I was so sure that I had posted about the partial re-birth of Cafe Sushi before, but danged if a feller can’t find it. While he (the feller I mean, not I) still looks here are my comments.
I composed my own delivery omakase tonight:
Branzino (straight up)
Branzino with iced onion slivers, sesame sauce, and daikon sprouts
Salmon belly with ponzu
Santa Barbara uni (unadorned, clean, sweet, excellent)
Sea bream with wasabi oil, a touch of lemon and a grain or two of rock salt
Cured tuna, with yuzu kasha and scallion
Spicy scallop handroll, a cone with slivered cucumber, scallion and sprinkled tobiko
That was the order in which I, on sober refection, ought to have eaten the food. Greedy pig that I am I ate things randomly. [But, in my defense, I did engage in culinary cogitation – or what substitutes for thought in my case – those of you are experienced thinkers: is the feeling similar to passing gas? – after.]
Everything was exceptional. To quote our great @anon32378908 “I am sadness” at the passing of the original.
But, hey, if some of you can get off your fat wallets and spend a buck or a hundred here, perhaps we can get them back to their previous glory.
Talking sordid dollars: With dropping $55 on an excellent bottle of sake and $24 on the uni, the price was $140. [ETA: before tip and delivery charges.]
I remain sad at its passing. I don’t suppose they deliver as far as Waltham . Your meal sounds fantastic though! Had some very solid DIY omakase sashimi delivery from Umi here in town - sayori, kinmedai, salmon, toro, and uni with some rice on the side. Hit the spot!
I have no actual knowledge of anything. I was merely expressing the hope that sufficient demand for their “signature sushi” compositions might suggest to them that the market would support such a re-opening.
I get stuff from Cafe Sushi off and on, and it’s always very good. Most recently on Friday. I also happened to get some food from Sugidama in Davis square the very next day. The fish from Cafe Sushi was hands down better – better cut, better texture, better taste, especially their “signature” compositions. Interestingly their chu-toro also won over Sugidama’s toro.
Sugidama does have an excellent soft-shell crab tempura, though. I recommend it highly.
As a long-term member of the Culinary Historians of New York I attended a zoom talk tonight on Japanese serving dishes, table arrangements, and suchlike.
What better food to have with it than another round from Cafe Sushi? I focused on their composed salmon and branzino sushi. On the salmon side I had sesame salmon, lightly torched, melting salmon belly, and 12-spice salmon (in all honesty, I couldn’t identify the 12 spices – rather as one might not be able to identify the individual ingredients in a good garam masala – but the whole was beautifully harmonious). The two branzino offerings were with iced onion and sesame, and – my favorite of the evening – kombu-cured with wasabi oil.
Dessert was their large, spicy scallop handroll. (If you get nothing else from them, get this.)
We made it to the dine in side of the reopened Cafe Sushi last night! I’m pleased to report that everything was delicious. Absolutely every bite was perfect. This rarely is the case, and it’s so nice to just be able to cut this report short and post some pictures of some of the wonderful things we ate:
A beautiful kale salad with crispy rice and ginger carrot dressing:
Not pictured and also delicious was the miso glazed sablefish and the tuna handroll.
The take-out and grab and go side is stocked with a nice assortment of sake and some beers, plus a small area with Japanese plates and all manner of chopsticks.
. Your meal sounds fantastic though! Had some very solid DIY omakase sashimi delivery from Umi here in town - sayori, kinmedai, salmon, toro, and uni with some rice on the side. Hit the spot!
