Otani Izzy Fish Market & Restaurant

This is a very cool spot in Oxnard. Appears to be a classic family run fish market since the 50’s or 60’s. The 3 star rating was bc the food we ordered was just a little plain. Maybe I ordered the wrong stuff bc it seemed hoards of ppl were crowding the place at the weekday lunch hour.
Ordered the grilled snapper sandwich w/​clam chowder, clam strips, and veggie tempura. Everything was very plain tasting, they didn’t have tempura sauce (which I found odd for a Japanese place). Everything was well priced however and I would come back if I was in the area and I’d probably try one of the rice dishes since that’s what everyone else was ordering.
Sorry Otani, maybe I’ll update the review when I give it another try.

I’ve always enjoyed coming to Otani’s. I usually order the tempura plates but today I decided to go with the charbroiled salmon plate and also a kids ½ salmon plate as well for my daughter. Charbroiled plate runs almost 14 $ and the kids plate almost 9 $. In my plate I had requested double salad instead of rice. Ordered it to go and should have checked it before leaving. I was so disappointed to see the plates. Honestly I could not tell which plate was which. That is how small the piece of salmon was. Plus I received rice instead of double salad as I had requested. I was so disappointed to pay those prices for such a small piece of salmon. The salmon pieces were thin as well. Totally did not get my moneys worth. I would have been better off buying salmon myself and gotten so much more. It seems as Otani’s prices are increasing but the portion sizes are decreasing. I doubt I will be back.

Just had the Izzy Special and it was special — seasoned just right with a light batter plus the rice and salad. I have a new favorite. Jeff Maulhardt

This is my favorite restaurant to buy fish at. This place has been family owned and operated since it started. The fish is delicious, the rice is best quality, and the service is excellent. The prices are reasonable, considering some fish are priced at market value. I recommend the broiled Red Snapper or the Teriyaki Red Snapper. This restaurant experienced high volumes of people during lunch and dinner hours so get there early and joy the flavors. I’m definitely going back soon.

Otani’s is an institution in Oxnard and just celebrated their 64^th anniversary and for good reason.
Everything always tastes fresh and delicious and the staff is super friendly. They are actively involved in the local community and care about every customer that comes through the door. Otani’s epitomizes all of the good qualities of a family run small business and I’m looking forward to being a loyal customer for years to come. From a life long resident of the Conejo Valley and small business owner myself, thank you!

Otani’s has been here for so long as they have every right to! Their food is always good here and they still have the same décor as before which makes it unique and perfect for locals. The food is similar to Fresh catch and Hook Line & Sinker and with better prices!

First off I’ll say I’ve been here over 3 times now always giving it another chance with something different on the menu. But unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be coming back now.
Upon walking in each time I’ve always been greeted. Doesn’t seem the front staff is the issue here.
When I’ve walked in during lunch times it’s very busy. I find this odd considering the quality of the food… I’ll get more into that shortly. The menu is very easy to read and they have daily specials.
I’ve had Teriyaki burger, fries, clam chowder, red snapper sandwich and salmon plate.
Teriyaki burger. Probably the driest most plain Teriyaki burger I’ve ever had. It was hard to chew and even harder to swallow. DO NOT GET IT. If you think this is good I suggest you up your standards in the food world and go get some food at a higher end place with a real cook.
Clam chowder. Honestly it tastes like it came out of a can. Which is a safe bet. It’s not amazing and it isn’t bad so that’s an ok thing I can say so far.
red snapper (fish) sandwich. Again fish is overcooked, seasoned poorly and tarter sauce is SO bad it’s I don’t even know how to explain. It’s basically light mayo with WAY to much relish. Yes that’s basic tarter sauce and wow do they keep it way to basic. Although the bread on the sandwich was toasted perfectly.
salmon plate… I don’t even want to comment really on this since I can cook salmon infinite times better. But I’ll say this as a whole for the restaurant. You need a new cook. When you have them come in to interview for the job. Please have them cook each dish first and taste it. Make sure they know how to cook fish properly and season things properly.
Honestly I think this is what’s making me not come back here. The lack of seasoning and overcooked food. If you take a look at past reviews from Elite members you’ll see that the reviews aren’t good. You’d think by now that either the owner or general manager would take the time to take customers thoughts and experiences into consideration.
All in all. I would not recommend getting the food here.
Food: Far below average. Need a new cook or current cook needs training.
Décor: Average
Staff/​Customer service: This isn’t the issue here. Staff and customer service is good.
Cleanliness: Very clean
Bathrooms: N/​A

I been coming here mostly all my life honestly the best, I won’t ever stop coming here, when I think of home I think of this place.

I’ve heard about Otani’s for awhile and now that I work nearby, my friend and I decided to come here for lunch. We each had the charbroiled salmon teriyaki w/​a side of rice and salad. OMG pretty sure it’s the best salmon I’ve had in a while– just perfectly cooked. Light teriyaki sauce and a light salad dressing. What a great lunch! Service was great as well, w/​free refills. I wanna try the shrimp + scallop combo next time cause it looked really good. Otanis you rock!

I’ve been wanting to try this place & asked my dad if he’s tried it. He said he did back in 1978. He wanted to go since he hasn’t had it in awhile. The food is really good & fresh! The employees are super nice and considerate! The restaurant itself is very eye appealing & has a «home» comfort chill kind of vibe! The food definitely fulfilled my fish & chips craving! Gotta try the clam chowdaaaaaaa! Bomb!

Hands down my favorite seafood place for salmon & shrimp cocktail.
Family owned & operated since my grandparents came here in the 60’s.
Now, I’m taking my kids there. That’s four generations of patrons.
Thanks Otani’s

Worst seafood I’ve ever had to be honest. I’ve never had greasy oily fish and mixed tempura. Understand it’s cooked in a deep fryer but my God this is like triple fried. I could tell they just fried the fish again to make it hot. I’ve worked in the food industry and I know what fresh fried fish looked like. I order my daughter the chicken bites and she didn’t even eat them because they looked old, nasty and like rubber. She only ate the fries and it was almost $ 7 for just a kids meal that wasn’t even worth it. We went there as a daughter and mom date and we will make sure we don’t go back there again. 20 bucks just for me and her? Not worth the grease re– de fried food. The clam chowder is a joke. I had better. Service was ok. Not impressed at all. Over all I do not recommend this place

If you are looking for fresh fish… This is the place to
Go. I recommend the broiled red snapper. It comes with fish, rice and salad! A

I have lived in Ventura County since the early 90s and I’m surprised I didn’t visit this place much sooner.
There is no longer much of a fish market, but more of a restaurant. It’s very casual, with the food served in Styrofoam plates.
I ordered two grilled salmon plates (one with double salad and the other with dry rice). Each plate was about $ 14/​each. Do the math, so it’s kind of pricey for what you get and I can say, as much as I wanted to like the place (especially since it’s a local institution), the price point, quantity and quality had quite a disconnect.
Service was laid back and OK, but I might have to give them another shot to see what makes this place special besides the fact it’s been here since the «old days» of Oxnard. Just like other «institutions» in L.A. I’ve visited, just because it’s been around since the old days, doesn’t always translate to being good.

I ordered the tempura 2 piece combo. The zucchini was bigger than the fish. the side salad was soggy (yukk) The fried shrimp was average the white rice and ice tea were good. but I came for fish. I won’t be back!

This restaurant is located on a main avenue of the city of Oxnard, and close to the sea. Good service and delicious food yumm. I recommend trying the salmon with teriyaki sauce and vegetables tempura. It was really delicious!

Being from oxnard this has been a place I always enjoyed going to !
Now as a adult I take my son almost every 3 rd Sunday to enjoy out fave !! Broiled red snapper and the fried veggies !! Amazing !
They service is always great and the staff is always so nice ! Never left unsatisfied !
No wonder they have been in business as long as they have !
Good food
Good service
Happy customers

The Otani family & their descendants apparently are carrying on the torch in order to continue the family legacy of a fish store cum restaurant that carries superior quality fish & seafood at reasonable prices & dates back to 1952.
On the way to the restroom, there is a wall chock full of old photos depicting members of the family & the photos of shots around the neighborhood.
The interior is well worn from countless customers in the past & present, and decorations are Japanese bordering on kitsch which creates a feeling of homey unpretentiousness.
The space is now mostly dedicated to their restaurant. Although there is no longer fresh seafood to be displayed directly to its customers, fish & seafood can be ordered by the pound with the latest prices on a cardboard sign.
The seating is a hodgepodge of cheap fast food benches & tables interspersed with banquet hall style seats & tables. For single diners on the go, there are tall bar stools & counter facing the order counter.
This is definitely a down home dining experience. Don’t bother wearing your Givenchy, Rolex, Ferragamo, or carrying a Louis Vuitton.
Since this is a fish market dedicated eatery, the most perspicacious act would be to order something piscine. There are generally two ways of cooking the seafood: frying with a batter, charbroiled.
There are seafood salads, Cocteles a la Mexicaine, soup in the form of chowder, either New England with milk or «Our Own Style» which seems to be Manhattan with a tomato soup base.
However for those not inclined to partake of the «fruits from the sea», there are Chicken, Pork Rib, Beef Burger Teriyaki.
Since this was my first time, I had no clue as what to order so the friendly young staff member steered me to get the Teriyaki Red Snapper with steamed «dry“rice & mixed green salad. The rice was indeed dry & chewy in texture but at the same time, glutinous & sticky.
The crowning glory was the soft yet firm, fresh, sweet, delicate sea minerality of the Red Snapper which was miraculously not over-​cooked to a dry, mealy toughness.
The fried batter surrounding the Red Snapper was another feat of excellence where the batter was lightly ethereal & crispy, crunchy at the same time. There is a light Teriyaki sauce thickened with cornstarch poured over the fried batter. It may be better to ask for the Teriyaki sauce on the side to keep the fried batter crisp.
The batter also had a herb mixture, that when fried, added an indescribable subtle bouquet which translated in the palate as to what may be a type of Vadouvan or curry powder mix. All the factors of the Redsnapper & the fried batter made for some toothsome eating.
If it were possible to do a byob, I would pair the above batter fried Red Snapper with Sake (sah keh) such as Katana, Shirakabe, or even a variety called Yamahai. All of which are drier, astringent, capable of clearing the palate of the fresh oils in the Tempura batter.
The other approach would be with wine such as a flowery, tropical scented, sweet yet acidic Viognier, or Grenache Blanc. A good strong, hops herbal IPA or a lighter bodied yet refreshing Hefeweizen beer with citrus undertones would also work. Since there was no Sake, wine, or beer, I opted for their fresh brewed dark iced tea.
The entire staff is friendly, helpful, willing to go the extra mile to make you feel at home. One young aspiring waitress related her goal to go to art school when I mentioned the crayon based artwork pasted on a long defunct refrigerated case.
Later, a more mature woman, who may have been one of the owners, came up, and inquired about how the food & service was with a kind smile.
All is good at the House of Otani. I certainly hope that they continue to prosper & flourish for another 60 more years.

I’ve been coming here for years! When I come here, that’s when you know I’m trying to cut back on calories. A lot of the seafood options are fried and I use to get that back in the day but now all I get is their broiled fish. All the plates come with a salad and either rice, fries or steamed veggies (.50 more) and I usually get the steamed veggies. This place is cool because it’s also a small market but I’ve never ordered anything from the market side so if your looking for some good fish you can get it by the pound here.
I usually get the Red Snapper, Salmon or Mahi Mahi broiled with salad and steamed veggies. So far I’ve liked all of them except for the Mahi Mahi. It was okay but it was just a little on the dry side so I probably won’t be ordering that again. I recommend you go with the snapper or the salmon.
Overall it’s a good place to get some seafood in downtown Oxnard.
OOOO
4 out of 5 Afros

I tried this because I had a Groupon. I ordered the Combo #3 (tempura shrimp, fish (cod) and clams) and my husband got a fish sandwich and New England clam chowder. I like bland food, but this food was bland even by my standards. First, I would not have called my dish «tempura». It was breaded and fried, but the process was not in a Japanese style or using Panko. It was pretty traditional English/​American fried fish and shrimp. That said, my fried cod tasted very good. It had a good flavor. The shrimp was incredibly bland, which seemed better to me than if it had tasted excessively fishy, but still not something I would order a second time. The clams were your standard fried clams, previously frozen. Nothing special, nothing wrong with them. My combo came with a salad that was a little wilty, with a very bland boring dressing (mayo based?) and some white rice that had a little sauce on it. I was worried it might be teriyaki sauce, which I don’t prefer, but it was so bland I couldn’t tell what sauce it was. The prices were reasonable for the food we got.
I liked the fact that they used crushed ice for the sodas. I tried a bite of the New England clam chowder and it seemed nice and thick and with good flavor. My husband said he liked his sandwich. We both agreed with a previous review that the french fries tasted «like potato» which my husband liked, and I didn’t like. After I put a lot of salt on them and dunked them in ketchup they tasted more like standard fast food fries.
My husband said that the blandness of the food went well with the array of sauces they provided, so you could get a good flavor combination. He appreciated being able to taste his fish instead of having it over-​flavored.
Last note, our server was really great. He asked if it was our first time in the restaurant and when he found out it was, he came by our table at the end of our meal and told us some of the history of the place. He was polite and professional and had a very positive, upbeat attitude. He also checked on us during our meal, even though the atmosphere of the restaurant is pretty much like a fast food place. He is part of the reason I gave this even two stars. Him and the fish.