Yoshi's Japanese Cuisine - not really recommended : (
Somerville, MA 02144
Open most days until 10 p.m.I will be the first to admit to being critical when it comes to restaurants, especially Japanese ones. I have lived in Japan, worked in the restaurant industry for 10 years, and am trained in sensory analysis for my job. Some might say that I am not the best person to review restaurants like a "normal" dude - but what the hell.
I really wanted to like Yoshi's. It is tucked away on a corner in Somerville, has a typical light-wood interior and seemed "homey" and "lived in" for lack of better terms. Some of these things are the earmarks of places that make really good food.
When I walked in, I noticed the other Japanese restaurant accoutrement that are often overused in Americanized Japanese restaurants: noren, maneki neko and prints of geisha and other ubiquitous images that people assume comprise genuine Japanese decor. The waitress was eating with three guys at the corner table, and the one other customer was silently chomping away on some sushi - a great time to see what a restaurant is really made of.
I was shown to my table by a just-done-chewing waitress. I caught a smatter of the conversation from her table with the sushi chef...Korean.
What I ordered:
- Nigiri - Hamachi and Saba
- Vegetable Tempura Teishoku
- Cup of Green Tea (they don't have a liquor license!)
The Good:
- Nice quality chopsticks
- Waitress was cute
- Service was prompt and food was hot
- Hamachi and Saba were both slightly fishy and had the sponge texture of badly frozen fish. Wasabi was necessary, which shouldn't be the case.
- Vegetable Tempura was not true tempura. The veggies were coated in a thin batter and rolled in Tenkasu. Odd.
- The other items in my Teishoku were a complete afterthought: scallion pancake, deep-fried pork slices, makizushi, salad and a small, sad onigiri made with a plastic molding device.
- Miso soup was made with instant dashi, slimy wakame and tiny bits of tofu that were too small to bother with chopsticks.
- Bathroom.
*remember, a bathroom is a peek into how the restaurant really operates!*
Is it possible that I would have better experienced Yoshi's if I had ordered the Maguro, Toro, Salmon or other popular American sushi fish? If they were busier and had more staff and were in a groove in the kitchen? Possible; but cooking Washoku is about quality of ingredients, attention to natural flavors and execution. If you can't make good vegetable tempura or miso soup, then I am not sure there is any reason to explore further.
3.5 / 10
2 comments:
I read your review, but the thing that stuck with me the most is that the waving (actually beckoning) cat actually has a name! LOL!!
There is that absurd debate lingering amongst chefs and restaurateurs...
Who's qualified to make anything authentic these days?
But what we should be more focused on is educating consumers on what's good and what's bad. Let's push this foodie culture a little bit more and bring up the standard here in the States.
If we are still playing with our chopsticks (like drumsticks), saturating wasabi/soy paste with our spicy tuna rolls, and doing sake bombs, we clearly still have a long ways to go.
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