In August/September of 2023 Google rolled out the “Helpful Content Update (HCU)” which has negatively impacted content creators from bloggers to YouTubers (Google owns YouTube). Is there specifically a negative bias against Oishii-desu.com or creators of Japanese food and culture? Yes and no. No, there may be no targeted attacks specifically at Oishii-desu.com or the creators of any particular cuisine, or segment, although I do believe there is an agenda at reducing your access to smaller content creators and other legitimate sources by upwards of 70-80%. I started Oishii-desu.com in April of ..read more

Originally posted on Aug 28th, 2020, updated on Feb28th, 2024 After waiting over a month for my Shin ramyun and random ramen and instant noodle order from Tokyo Central, they finally sent my partial order. It does NOT MATTER that they said they had the product in stock at the time I had ordered it, but they then decided to only send me what they had which meant I was paying shipping on way less product. On top of that, they don’t notify you that you are being short changed, and you just find out when you open your box. Well enough about their online ordering ineptitude because I am here to let ..read more

These pictures and visit are from Sat, Aug17th, 2019. Originally posted Apr 19th, 2020. Updated on Feb 19th, ’24 Having lived in the Yaaaaay Area to El Lay for the last 24 years, I just can’t do the Japanese restaurants that are fakin’ the funk in Cowarado, which is why I love Tasuki in Boulder. Colorado is a state with very little to no ethnically Japanese people when comparing it to Hawaii to California (*1), so you’re not going to find a whole lot of authentic Japanese food which is why I thank baby Jeebus for Tasuki. Colorado during the war had a sizable Japanese community due to Governor ..read more

Originally posted on Jan 19th, 2018. Slightly updated on Dec 15th, 2022, Apr 12th, 2023, and Mar 26, 2024 I laughed when a German acquaintance had told me that he had went to a Wienerschnitzel thinking it was going to be German food (I had a slight case of #schadenfreude). The disappointment he must have felt is the same disappointment I feel trying to find one decent/legit non-Americanized Japanese restaurant in Colorado. #badkarma This list is to help you find a Japanese restaurant that reflects the food and culture of Japan because the Americanized stuff is as Japanese as Pizza Hut is Ita ..read more

After arriving in Tokyo, my homie and I wandered into a random restaurant where I had the best tori nabe ever (it’s a pot full of chicken goodness of chicken broth, cuts of chicken with veggies, and other ingredients). Ever since that time, I have tried to replicate it in the United States with no such luck. Even the chicken wings I had in Japan felt like I was eating pigeon wings because they were not roided out like Huntington Beach bro’s. Most of you have heard of wagyu (Japanese beef) or kurobuta (black pork), which are a reflection of the attention the Japanese apply to their livestock ..read more

Right after my flight to Tokyo, my homie and I wandered into a random restaurant where I had the the best tori nabe ever (it’s a pot full of chicken goodness, chicken broth, cuts of chicken with veggies, and other ingredients). Ever since that time, I have tried to replicate it in the United States with no such luck. Even the chicken wings I had in Japan felt like I was eating pigeon wings because they were not roided out like Huntington Beach bro’s. Most of you have heard of wagyu (Japanese beef) or kurobuta (black pork), which are a reflection of the attention the Japanese apply to their l ..read more

Main image courtesy of Fugetsu-do, Los Angeles, CA. Orig. posted: Feb 14, ’21, Updated Dec 6th, ’23 When I was a kid eating mochi (rice cakes), no other childhood experience made me more aware of death than mochi because of several choking incidents. Call me lazy for not wanting to chew insistently, but luckily the Heimlich maneuver had my back, literally. “Be sure to chew it, do not just swallow it” had been pounded into my head, although that did not stop my sister or myself from the life-threatening experience of choking on mochi. Yea, I chewed it, but after a while, you get tired of chewin ..read more

I miss my weekly yakitori (grilled chicken) at Shin-Sen-Gumi yakitori in Los Angeles, and since I can not get it, I researched which yakitori konro/grill to buy. From that research, I realized all the other yakitori lists are just trying to sell you a bunch of BBQ grills. Originally posted on Mar 12th, ’21. Updated on Aug 2nd, ’22, Sept 23rd, ’22, Nov 23rd, ’22, more changes on Aug 2nd, ’23, Nov 28, ’23 It is becoming too commonplace for all these best yakitori grill lists to be as credible as Dr. Nick’s credentials on the Simpsons because his tagline is “If I kill you, you don’t pay.” Since I ..read more

These are the popular and best roasted seaweed (nori) for sushi, toppings, and snack brands eaten by the Japanese community at home, by restaurants, and you. Unless you click away to shop for a kitty mansion instead, that is seriously a thing. Originally posted on Feb 24th, ’22. Updated on Aug 24th, ’23 I started this blog because I got tired of reading such basic mistakes and silly articles referencing Thailand or China when mentioning anything Japanese cuz “Asia.” Like, *waves hand over map,* it’s that region with all those orientals (and “it’s all the same, right?”). Well, it may be for som ..read more

Several years back, I wrote this up, but I wanted to re-post it to the blog to reminisce about back’n the day during my stint at Sushi Den in or around 2001? Wow, 16 years ago. Originally posted on July 7thy, 2017 and updated on July 29th, ’23 (slight layout and content tweaks) Almost two decades later, Sushi Den is still going strong, and they now operate two neighboring locations Izakaya Den and Ototo. After the Dotcom bust in the early 2000s, I finally decided to do what I had always wanted to do, which was to work in the restaurant industry. The only thing that deterred me was the though ..read more