Oyama Japanese Cuisine

I lived in Japan for three years and the bento lunch box here is just like when I was in Tokyo. It’s only served during lunch time. For $ 10. The chicken katsu lunch box comes with everything you love about Japanese food. And their miso soup is Soooo good! Just like in Japan! Would go here everyday for lunch if I could. Service and atmosphere are lacking but that could be the language barrier.

To be honest, we really enjoyed the food at this establishment. However, the service was beyond horrible. They tried to tell us we owed much more than we did, except ironically we had already overpaid and there was no explaining it because they did not understand it. We would come here again had it not been for the awful treatment.

I have skipped this restaurant in the past because of bad Unilocal reviews but the Sunday night dinner group wanted to visit this restaurant, so I tagged along. Most of the group wanted hibachi, so we sat around a hibachi grill/​table. I was the lone holdout who ordered from the sushi menu instead.
Here’s the first problem I noticed: When we made the reservation, we asked that the hibachi chef not be crazy, i.e. no throwing food or squirting sake. He did that anyway! He was even going to do that at me, even though I didn’t order the hibachi, until I said no loudly. I’m sorry but I have an aversion to projectile food morsels and sake. Later, we discovered that his English wasn’t good, which is kind of inexcusable for a service staff position in an upscale restaurant.
Worse part is I didn’t think they offered good value. I had the sushi deluxe. For a $ 20 item, it didn’t come with that much sushi. Also, I only had a choice of soup or salad, instead of both, which is disappointing since I can’t imagine either of the two items would cost the restaurant that much.

What a great experience!
Prices are comparable, but you are paying for the show when it comes to the hibachi, and it is worth every penny.
Our cook and especially the manager were super nice and had a lot of fun with my son, who is three and here for the first time.
Highly recommend.

It’s been about a year since I first got takeout here. Sometimes I like to give places a second try because I absolutely hate giving bad reviews. Things were better this time around. Service was friendly, my food was made by the time I got here. Sushi tasted much better and the rice was cooked perfectly. Some places get the rice all wrong and don’t put enough vinegar or put on too many sesame seeds. The rice was really good. The roll itself was good, rice to food ratio was perfect. I’d come here to pick up lunch again. Much better!

I have always been a fan of Oyama and eaten there many times. However, recently, I have a few things which have made my meals there less enjoyable, which they can easily correct:
1. The décor– Okay, I understand its a casual restaurant in the middle of Connecticut, but the décor needs some serious updating. The best way I can describe it is drab. It needs a new coat of paint, some new carpet, etc…
2. The prices– They have recently raised the prices. A chicken hibachi dinner should not be $ 19 – 20, when comparable established national chains charge less.
3. The food– The food is always good, but they recently changed to a new «yummy» sauce which is not good at all. I used to love their mustard sauce, and they need to bring that back. I don’t want a mayo based sauce with my dinner.
Overall, I hope that Oyama can make a few needed changes, because they have good food and it’s a fun restaurant.

I ordered take out from the counter and the woman who was helping me was kind and friendly. I got a specialty roll called «Victoria Secret Roll» which had a bunch of ingredients including pink soy paper and shrimp tempura, eel sauce. I also ordered the shrimp teriyaki entrée and chose the salad as my side.
I don’t know if it’s because the sushi roll was in close proximity to the warm teriyaki dish, but the roll’s outer layer was a weird shade of purple-​red. It tasted ok. The shrimp teriyaki dish was bland and the salad not improved by the bland ginger — carrot dressing.