A new Japanese restaurant has opened in York – and it’s serving up traditional hot dishes, sashimi, and more.
Oishii Izakaya opened at 58 Walmgate last week. It was previously the steak and burger restaurant Bull & Co.
Oishii means delicious or tasty, and Izakaya means a place to eat, drink and relax – and this cosy new spot on Walmgate looks set to provide all of those things.
The restaurant is co-owned by Hao Chen and Zhengfeng Shi, who’s also the chef.
Hao is originally from China, and has lived in York for the past 12 years. He lives in Acomb. Zhengfeng is from Japan.
It’s also a restaurant formed of friendship, as Hao and Zhengfeng have been friends for ten years. This is their first restaurant together, though Zhengfeng also owns a chicken restaurant in Leeds.
“A lot of people like Japanese food,” said Hao. “So I wanted to make some traditional hot food.”
Hao has worked in previous Japanese restaurants for six years.
“There’s not much Japanese food in York,” said Hao. “That’s why I wanted to open in York.”
The co-owners tried looking for places in both Leeds and York to open their restaurant, before finding this spot on Walmgate. The process, including the transformation inside, took nearly half a year.
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Inside, the restaurant is cosy and welcoming with wooden furnishings, plant decor and pictures of Japanese locations on the walls.
Some favourite dishes at Oishii Izakaya include kimchi (£4.90), tori kara (Japanese stir-fried chicken, £8), fried chilli tofu (£7.80), beef ramen (£13.80), and Yoshinoya beef rice (£10.50).
They also serve a range of soft drinks, including the Japanese fizzy drink Ramune in flavours of peach, lemon and original, as well as alcoholic drinks, such as wine, beers, spirits, and Ozeki sake.
It has created six jobs.
The opening times are 12pm to 10pm, six days a week. It is closed on Tuesdays.
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