Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Riyoko Kinoshita, owner of Sushi Oyshi, offers a platter of spring rolls.

Sushi Oyshi also serves Vietnamese delicacies

By Suzanne Cristallo

East meets Southeast at Sushi Oyshi, the Japanese restaurant now also serving Vietnamese food in Los Gatos.

Opened two years ago in the Kings Court Shopping Center by owner Riyoko Kinoshita, the restaurant features traditional Japanese fare cooked by Kinoshita and, for the past two months, authentic Vietnamese food cooked by Quang Lam, a longtime employee of Kinoshita's who persuaded her to let him feature his native dishes in a partnership arrangement.

The result is an exotic blend of aromas that awakens the anticipation of entering customers. It's also a chance to mix and match a variety of dishes. For example: Kinoshita's delicate vegetable tempura accompanied by Lam's Heo Kho To--pork cooked in a clay pot with steamed rice. Two separate menus feature at least 30 entrées from each country, most for less than $10.

For the uninitiated, large color pictures of the house specialties cover one wall, affording customers an intimate view of each dish.

Kinoshita was born on Kyushu, Japan's southernmost island. Nearly 30 years ago, she came to San Jose to get married. Her family--her parents and each of her five sisters--all had restaurants, and she grew up working in them. She put that experience to work in her first American-Japanese restaurant in Fremont, called Koma. Later, she opened Ah-So in Palo Alto. "I have to know everything," she says of running her own restaurant. What she learned came from trial and error and from watching others.

Kinoshita's new partner, Lam, has worked with her, cooking Japanese food, for two years. He came to the United States in 1978 under the sponsorship of a Seattle church. Born in Saigon, the 54-year-old had his own club and restaurant prior to the Vietnam War.

He served in the South Vietnamese army for the war's duration, was imprisoned by the communists after the fall of Saigon and, upon his release, bought a boat and fled the country with his family. He arrived in Malaysia, where he waited until he received sponsorship to enter this country. Since then, he has cooked his way through Texas, Iowa, Alaska, Mississippi and Stockton, California. Prior to Sushi Oyshi--which means delicious sushi in Japanese--he cooked at the Garden City Club in San Jose.

"I like it," he beams, referring to the constant change of scenery and opportunity.

Lam recommends a bowl of Pho, the meal-in-itself beef noodle soup his new followers tend to favor, along with Goi Vit--a duck salad, or Com Ga, Heo, Hom--a combination of chicken, pork and shrimp on steamed rice.

For dessert, there are deep fried bananas with Vietnamese coffee, which is a mix of coffee, milk and ice. A nip of warm or cold sake is a nice complement.

Sushi Oyshi, 790 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos. Open for lunch Mon.-Sat., 11:30 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. Dinner Mon.-Sat., 4:30-9 p.m. (Fri. until 9:30 p.m.) Closed Sun. 358-8277.

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