Cafe Sushi

This is a conversation that Bryan and I often have.

Bryan: What do you want to do for dinner tonight?

Jen: hmmm . . . I dunno, what do you want to do?

Bryan: well, it’s Sunday . . .

Jen: It’s SUNDAY!!

Jen starts jumping up and down in excitement. Bryan smiles in amusement.

Why am I so excited that it’s Sunday? Well, on Sunday evenings, my favorite hyperlocal sushi restaurant has nigiri sushi for $1 a piece.There’s hardly ever a wait, the sushi is good, and it’s less than a five minute walk from home.

edamame
If we’re feeling like we want to eat something green to offset all that protein (and carbs!), we’ll often start with a simple order of boiled edamame (fresh soy beans).

Nigiri Sushi – $1/piece
The great thing about the special is that you can order a la carte – essentially you design your own menu. Bryan and I typically order salmon (sake), yellowtail (hamachi) and mackerel (saba). I usually like to have a piece of egg (tamago) while Bryan loves his sea urchin (uni).

mackerel

tamago 

unagi

uni

As part of the $1 Sunday sushi special, they also reduce the prices of many of their other rolls. We love coming on Sundays so much, we basically never come on any other day of the week.

Cafe Sushi mostly focuses on sushi. In fact, their facebook page provides the latest updates on what kinds of special fish they have imported from Japan. They often have really interesting offerings – the other day I tried a salmon belly special (completely with a light touch of ponzu sauce some other flavors) that was really really enjoyable.

Rainbow roll

The chef can actually make some pretty interesting things. They host special tasting menus every so often  (I’ve never actually tried one, though others have). The closest I’ve come is I’ve tried the whiteboard specials, which are pretty good and definitely different from your run-of-the-mill nigiri.

In front, a few more exotic ones: uni (Santa Barbara sea urchin) and monkfish liver

Of course, non-raw fish eaters have a few options, such as various types of teriyaki, yakiniku, as well as a number of vegetarian rolls.

I like the sushi at Cafe Sushi. Of course, it doesn’t compare at all to the best sushi in Boston, and I’ve lately been intrigued by another place that offers $1/piece sushi that’s supposed to be fantastic.

Nevertheless, for a casual Sunday evening dinner that’s conveniently close, reasonably healthy, and perfectly enjoyable, I really can’t think of many better options.

UPDATE: I just found out that the Sunday $1 sushi deal is NO LONGER AVAILABLE as of June 26, 2011. So bummed, and so sorry!

Cafe Sushi
1105 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138

It’s still not too late to enter the Chinese Wok Kit Giveaway!