My middle son loves sushi though he had never previously been to a sushi restaurant. His first experience was when we spontaneously made some on a camping holiday. Subsequently we have had a few amateurish attempts to make nigiri sushi or rolls at home.

I have mainly eaten sushi in California on business trips; there there is the benefit of great fresh fish from the Pacific plus a local Japanese population. I have had sushi in Munich and Paris but not so far in the UK. I am aware that these days there are plenty of places to go to in London but very few in central Southern England.

A year ago, Mrs Oregano and I visited Funki Sushi in Bournemouth. We had a few sushi dishes and were happy with what we had. So when my middle son had his birthday we suggested that this might be a good venue for a family birthday celebration last Saturday.

This time round we studied the menu before going. There are a range of sushi dishes on offer but the bulk of the main courses are described as "fusion" with various Thai, Malay, Chinese and Japanese dishes.

The restaurant is only about 300 metres from Bournemouth pier - a bit up the hill towards the centre of town. It is on the top floor of a building and in fact there is no solid roof. In summer the canopy can be rolled away which is probably fun in dry, warm weather - I wonder how cold it gets there though if it is a frosty winter!

As would be expected in a Japanese establishment the furniture has clean lines. My youngest son mocked that Mrs Oregano and I would not get our bottoms into the chairs which were fairly narrow and had solid sides. Well, we did with some centimetres to spare but fat-bottomed girls or guys might get stuck!

We ordered four dishes which were sushi rolls. Most were 'inside out rolls' - a small inner core wrapped with seaweed then rice and sometimes sesame seeds on the outside. My youngest son normally does not like fish - so we ordered "chicken dumplings" which were basically pot stickers. To my amazement he tried all the sushi variants and liked the unagi roll and "typhoon roll" (basically a tempura prawn roll).  The rolls were priced between £3.75 (vegetarian) to £6.75 (tempura + unagi) for six pieces. We did not try the nigiri sushi this time.

There was no sushi bar as such so we did not see the sushi being made - always an entertaining thing if you are on your own! - but some was stored on the counter with the preparation presumably out of sight in the kitchen. I liked all the rolls I tried, though the wasabi seemed insipid. One of my boys challenged me to eat a largish lump of wasabi and it did not blow my nose off. The wasabi I have bought at home from Waitrose (in a sort of toothpaste tube) was defintiely more potent.

The boys were still hungry so we ordered a variety of main courses. All were well prepared though some were more enjoyable than others. Those who ordered noodle dishes seemed to do very well. One of our boys really enjoyed the 'Phad Nua Rummit' (meat, vegetables and egg noodles) while I failed to notice that the 'Volcano Udon' was served in a stock and was like a meat and veg soup. It tasted fine and was prepared well but it was not what I was expecting - should have read the menu more carefully. Most main courses were between £7.95 and £12.00. We ordered too much rice (you never know how big a 'portion' is) and a delicious side dish of tempura vegetables.

Service was a bit strange; something my wife and I noticed on our previous visit. All the waitresses were polite but they seemed totally uncoordinated with each other. Four different waitresses served us but they seemed to have no idea what their predecessor had taken in orders or brought us - we had to organise them. I worried that we would not be charged the right amount but in fairness that was spot on.

We had a good evening. This was not the most classic sushi spot but it was a good all-round Asian food experience. However I am not aware of any alternative sushi places nearer than London. If we go again I will not order a sushi and main dishes but one or the other. We ended up going over budget and did not finish our main courses. However we would go there again.