Overall, the food was very good. My wife and I split “Halibut Arrostato al Tegame”, pan roasted halibut, sauteed pea tendrils and vegetable polenta. The Halibut was perfectly cooked–moist and not yet flaking in the middle with a beautiful crust on top–the polenta was flavorful, and we both love pea tendrils. A starter of roast asparagus with a poached egg and Parmesan was excellent even though the asparagus seemed more steamed than roasted. Our green salad was disappointing, though–with great mixed greens so easy to find there’s no reason for a plate of whole, untorn, wilting lettuce leaves.

Our favorite part, though, were the “cicchetti” or Italian tapas. We only tried two–fried stuffed olives and arancini (fried risotto balls)–and both were outstanding. The others looked equally good: Fried sage leaves with anchovy, chicken and duck livers with capers and Vin Santo, white anchovies, pickled vegetables, Tuscan meatballs with porcini and proscuitto, and salt cod seasoned with crostini. At between three and four dollars a taste, it would be a fun alternative to beer nuts. In addition, the homemade ricotta served alongside chewy rustic bread was much more fun than butter or olive oil.

Overall, the meal was very tasty. Splitting an entree and sharing appetizers it would have been perfectly reasonable at $20 a head. Adding in drinks, dessert (don’t bother) and a disappointing salad and $40 per person, with tax and tip, seemed a bit too high.

In summary: we wanted Italian, within a business travel budget, not anywhere near the Sox fans waiting to see if their game was rained out, easy for my wife to join us by T, and easy to get in to on a weeknight. My favorites are still Sweet Basil in Needham, Carlo’s Cucina Italiana in Allston, or The Daily Catch in the North End (am I the only one who really likes it?) but this met all our needs.

La Morra
(617) 739-0007
48 Boylston St
Brookline, MA 02445
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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