Oishii Donburi

Oishii Donburi: Google Maps

Overview:

Oishii Donburi is a Japanese restaurant in Lawrenceville right on Butler Street. They are right down the street from Lolev Beer. You can get udon noodle bowls, katsu dishes, Japanese curry, and bibimbap here. Oishii Donburi offers dine-in, online orders, pickup, and delivery through Grubhub, Uber Eats, and Postmates. The restaurant's name comes from the Japanese words oishii, which means delicious, and donburi, a bowl of rice with fish or meat. 

The Food:

Takoyaki

We decided to eat our dinner inside the main room of Lolev Beer which has plenty of tables to eat and drink at. The first dish we tried was the takoyaki appetizer which included 6 pieces. Takoyaki is octopus that is put in batter and then fried in a pan. It is topped with mayo, sweet sauce, powdered seaweed, and bonito flakes. I thought these takoyaki were very good and tasted like authentic Japanese takoyaki with the ingredients they used for the batter. 

Gyoza

The next dish we tried was the gyoza appetizer. It came with 6 fried gyoza, commonly called potstickers, and a side of sweet and sour sauce. They were crispy on the outside and had a pork/chicken mix on the inside which was tasty. 

Katsu Udon

The first entree we had was the katsu udon. This is a popular Japanese soup with thicker noodles than you find in ramen. It had lots of veggies inside the soup and they also top it off with a big chicken katsu cutlet. I thought the broth of the udon was really good. It is hard to find a place in Pittsburgh that sells authentic Japanese udon, as most places will sell ramen instead. 

Curry Katsu

The dish that I ate was the curry katsu. It included a base of rice, chicken katsu cutlet, Japanese curry, pickled ginger, and pickled daikon radish. The curry sauce was very good and similar to something you would find in Japan. If you like Japanese curry, definitely try this dish. 

Chicken Katsu Bibimbab

The last dish of the night was a chicken katsu bibimbab. This is a Korean and Japanese mashup dish as the base is mainly Korean while the chicken katsu is Japanese. It includes chicken katsu, assorted vegetables, a fried egg, and a spicy Korean sauce. 

Service:

The service at Oishii Donburi was overall pretty good. We placed an online order and waited about 30 minutes for the food to be ready. I waited for a little bit inside the restaurant itself. While your food is prepared, you can try the complimentary tea that is on the counter. 

Atmosphere:

The inside of Oishii Donburi is small but cozy. You can sit at one of a few tables to the left or the bar that goes all the way down the left side of the store. They also have a drink fridge when you first walk in with Japanese-themed drinks to have with your food. The kitchen is also open so you can see them prepare your donburi or udon while you wait. 

Rating: Good |⭐⭐⭐⭐✩|

Oishii Donburi is a solid place in Lawrenceville to get Japanese/Korean dishes. They are conveniently located on Butler Street so you can grab your food and head over to Lolev Beer a couple doors down. The unique part about this place is they have Japanese dishes that are harder to find at other places such as udon, donburi, and curry katsu. For my next visit, I will have to try the sakedon salmon sashimi or the Korean beef bulgogi dish.