include a pairing of items together. Many of the same items are featured as dinner items as well.

The food that you receive is good, but it does lack a bit of the quality you would find at some of the newer sushi places. A place like Mikunis has noticeably fresher items that come together with a bit more elegance. For those coming from places like that, they may find Osaka to be a bit lackluster with the food.

Saying that, however, Osaka is a great place to get started with sushi as the menu items do not have exotic looking fish and seafood that may scare newcomers away. A lot of the sushi rolls come in a cooked variety and the sauces used meld everything into a mild and tasteful experience that won’t offend people who have never had sushi before.

Osaka is a great place to introduce people to sushi. Let them try one of the many rolls offered as they get a taste of what sushi is all about.

In fact, this is how I got into sushi. It wasn’t by immediately going to the very best sushi bar. I tried it a little at a time and then decided to venture onto higher and higher qualities.

If you’re in Woodland and really have the need for some sushi, Osaka is a decent restaurant to check out.

Website: www.osakawoodland.com

Address: 608 Main St. Woodland, Ca 95695