Sushi Bars in Reading

“I had always been put off going to this restaurant.

It always looked nice enough, and it's a very visually appealing place, but I’d always seen it busy, and once when I finally popped my head through the entrance to get a feel for the place, it was way too loud. I’m acutely sensitive to sound, so a restaurant environment (“ambiance” if you will) is of paramount importance for me.

In the end, I went with a relative on a weekday evening.

Table for two? Yes please.

We are guided to a ‘banquette’ where we’re going to be sitting beside each other, which I find is a nice touch, to be honest. Most of the time, when you go to a restaurant, you sit opposite your dining partner(s), and that’s rather adversarial, isn’t it?

There are people on the other side of us, but we can’t see their faces, so it’s all right (but I do have to resist the urge to duck my head under the dividing board and say “Hello! What are you having?”). There are some marks on the dividing board, which look like faint traces of grease, but I really don’t know.

Laminated cardboard menus are given out, and they’re easy enough to read and deciper, so I find it easy to decide what to order.

“Do you have any non-alcoholic booze?” I ask our waitress (Unisex waiter? Wait person? Server? I don’t know what the term is these days).

Why, yes! They have Asahi 0.0%!

I am overjoyed.

Although our order is taken by one person, the food is delivered by others. That’s a little destabilising, and I think it’d be better if they forewarned diners “I’ll be taking your order, but different people will be bringing you your food”.

There’s a problem with my dish. I deliberately won’t say what it was.

I raise it as an issue with our waitress, and she quickly offers to have the dish changed. Later the front of house supervisor makes the same offer in more emphatic terms, but both times I decline because I just want to get on with eating.

We forgo dessert, because….there wasn’t any need for it, really!

The portion size is very reasonable indeed. I’d even go as far as to say it was just right. Not too much, and certainly not too little.

Although there was a slight problem with my dish, overall it was good. The broccoli in my yaki soba was OUTSTANDING.

The music was turned down slightly at my request, and I wasn’t the only one who found it very loud: at the beginning of my meal, I asked a diner on my right if they also found it “oppressively loud” and the answer was yes. Later, however, the music was barely audible above the buzz of conversations.

Osaka really needs some acoustic baffles in the ceiling to soak up the noise. That would tip the scale of the restaurant more towards ‘refined’. The lighting was VERY good – definitely not harsh, and for someone like me, lighting and sound are critical factors when I decide whether to eat somewhere.

My initial thought was to rate it three stars, but the staff are the main factor which tipped it to four. I’d only ever give five stars to a place if it’s truly world class, but Osaka stands out as one of the better places in Reading.

The staff are attentive without being curt or regimental, and kind without being obsequious. The grub just happens to be nice too.

Would I go again?

Yes.”

“Super quick good value. Poke bowl was tasty but not the best I’ve ever had, could have done with some more sauce as was a bit dry in places.

But overall good value and very fresh. £10 meal deal too!”

“Fantastic very good deal and quality, never seen Bonito flakes before they're highly entertaining :-)”

“It's such a beautiful place, and the food is amazing 10/10. I can't wait to come back here again for some more yummy sushi ?”