My sister-in-law and her foodie husband came to visit this past weekend. Along with my sister and her boyfriend, we all had dinner at Oishii in Chestnut Hill, MA.
Oishii (and its sister restaurant, Oishii Too, in Sudbury) earned their fame with a coveted “29″ in Zagat, making them the highest rated restaurants in Boston. They’ve also received very favorable feedback on Chowhound. Unfortunately, our first visit almost two years ago wasn’t anything spectacular. I’m glad we went back–turns out this is another restaurant best appreciated with an adventurous crowd (sorry Ben).
We ordered sake (salmon), saba (mackerel), Kappa Sashimi Maki (Tuna, salmon, Hamachi wrap in cucumber with Ponzu sauce), Alligator Maki (Shrimp Tempura inside with crabstick, eel, roe, avocado, and scallion on top), Hamachi Torched Maki (Roe, cucumber inside and Hamachi torched outside with sweet Miso sauce and black Tobiko on top), Oishii Spicy Scallop Maki (Scallop, black Tobiko, cucumber, Kaiwali and spicy mayo), Tako Salad (Cooked octopus sliced and marinated in a sweet ginger sauce, served chilled), a scallop sashimi, and miso soup. For the four of us who ate sushi (the two non sushi eaters ordered udon and chicken teriyaki) the total was only $120. For the best sushi of our lives, $30 per person is not bad at all and next time we’d probably order even less.
Did I say best sushi of our lives? No question about it. Each piece was a revelation of fresh fish, balanced flavors, and gorgeous presentation. Even jaded, sushi-snob brother-in-law (not a bad thing to be) was impressed. The chef used the variety of selections to highlight the importance of cut in preparation. The same scallop was chewy and meaty as sashimi but meltingly tender in another dish. The best, though, was the mackerel. I love mackerel, and this was mackerel at its most mackerel-iest. It was like biting in to oily, buttery, fishy taste. The slices were so soft they came apart as soon as they touched the tongue, flowing across all my taste buds and releasing the aroma. The flavor was also completely fresh with no off, rancid, or cooked notes. I know I’m a little over the top, but this was life changing.
Since there are no reservations and very limited seating either go early (there was one table for us at 5:00pm on Saturday) or wait for warmer weather. Every standing spot in the restaurant was full of people waiting, and there were more outside despite the 20 degree weather.
Oishii Sushi
612 Hammond Street, Chestnut Hill, Brookline, MA 02467
www.OishiiSushi.com
617-277-7888
You should give Oga on route 9 a try too! In my opinion, Oga has a nicer balance on rice and fish, but I aint complaining about bigger slabs at Oiishi
By: pacman on March 27, 2006
at 10:45 pm