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Cafe Sushi (Omakase)

August 5, 2014 by Jennifer Che 10 Comments

Cafe Sushi Cambridge Cafe Sushi Omakase

Cafe Sushi omakase 

Time flies.

It’s hard to believe that three years ago, today, we packed up ten years worth of memories from our tiny urban condo on “Bunny Smith Square” (between Harvard & Central) and moved to a townhouse on the north side of Harvard Square. In some ways, it feels like I just moved in. After all, we lived in our tiny urban condo (10 years!). Our time here almost feels like a mere afterthought.I have tons of nostalgic memories of my old neighborhood.

Yet honestly speaking, I love my new house and neighborhood. Having a gas stove for the first time ever totally changed my life. I’m not sure if I could ever go back to electric. The larger space is great for entertaining, and I’ve had tons of fun cooking all sorts of fun dishes (not to mention all the tasty things we’ve made on Bryan’s crazy high heat grill), for friend who come over for dinner.

It’s nice to finally have my own laundry machine. And the increased sunlight from our tall floor-to-ceiling windows is something I’d have trouble giving up now.

Oh, and having Formaggio Kitchen and some of the best cheese in the universe just down the street?

Dangerous, but oh-so-fun.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
But there is one thing I miss dearly from my old neighborhood.

For years, Bryan and I really  enjoyed having casual Sunday dinners at Cafe Sushi, a tiny little Japanese family-owned sushi shop that was a mere 5-minute walk from our place. It was simple – nothing fancy – but they had solid sushi that they sold for $1 a piece on Sunday nights.

I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but around 2008, Seiji Imura, the son of the family, took over the kitchen of Cafe Sushi. In March 2010, Cafe Sushi started to experiment quietly with monthly, seven-course omakase “Chef’s Dinners.” These were a huge hit, and really allowed Chef Seiji to go all out in his creativity.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
Chef Seiji (front) and his wife Mindy (back)

The omakase eventually made it on the menu. Cafe Sushi stopped its long tradition of Sunday “dollar sushi”, and started to move the restaurant into a bold, new direction. Although some of the staple menu items remained, Chef Seiji began incorporating more and more interesting and creative additions, such as a chalkboard full of seasonal fish (often from Tsukiji Fish Market in Japan!), nigiri with more interesting ingredients (like yuzu kosho, smoked salt, or house-cured kombu), and vegetarian sushi that you’d actually want to eat.
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Now, word is finally getting around about Cafe Sushi’s transformation. They’ve won Best of Boston, Sushi for two years in a row (2013 and 2014), beating out traditional favorites like Oishii and Fugakyu.

Cafe Sushi is now my favorite sushi restaurant in all of Boston.*

Every time I’ve gone there, I’ve been blown away by the food. Keep in mind, I’ve mainly ordered from the specials on the blackboard or gotten the omakase. I believe that is the best way to fully enjoy the best that Cafe Sushi has to offer. If you stick with the ordinary stuff (e.g., California rolls, salmon-avocado rolls, tuna nigiri), you’ll have a fine experience, but it won’t nearly be as special.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
Instead, try some of the Signature Creations, or get a Chef’s Sample.

The “In Season” list is fun too. I’ve been to Japan numerous times, and Cafe Sushi’s menu reminds me most of Japan, including favorites such as aji (horse mackerel), katsuo (skipjack tuna), and sawara (Spanish mackerel).
Another favorite of mine is actually a vegetarian nigiri – the Seared Avocado with truffle oil, salt, and lemon juice (pictured below), which is phenomenal.
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If you have the stomach space, I highly, highly recommend the omakase. Even though the regular signature items are fantastic, the omakase gives you access to the best and most exclusive items they have. Oftentimes, they may not have enough of something to serve on the regular menu. In those cases, only the lucky omakase diners get to enjoy it.

The omakase is “market price”, but has typically hovered around $70 – $75 when we have ordered it. I consistently find it to be a crazy good value in view of the quantity of food, quality of ingredients, and skill of execution.

OK, enough about the facts. Here’s an example of one of our omakase meals!
_DSC5873
We started with buri (Japanese yellowtail) which was topped with candied kumquat, miso horseradish, and a daikon sprout. The fish was excellent quality. Because I’m not a huge fan of kumquat, I did not love this combination. Bryan thought it was delicious.
_DSC5876
I loved this refreshing next course: shredded daikon and carrots were pickled with kumquat and salmon roe. In this case, I really loved the bright and tart flavors of the vegetables, which offset the fresh and salty ikura (salmon roe) very nicely. Overall, the dish was surprisingly not that salty, which was great.

We then got a plate of four different nigiri.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
We started with Virginia Tilefish topped with fuyu persimmon and shiso.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
Next, we had Sawara (Spanish mackerel) from Virginia served with ponzu, wasabi oil, and broccoli rabe.
Cafe Sushi OmakaseOne of my favorites was the Tea Leaf Smoked Tasmanian Salmon topped with yuzu and wasabi oil.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
Finally, we had a slice of Zuke, their house-cured tuna topped with just a bit of yuzu kosho.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
We then enjoyed Tuna with “tofuru” and wasabi. Tofuru tasted a lot like Chinese fermented bean paste, the kind that comes in cubes in Asian supermarkets that you eat with congee. The Japanese name sounds similar to the Chinese word (we call it “dofuru”), so I’m guessing it’s the same stuff. I would have never thought to put it on raw fish, but it works surprisingly well, adding a lot of creamy and salty umami flavor.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
Next came another dish full of four more nigiri pieces.
CafeSushi1From left to right: Kombu-Cured Amadai (tilefish) topped with katsuobushi, Sea Bream served with sea salt, wasabi oil, and lemon. Kampachi (yellowtail) served with shiso and wasabi, and Mackerel topped with cilantro and horseradish.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
The next course was Ankimo (monkfish liver), served wih ponzu jelly, various types of seaweed, and fresh, house-pickled cucumber tsukemono. It came in a light, clear seaweed flavored cold broth.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
Because I had told Chef Seiji that I didn’t love liver in general, he gave me an alternate version using Branzino instead. There were three pieces of raw sashimi as well as a deep fried collar rib.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
Another favorite was Salmon Belly, which came with grilled avocadoes and Nantucket bay scallops in a light ponzu sauce. I loved the fresh, sweet scallops, the soft, fatty salmon belly, and the smoky grilled avocados. They made a beautiful trio of flavors.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
Our last nigiri: Kampachi (yellowtail) topped with mint and blood orange.
_DSC5901
Finally, we had a fun uni two-way tasting. On the left is Santa Barbara Uni; on the right is Maine Uni.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
I had told Chef Seiji that I didn’t like Maine uni as much from my limited exposure to it. Chef Seiji personally thought that the Maine uni here tasted better, but in deference to my opinion, he gave me just a little of the Maine uni to try.

After trying both, I definitely agreed with him. In this case, the Maine uni was superior. I sheepishly asked for the other half of the uni, which he kindly gave to me.

Lesson learned: always trust the chef. Sure, you might have some preferences, but in my experience, more often than not it’s better just to let the chef decide what’s best.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
Above is a second half of my Maine uni. Chef Seiji was also nice enough to give me another slice of the yellowtail, this time without kumquat since I had told him I didn’t love that first course. I thought that was really considerate of him.

He seems really passionate about his art, and really wanted to me enjoy every course. He was working hard within my preferences to try to achieve that, which I really appreciate.
Cafe Sushi Omakase
Dessert is included in the omakase.

Above, Black Sesame Ice Cream from Christina’s Ice Cream in Inman Square. The ice cream was pretty good, almost as good as mine (hee hee, just kidding . . . sort of).
Cafe Sushi Omakase
Green Tea Mochi Ice Cream was solid and a nice refreshing way to end the meal.
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I am a huge fan of this newly revamped Cafe Sushi and I’ve gone back several times in the past twelve months. Usually, we can’t resist but order the omakase, but there have been times when I just didn’t feel like eating so much. In those instances, I just ordered off of the Signature and/or In Season sections of the menu.

The Signature Creations run between $3-$4 on average (per piece), while the in-season fish can vary, anywhere from $3 to $6 a piece. Considering that you could be getting the equivalent of 20+ pieces in the omakase (plus access to some stuff that’s not even on the menu and dessert), you can see why $70 is a good deal compared to a la carte prices.

You can also get a sake pairing for $25, which feels much more accessible than your typical wine pairing price.

All in all, I just love going to Cafe Sushi. The food is excellent, the staff is friendly, and Chef Seiji is really passionate about his craft. Time to time, Bryan and I will try a highly recommended sushi place, only to say, “well, it was good, but not as good as Cafe Sushi.”

Though I don’t live right in this neighborhood anymore, perhaps I should still consider myself very lucky that my favorite sushi restaurant in the entire state (and maybe all of New England) is still only a 20-minute walk away from my house.
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*Please note that I’m excluding places like O Ya and Uni when I make this statement, because I don’t think of those places as Japanese sushi restaurants. They are more like high end fusion restaurants that incorporate raw fish and other Japanese ingredients into their high end creations.

Cafe Sushi
1105 Mass Ave
Cambridge MA
Cafe Sushi on Urbanspoon

©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Cambridge, Central Square, Harvard Square, Restaurant, Review Tagged With: Japanese, Sushi

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Comments

  1. Philip Hou says

    August 5, 2014 at 9:42 am

    That’s my fav placein Boston too. Are these pics recent? They haven’t had Uni in a few months.

    Reply
  2. Boozy Epicure says

    August 8, 2014 at 6:55 pm

    The photos are simply gorgeous.

    Reply
  3. Jennifer Che says

    August 8, 2014 at 9:56 pm

    Thanks so much!

    Reply
  4. Jennifer Che says

    August 8, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    The post is a conglomerate of several visits, several of which were in the wintertime. 🙂

    Reply
  5. Max Ledford says

    November 27, 2014 at 5:54 am

    this is the best advertisement I ever saw about cafe sushi

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Jen's Top Restaurants in Boston says:
    July 7, 2015 at 10:47 pm

    […] sushi, we typically head to Cafe Sushi in Cambridge. The simple sushi restaurant known for its Sunday “dollar sushi” for […]

    Reply
  2. About Jennifer Che - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    May 7, 2016 at 4:30 pm

    […] are Japanese inspired but not purely traditional Japanese. For less astronomical pricing, we love Cafe Sushi, which is creative, inventive, and overall delicious. Oishii has been a favorite in the past for […]

    Reply
  3. Bar Mezzana - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    September 28, 2016 at 1:17 am

    […] was fresh. It’s rare to find Shima Aji ($15), or horse mackerel, at a restaurant in Boston (Cafe Sushi regularly carries it, but not many other places do).  Here, thin slices of this richer fish come […]

    Reply
  4. Waypoint Cambridge -Michael Scelfo's new restaurant - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    January 24, 2017 at 12:47 am

    […] so many other really great restaurants that have popped up, like the new and much more awesome Cafe Sushi with Chef Seizi’s creative input, Little Donkey and Pagu not too far away in Central, and […]

    Reply
  5. Reflections on a Decade of Blogging: Happy Birthday Tiny Urban Kitchen! - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    October 1, 2019 at 8:30 pm

    […] stove for the first time. We learned the art of grilling in our tiny backyard and fell in love with numerous restaurants, artisanal shops, and cafes in our Harvard Square […]

    Reply

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Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
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