Long Overdue Return Visit to Osushi

When I first moved to Boston about seven years ago, I lived in a fantastic apartment on Clarendon Street in between Marlborough and Commonwealth.  It was an amazing location and despite having three random roommates courtesy of Craigslist, it was one of the best experiences I've had in this city.  When I lived in that apartment, I used to shop and dine at all of the local spots and one of my favorite dining destinations was Osushi Restaurant in the Copley Plaza.

After living in the Back Bay for a year, I moved to Beacon Hill which is hardly a stone's throw from Back Bay.  Yet for some strange reason, I never went back to Osushi after I moved out of that neighborhood.  Whenever we've passed by, I've often commented to B how I would like to go in there and finally this past Monday, we gave them a visit.

Osushi is a small restaurant located in the Westin Copley.  The ambiance is sleek with red walls and black tables, which gives it a nice contemporary vibe.  Although we had a reservation, the place only had about six or seven tables full so a reservation probably wasn't necessary for a Monday night.  I definitely loved the music they were playing, which ranged from reggae to "La Belle et la Bad Boy".  I was definitely humming along throughout the evening.

To start, I'll have to say that the service was really top notch.  Our kind server was incredibly patient with us as we took our time figuring out what to order and asking lots of questions about the menu.  She gave us different recommendations and helped steer us to what we shouldn't miss.  But beyond her attentiveness, we found that the entire staff was very discreet yet prompt.  I never noticed them filling my water or sake glasses or clearing dishes but it was always done without a wait.  Other restaurants could really take note of this.

To start, we ordered a bottle of Kikusui Ginjyo sake.  To be honest, I'm not a big sake expert but we were drawn to the bottle because of its description of "a sweet aroma of rose and mandarin orange with a clean and spicy finish" on the menu.  Well, I didn't get a lot of those hints and notes but I will say that the sake was refreshing and really pleasant to the taste.

With sake on the table, we were onto the food.  Overall, I was really impressed with most of the dishes we ordered.  We started out with the Kanpachi Carpaccio which had beautiful thinly sliced baby yellow tail over a soy and olive oil sauce and topped with sliced chirago scallions and thinly sliced jalapenos.  The fish was so light and refreshing which contrasted with the crunch of the scallions and jalapenos and the saltiness of the soy sauce.

We also ordered the Wagyu Beef Yakiniku which consisted of three pieces of Wagyu beef grilled at the table.  The presentation was really cool and B took some great artsy photos from his iPhone.  They are cool to look at but a bit blurry:

But the actual beef was not that great.  We asked that the Wagyu beef be cooked medium but it was definitely overcooked by our server.  I also don't think it was the best cut of beef because it was overall a bit tough and chewy.

But the sashimi that we ordered couldn't have been more different.  We ordered sake, hamachi and suzuki sashimi.  Each piece of fish was so fresh and so beautifully cut that it melted in your mouth.  We ordered the fresh wasabi root that was really amazing stuff (although we were disappointed that didn't grind it at the table as described in the menu) but as delicious as the wasabi was, it wasn't necessary with such gorgeous pieces of fish.  We also ordered some tobiko but our server forgot to put in the order.  To make up for it after we reminded her about the tobiko, she gave us a generous bowl crafted from the peel of half an orange filled with tobiko.  My blurry Blackberry photo doesn't do it justice:

I could have eaten bite after delicious bite of roe all night long.

The tobiko also went really well with our final dish - the Fried Oyster Maki.  This delicious roll was rolled in soy paper and filled with brown rice, breaded oysters, julienned cucumbers, mango and lettuce and served with a salty garlic Worcestershire sauce.  I though this roll was stellar and I couldn't get enough of the delightful fried oyster.

Overall, I found that Osushi has gotten even better over time.  Their menu has changed a bit and I think they do both the traditional and the creative sushi rolls really well.  Five years was a long time to return back to Osushi but with Monday night's dining experience, I'm sure my next wait won't be so long.