There are increasingly fewer things in this world that we can count on. First we learn that high-fat diets are bad for you, then that they’re not so bad. There are seemingly a billion ways to make a pizza. The price of gas rises and falls like the tide. And who knows how to interpret all the conflicting info on birth-control pills? But there’s one small thing we can always cling to: sushi. Sure, the mackerel may be more tender in one place than another, but whether you’re at the glitziest raw-fish eatery or a sashimi canteen, you know you can always count on getting wasabi for your soy sauce, sesame-sprinkled rice wrapped around your fish, and that little green plastic garnish.
So although I was a bit surprised to stumble upon Samurai, a new sushi joint in the retail vortex of Downtown Crossing, I was more overcome by a sense of comfort, a sensation reinforced when my friend and I dropped in on a rainy evening for a platter of à la carte sashimi. Our miso soup ($1.95) — thick with tofu cubes and greens — tided us over until it arrived. Though the actual sashimi slices were on the itty-bitty side, the tuna ($2.75), yellowtail ($2.75), eel ($2.95), and fluke ($1.95) pieces, which came on a bed of fluffy radish threads, were fresh and tender. We got to wondering how their fish is when it’s cooked, so we ordered the salmon teriyaki ($10.50), which was grilled to just slightly crispy on the outside. As we nibbled in the light wood-paneled dining room, our waiter made sure to refill our teacups with scrumptious green tea infused with brown-rice pieces. He told us to come back for their wildly affordable lunch specials — two rolls with soup or seaweed salad for $7.95 — but we were so comfy we were tempted to just stay until the next day’s lunch hour.
Samurai, 58 Franklin Street, Boston | Mon-Sat, 11 am -11 pm; Sunday, 11:30 am-10 pm | 617.423.5000
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Topics:
On The Cheap
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, Culture and Lifestyle, Food and Cooking, Foods, Ethnic Cuisines, Seafood, Asian Food and Cooking, Japanese Food and Cooking, Less
