Last night, I decided to get what is arguably the best sushi in Boston. Several people and opinion polls all pointed me towards Ginza on Hudson street, and I hoped that this reputation was well-earned. I have to say, I was almost expecting a Nobu-like experience. I was horribly disappointed. I've grown accustomed to places like Sushiden of NYC and Matsuhisa in LA, so I don't know if I was holding Ginza up to unreasonably high standards, but my little party was uniformly disappointed. From the waitress managing to bungle our order, to the inexplicable selling-out of certain staples early in the evening (no toro?), to the rather un-fresh fish (some pieces were good, but the hamachi was inexcusably far gone), to the cramped cafeteria-style atmosphere, the place was underwhelming. They seemed unaccomodating and over-worked, which might have contributed to the problems. I noticed, too, that it seemed that the chefs were trying to hide the shortcomings of their fish with wasabi - a big no-no IMO. Oh, well -- I've also heard recently that places like Jae's and Ginza may have the popular repuation in Boston, but you need to go down to the financial district for good sushi, so that's where I'm headed next time. If anyone can give me any pointers, I'd love to hear them...
Boston, MA
Ginza
Donald M. wrote: > ... > I was horribly disappointed. I've grown accustomed to > places like Sushiden of NYC and Matsuhisa in LA, so I don't know if I > was holding Ginza up to unreasonably high standards, but my little party > was uniformly disappointed. From the waitress managing to bungle our > order, to the inexplicable selling-out of certain staples early in the > evening (no toro?), to the rather un-fresh fish (some pieces were good, > but the hamachi was inexcusably far gone), to the cramped cafeteria-style > atmosphere, the place was underwhelming. They seemed unaccomodating and > over-worked, which might have contributed to the problems. The Ginza mini-chain is one of the tops of the Chinese owned sushi places, but it is not up to the overall quality of SakuraBana or Shino Sushi Express or Sushi Express (also owned by Shino) ... > > Oh, well -- I've also heard recently that places like Jae's and Ginza may > have the popular repuation in Boston, but you need to go down to the > financial district for good sushi, so that's where I'm headed next time. Don't go to Jae's for the sushi, go there to party and to drown in the noise and liquor. > > If anyone can give me any pointers, I'd love to hear them... Shino Express Sushi 144 Newbury St. Boston, MA. Sushi Express 1038 Beacon St. Brookline, MA Sakura-Bana Japanese 57 Broad St. Boston, MA Malimo 928 Mass. Ave. Cambridge, MA The first 2 have exceptionally fresh fish, largely because of the constant stream of Japanese (and other) customers. They are just sushi places, no hot meals and no liquor. SakuraBana is the best place to go in Boston for sushi with amenities. Malimo might be the best for sushi in Cambridge. I have only been there 3 times. Each time the sushi was superb, the cooked food was good (not great). Malimo has live jazz and is probably the best place for a date unless you like the high volume club atmoshere of Jae's. Charlie PS It is a low traffic mailing list, but you can subscribe to the Boston Sushi Society Mailing by sending email to: [email removed] With the contents of: subscribe bss-l
>The Ginza mini-chain is one of the tops of the Chinese owned sushi >places, but it is not up to the overall quality of SakuraBana or Shino >Sushi Express or Sushi Express (also owned by Shino) > >> If anyone can give me any pointers, I'd love to hear them... > >Shino Express Sushi >144 Newbury St. Boston, MA. > I went there for the first time this past weekend, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. If you don't mind the atmosphere of a small no-frills sushi bar (I don't), busy and too-close-for-comfort seating (I don't), no alcohol (I don't), need to ask a couple of times for tea, you'll find very inexpensive ($1 a pop, $11 for 10 pieces of sushi and 6 pieces of maki, etc) very tasty sushi. I went there on a whim with a friend from NYC, not knowing anything about it, just walking by on Newbury street, coming in out of the rain. Place got packed very fast, people were waiting, a lot of Japanese tourists/locals by the looks of it. I will definitely go back again, I liked it quite a lot for a sushi-craving pit-stop. BTW, the chefs were wearing T-shirts with Blufin Shino logo. Where is that one? Mike.S