Emma 
Japanese food in Glasgow
OKO Express in Queen Street is one of Glasgow’s original Japanese restaurants and sushi bars. We’ve been going to OKO Express for years. Its long opening hours mean it’s great for lunch, pre-theatre, post-pub and after shopping and it’s in an ideal location in the centre of Glasgow.
We popped in for some much needed Japanese sustenance.
Here are the menus:-
We chose from their wall menu. A bento box for Mrs Foodie and Butano Shogayaki for Mr Foodie.
The miso soup here isn’t very strong, so don’t worry if it’s your first time. The bowls are unlimited refills as well so we had a couple more. Lots of spring onion and tasty.
Mr Foodie’s Butano Shogayaki at £8.95 was a hefty portion of pork with ginger, garlic and onion, so much so half went into a doggy bag for the next day’s lunch!
Mrs Foodie’s bento box consisted of salmon maki, chicken yakitori, chicken gyoza, prawn tempura and boiled rice. £9.95 for the lot.
The tempura batter was more “normal” than tempura but still tasty. The gyoza crispy, with the chicken yakitori having some pungent spring onion.
The salmon maki was overshadowed by the other parts of the box but still tasted good. The rice both boiled and in the maki was cooked well.
We are partial to some green tea, so ordered a green tea cheesecake to share for £3.95, which came with green tea ice-cream. Our happiness was short-lived. Tasty cheesecake but it didn’t taste of green tea, just like a plain cheesecake. The green tea taste was missing from the ice cream as well…was it still in Japan?
OKO Express is an ideal spot if you want a quick fix of Japanese food. Service is quick and friendly. The food is a good intro to Japanese food for those starting to venture there. Toilets basic but clean.
Total cost was £28.44 including unlimited green tea.
TL;DR
+ Well-priced tasty Japanese grub
+ Enough food left from just one course for a doggy bag!
+ Prompt friendly service
+ Good opening hours, always seems to be open when we pass!
+ Central location
– Green tea desserts were a let down
– Doesn’t have the same drinks choice as Nippon Kitchen
Location:
Oko Express, 78 Queen Street, Glasgow, G1 3DN
Open:
Mon & Wed noon–10pm
Tue & Thu–Sat Noon–4am
Sun noon–9pm
Have you been? What did you think? Let us know!
