A friend and I enjoyed omakase last night and I agree with @Uni, they have stepped things up another notch. The new Japanese rice with red rice vinegar makes a surprisingly big difference in the nigiri. The toppings remain subtle but are more creative than ever while always merely enhancing rather than overpowering the fish – a yuzu emulsion really hit it out of the park. The housemade tofu course, towards the end, was a knockout. They are also doing things with seasonal vegetables – a first course with tomatoes, corn in two later courses – that are imaginative and delicious. Reservations have become a must as the word is definitely out.
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So glad you enjoyed and concur. I feel so lucky to have Cafe Sushi close by.
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It had only been a few months, but it seems like a year since our last omakase visit. They truly let fish that is in season guide them, and it is a pleasure. The platings have grown even more artistic and beautiful over time. It was great to see the the pristinely fresh and meaty katsuo back on the menu, paired with beautiful firefly squid. A highlight was the uni “pepsi challenge” (my term not theirs) offering Baffin Island, Santa Barbara and Hokkaido uni. They also offered a supplement of some sort of uni that is immediately shucked and packed in fresh in sea water. I am probably butchering that as I was in a blissful uni induced haze by then, but it was one of the most delicate and delicious bites I can remember ever eating.
Service and atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming as always. Cafe Sushi, it is hard to express how much I love thee.
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It really is amazing how they keep upping their game. Now I want to get back there pronto! Thanks for such a mouth-watering review!
NOT the omakase (although I have reservations for that in about 10 days) but stopped in last night to order a few things off the whiteboard/seasonal menu and the signature creations and very much enjoyed them. Off the seasonal menu I had Aji (Japanese horse mackerel) – so good!, American Unagi (Maine eel), lovely mouthfeel but muddy on the finish), NZ King Salmon and soy-cured Icelandic char – both wonderful. Off the signature creations menu I had maguro tataki, maguro zuke, salmon aburi and ikura aburi, all of which I enjoyed very much although not as much as the items on the seasonal menu. It struck me all over again that the omakase is just in another league and the special rice they use for it is part of the reason although definitely not all of the reason. Although Harvard Square is kind of a ghost town with the students not back yet the place was hopping. Really, really looking forward to going back for omakase.
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We visited Cafe Sushi for an omakase dinner recently and it is as good as ever. The interesting and fresh fish is a given at this point. I really appreciate how they continue to push and refine the accompaniments without ever overpowering the fish. Seiji is a master of all things pickled, preserved and fermented (and I appreciate this very much).
I’ve been travelling more and find myself saving splurge meals for other locales. Cafe Sushi will always be an exception to that trend. It’s my favorite meal in the area.
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I really need to get myself down there. I am never in that area so I don’t think of this place. Do they do reservations - or would reservations be recommended?
Cafe Sushi does take reservations (via phone or Resy). For the Omakase dinner, reservations are really necessary. Even if they have a seat available they sometimes can not accommodate same day requests as they often get specific allotments of fish. I believe you can order the omakase at a table, but I prefer to sit at the sushi bar.
I will throw out my normal caveats that the omakase is fish centric, and while the fish are all delicious they are not always what everyone typically expects. For instance there is often no tuna in the meal. At most there may be one course with local blue fin. There is also no wagyu beef or other things some restaurants use to justify their price point. They use a special rice for the nigiri in the omakase, it is imported from Japan and seasoned perfectly,
If you go, I hope you enjoy it.
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I had a remarkable omakase dinner here on August 1, but I’ve hesitated to post about it. I’ve decided to make a series of posts, then explain the reason for my hesitation at the end. With luck, you’ll all have fallen asleep before you get to what might be controversial.
Point 1: My dinner was good enough that I seriously considered going back the very next day, or one of the days after. But I studied the menus (they’re generally posted on their website the night before), and I decided that there wasn’t enough daily variation to drop another $200+ (yes, I’m one of those lushes who goes for the sake pairings). Let me start with the 8/1 and 8/2 menus, followed by 8/3 and 8/4.
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Here are pics of three of my courses, starting with the “salmon” one – see 8/1 menu above.
These closeups do not do justice to their plates and their plating, so, zooming out
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Although to me almost every bite was perfectly balanced between the tastes of the fish and that of the accompaniments, and the textures, there were small missteps. The peppers in the monkfish dish overwhelmed the fish, for example. But, on the whole, the meal was close to perfect.
I’ve expressed reservations before about the atmosphere at the omakase corner at Cafe Sushi. Those remain. I was the only omakase diner that evening – others at the counter were eating other things. But the two diners to my left both made, then broke my evening.
They were an older Japanese couple who arrived to much affection from the house and they struck up a conversation with me. They ordered nothing, yet dish after off-menu dish arrived before them – fish heads staring upward, fish collars, etc. As they ate the male of the pair educated me on what they were eating, where the fish was caught, etc. As our conversation progressed, it emerged that he – now retired – had been a professional fish buyer, and had bought fish for Cafe Sushi. He and his wife now traveled the world – Spain was a favorite – eating (what else?) fish.
They were then served a dark, meat-like morsel. I asked what it was – he said it was from a part of tuna where “blood collects” – usually discarded, but a favorite of his. He raised a hand, and a piece was placed before me. It was, as he’d correctly described, like steak. As we talked, his wife was led away on two occasions because X or Y “were in the house.” The husband, dressed glamorously in shorts, harrumphed and refused to go: “I’ve met all of them.”
A glass or two of sake later, it emerged that he was the original owner of Cafe Sushi, and the sushi chefs his sons.
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But the evening ended badly for me. I’d enjoyed the conversation with my neighbor, and his wife had leaned forward several times to exchange pleasantries, but just as I was ending my meal he launched into an absolute ant-immigrant tirade. People were coming across the border in hordes and The Man who was trying to stop it was being attacked by crazy people. He had come here, he felt, following the rules, and all these hordes from Mexico were not. He may have been set off because I was carrying a book about the history of Mexico – prep for a trip later in August – but I left CS with a sour taste in my mouth, and a sick feeling in my stomach.
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That conversation would leave me very unhappy too.
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The evening ended badly indeed. Oh my.
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yikes.
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aside: I just had this Phaidon book called Tacopedia out from the library and it made me want to go to Mexico quite badly because it has tons of info on taco places you can go to there.
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Without digging myself too far into a non food-related hole, I know many Asian folks of a certain generation who hold similar opinions about “other” immigrants (even though they are immigrants themselves). I’m not trying to rationalize your experience @fooddabbler, but I’m just sayin’. What that is, I’m not sure.
Yes, Cafe Sushi gradually evolves their menu based on the best fish available. You will find more variety on a seasonal basis. In addition to the set Omakase menu, there are generally at least 2 off menu specialty items offered to omakase diners each evening.
Over the years I have found Seizi and Kenshi to be wonderful people as well as extraordinarily talented chefs. I’ve seen first hand the ways they serve and support the communities in which they run their business and live. They also treat their employees very well and have trained many hands from all backgrounds and ethnicities. You can feel good about supporting them and their business.
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Fully agree.
Interesting about off-menu items. I’ve never been offered any. (The tuna “steak” happened because of the conversation.)
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