As a Japanese, I’ve been to many izakayas in Japan and Australia, so here’s my honest review. We dined here Boxing Day dinner (3 pax), seated outside. As we walked through the indoors area, I noticed it had good atmosphere, however, the outside seating had the shopping centre food court vibe, as it felt like tables and chairs were just added to the outside of the restaurant, where the fun decor ended. When we were seated by the lovely waitress, we were handed oshibori hand towels, just like in Japan, which was a nice touch, however they smelled foul, like ridden with bacteria. We thought the smell would go as our hands dried, unfortunately we had to ask for hand sanitiser to get rid of the germy smell. We ordered 7 dishes and ordered 2-3 drinks each. 1st dish, crispy pork kakuni (5 – 6 pcs) – $20.5 was ok. The flavour was good and skin was crispy, however, the meat was left in the oven too long, and unfortunately it was mostly dried out and the texture resembled a discounted Woollies chook at the end of the day. 2nd dish ponzu cucumber $6 was ok, a little underwhelmed by the portion, as we literally had 2 little bites each (see photo). 3rd up, miso eggplant $15 was cooked tender, however, was way too salty to eat on its own. You would need a big bowl of rice or a bottle of sake to wash down the saltiness. After dining, I read another review commenting on the saltiness of the dish. We did not provide any feedback up until this point, until the next dish came along. 4th dish was the tuna sashimi (6 slices) – $19. We all had a piece each and immediately noticed something was off. The fish was not fresh at all. We immediately notified the waitress and returned the dish as it was inedible. 5th dish was the soft shell crab sushi roll (6pcs) – $23, which was good. 6th dish was the wagyu beef tataki (7 slices) – $17, which did not taste fresh either. Unfortunately, we returned the dish to the kitchen unfinished also. We initially ordered the kingfish carpaccio off the specials board. But at this point, we started to fear all raw dishes were unfit for consumption, so we requested to have this dish cancelled and changed to chicken karaage. During this time, the floor manager came out in response to our returned dishes. He said the tuna was purchased on Friday, before the long weekend and since it was a Sunday of the long weekend, the fish was kept unfrozen. Unapologetically, and matter of factly. This explained why the fish tasted off. I provided feedback on the spot, in the nicest possible way, that if the restaurant was unable to provide fresh fish, then it should not be available to order in the first place. I further added that the cooked dishes were lovely and that we were looking forward to the final deep fried dish. The final dish, chicken karaage (4 - 6 pcs) – $16.5, was served. Marinade was a little on the salty side, and batter was slightly burnt as it was left in the fryer a tad too long. But it was edible as long as lathered in Kewpie mayo. I booked this restaurant after reading the glowing 5 start reviews, but I failed to read the 1 star reviews. Perhaps we would have had a different experience if we were sat inside and ordered different dishes. Wines were ok. Cannot comment on cocktails as we did not order any. As we were leaving the venue, I looked around and noticed not a single Japanese diner was to be found. I realised why. Unfortunately, I would not recommend anyone this place unless you don’t have any other places to go on a Boxing Day, and you are happy to pay 15% public holiday surcharge on top of the already highly priced meals for an izakaya. I understand the restaurant is in a great location and there is great potential to be successful. The restaurant needs to take out some time to review the customer feedback and chefs need to taste the dishes before they serve them out.

I just had dinner with my partner. Was AMAZING. I love the simplicity of the menu, but the flavour of the food won’t disappoint you. 😋 My favourites was the Wagyu Gyoza and the Geisha Roll. I had the best serve with Julia tonight, she was so lovely and nice. By the way the fish was so tasty and fresh, and by the way the rice, was incredible, nice texture and seasoning. Amazing job of the team. Thank you for the meal and service. Definitely coming back.

A fantastic Japanese restaurant in the heart of Burleigh! Had the $49(pp) omakase, beautiful dishes served exactly when you are ready for the next. Just enough for 2 people to not leave you wanting more but feeling like you got to try a bit of everything. Food was incredible, honestly might be the best karaage I've had. Incredible service from the floor and wait staff, very cool vibe. Well worth the price!

Absolutely delicious food! Great service & reasonable prices. Staff were very helpful choosing dishes & cocktails too.

It’s a nice place to have a few drinks and some snacks. But if you come here for a meal, I’d say it’s very pricey. Our group of 8 (4 adults and 4 children) spent over $500 for our dinner. Although most of the food we ordered were quite tasty, I don't think it's worth the price. Especially the sushi taco ($13-$15 each) and the teriyaki chicken yakitori ($22 for 2 skewers) were total rip-off.

Long time no see our group so we organised 8 of us for dinner in Oi Izakaya😃 we booked at 7pm and so full. We ordered so many foods to share, all are very yummy, reasonable price and great services, will definitely come back again 😋😋

I have been trying to go to Oi Izakaya for a while now, but it is always booked out. We chanced a table as we were looking for somewhere in Burleigh to eat midweek and we were in luck! We were sat at some high tables in the kitchen area. It was mesmerising to watch the sushi chef prepare many dishes. The food and service at Oi Izakaya was amazing! 10/10!! If you like cocktails or whisky, there’s a large selection to sample. They even have whisky flights. We ate kingfish carpaccio, karagge chicken, pork gyozas and soft shell crab bao buns. We could not fault anything. Our waiter was very knowledgeable and attentive. Not once did we feel rushed, like you can get at some restaurants. We are looking forward to he next time we dine at Oi Izakaya. Thank you team for a wondering time out x

Absolutely fantastic service from staff and such scrumptious food. I very much enjoyed my experience with how the restaurant was themed, definitely a great venue to catch up with friends and enjoy Japanese cuisine. Very much worth visiting from the Sunshine Coast!

Everything taste bland and pricey. WORST thing is their okonomiyaki; it was big chunks of cabbage that didn’t even cook properly and tasteless. Only good thing is that the place itself and food looks presentable for ig. Sorry, but not coming back.

🌮 Soft-Shell Crab Sushi Tacos- with tempura soft-shell crab l wasabi kewpie mayo, avocado, tobiko, micro herbs ($32) 🍗 Chicken Karaage- served with kewpie mayo + house pickles. ($17.50) 🥩 Grilled Kalbi- barbequed beef short ribs, onion, sesame, shallot and sesame oil ($25) 🥟 Gyoza- pork, cabbage and shallot ($12.5) 🍢Teriyaki Chicken Yakitori ($36) 🍺 Asahi Black- 400ml ($15.5) 🍷 Kumeu River Village Chardonnay (glass $14) Review: I have been going to oi izakaya since they first open and they continue to impress me. I wanted to try different dishes to what I normally go for and this worked out a treat. We started with the chicken karaage which was thick, tender and juicy and had a crispy battering, pairing beautifully with the kewpie mayo. The sushi tacos were definitely the highlight of the night! Crunchy tempered nori sheets in the shape of a taco, filled with rice, soft-shell crab, mayo and avocado. What more could you want? There was a good amount of fillings and I thought the price for size was good. Gyozas were juicy with a decent amount of filling and the yakitori skewers were flavourful and delicious but a little pricy for what they were. The grilled Kalbi came out steaming on a hot plate which was a cool concept. The meat was on the tougher side but that was the appeal. Liked the flavours and the sizzling onion underneath. We also added more soy sauce to infuse the onions while they were cooking on the plate. Would recommend coming here for a very nice dining experience with good portions and prices to suit. Check out @foodfantasia_ for more

Super groovy izakaya style restaurant in the heart of Burleigh! Great food, great atmosphere and staff are super friendly. Great place for date night or a larger crew. Same owner as the new bar next door so it's a vibe to get a feed from oi and then cruise over to ELE for a cocktail

Best described as a Japanese fusion restaurant rather than a Japanese restaurant as some of the dishes had flavours from other Asian cuisines. Better to be enjoyed if you were drinking rather than not. My dining partner who wasn't drinking found the food quite salty whereas I quite enjoyed it cause I was drinking. Also food comes out gradually so you can enjoy your drink. Atmosphere and location were great. Value for money was on the lower side with regards to the portion size vs cost.

Food portion was a big let down. $55 for 150g of Wagyu Steak and the taste was not worth it either. Things could be better by the time you see this review.. On the other hand, the person who made the drinks was good. And the service was exceptionally excellent.

I paid $23 for 6 small pieces of Karaage Chicken, a lemon wedge, some shallots and 2 pickles. It was a $7 delivery fee through Uber (it's $22 dine in). Obviously delivery fee has nothing to do with the business but just providing context around why I didn't return the item immediately in restaurant. The item description was 'Karaage Chicken'. Nothing relating to quantity. I was certain this was supposed to be a meal and there was a missing item, as most Karaage Chicken dishes on the Gold Coast, even at higher end Japanese Restaurants, is between $13 - $24 dollars including rice and a side salad or similar - so an actual meal that would satisfy an adult. I immediately phoned the restaurant to clarify the situation and got a Brazilian girl who told me that they have NEVER received a complaint about portion size or value for money - which is completely untrue upon reading these reviews. Most 1 star reviews on here complain about exactly that, along with rude and unprofessional behaviour, which doesn't surprise me given the conversation I had with this employee. She then went on to say that it was 'her restaurant' and I should stick to Sushi Train lol! It's interesting reading the review below referencing a rude Brazilian waitress, must be the same one having delusions of grandeur, as another post states a man named Steven owns this business..? She also told me that the quality of their food far outweighs other restaurants, which is a fair point, so I enquired about where they source their chicken, given the insane price. She told me she doesn't know where they get the chicken!? I said, 'how could you not know where you buy produce if you are the owner..?' She replied that the chef does the purchasing, not her and asked if I wanted him to stop cooking in the middle of service to answer my question..? Just bizarre, defensive, aggressive behaviour and from reading some of the answers to their reviews, it seems the behaviour is fostered and promoted here. I said we would settle this dispute, by posting a photo of the dish on Burleigh Heads Social Community Facebook group (7500 members) and asking for feedback... Here's what I wrote along with the photo I've included with this review: 'Help settle an argument between myself and a local restaurant owner… is this worth $23 ($30 after being delivered by Uber Eats)' Here are the results (paraphrased obviously). 31 total responses YES - 3 NO - 13 So there you have it, of the total 16 legit responses, 81% believe that dish is not worth what the business charges. (The other responses were a variation of its 'Ubers fault' - which makes no sense, 'it's my fault because I chose to order it' and 'I don't/need to learn how to cook' lol). Anyway, Steven - if you read this and ask the girl answering the phone on Saturday night if she is telling customers she owns the business - I can confirm she is and when pressed about being the owner, she did not correct me. Just an FYI :)

This is my absolute favorite restaurant on the Gold Coast! The food is always fantastic and no matter what I order I am always delighted with my meal! The best cooks of Japanese food. The waiters are also great and always efficient, happy and polite. Can't wait to go back and wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone looking for somewhere to eat on the Gold Coast.

wonderful dining experience with attentive staff and timely service. the food offers a unique blend of tastes - we had the salmon & kingfish tacos, edamame (one of the best I've had, love the spice), grilled oysters (yum! first time to try them grilled), miso soup and passion fruit coconut margs. will definitely be back to try more of the menu.

Loved this place. My boyfriend and I went here to celebrate our 6th monthsary. The atmosphere and food were great! ❤️ Great place to hang out, chill or go out on a date.

I'm not a regular japanese diner, but stumbled across this place and really enjoyed their light bites range. Food was fresh and fast. However I did the discover the true meaning of "how much ice is too much" in a drink, the extremely small cocktail with the largest possible piece of ice really was so ridiculous it was funny. Gotta have a sense of humour right, but sadly for this restaurant the cocktail/ice situation was more memorable than the food

WOW!!! This restaurant is amazing. The food was delicious, the choice of wines, cocktails and then whiskey selection was just unreal. It's very rare these days that you also get great friendly service from staff and amazing food all in one place but i have to say this place has it all. Would definitely recommend!!

Absolutely exquisite fine dining experience. We opted to let the chef decide on our menu and enjoyed the 7 course degustation of which was some of the best Japanese food we have had and will probably ever have until the next time we visit! The service was attentive and friendly and the cocktails were delicious. An experience we will never forget which was also very good value and not expensive. Congratulations to the owners and staff, well done!

My best friend and I wanted to book and try somewhere new, and I am so glad that we tried Oi Izakaya! The servers were extremely attentive, the food was fast to arrive, and I loved how spacious the seating felt (some restaurants it feels like you're sitting with the next table over!) The sound level was perfect too - I enjoy places where you can actually hear your dinner company! (I note that we chose outside seating). I must note that I am a very fussy eater, and so there were plenty of options for me! The server was also very accomodating to my dietary requests. My favourite dish was the miso eggplant, so definitely order that dish when you go! Thanks for a very enjoyable night Oi Izakaya! :)

Aamazing! 10/10!! Cocktails were delicious. Food outstanding. We sampled many dishes including taco with tuna & salmon. Taco was so good would definitely come back just to eat it again. I’m not sure if any food wasn’t just fabulous. Service on busy Friday night was excellent, even managed to help man who tripped. Truly thoughtful. We are looking forward to our next visit. Thanks team for a wonderful experience & dinner with friends x

Great atmosphere, friendly staff and really excellent Japanese. Amazing 9 page whiskey menu and a good mix of sake. We will definitely be back. Goyza a must have.