All in On The Cheap

All On The Cheap

On The Cheap

Samurai

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.