A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

My very good friend Gabe is leaving Boston to move back home to Chicago. We decided to make it a special night out, and I treated him to dinner at O Ya. Located in a 100 year old fire station in the Leather District, around the corner from Sorriso and Les Zygomates, O Ya is the brainchild of Tim Cushman. It’s high prices and nondescript  location make you feel like you are going to eat at the Fabulous Gourmet Club from the movie “The Freshman”. Don’t worry, no endangered species are being served here, just a chef’s tasting menu for $200+.

They have two types of sushi, nigiri which is made with a small, hand formed ball of rice and sashmi which typically has no rice. If sushi isn’t your thing, they have other options as well. We made reservations online, which is only for the chef’s counter (ie. sitting at the sushi bar), so if you want a table, make sure and call the restaurant.  And it’s important to have a reservation because there are only 10 tables (37 seats) plus a 17 seat counter. Sitting at the counter was a great experience, I loved watching the sushi being prepared, but it was hard to have a conversation at the counter with my friend- next time I would go for a table.

We start with the DIVER SCALLOP sage tempura, olive oil bubbles, meyer lemon* ($18-3 pieces) shown above. It’s like a work of art-and sitting at the chef’s counter, we get to see each dish being made. The trade off of sitting at the counter is that the chef’s get to see my atrocious chopsticks skills. The scallop has a really nice texture to it, just the right amount of firmness, and the sage tempura gives the piece a really nice crunch and flavor.

Next we have the Hamachi with jalapeno and apple ($18). All the pieces are like works of art, not only the sushi itself but the plates that they are served on. Hamachi is a Japanese yellowtail fish-again, a really nice texture to the fish here. I was afraid of the jalapeno being too spicy, but the crispness of the apples inside really offset the spice. This was our favorite piece of the night.

The SUZUKI SEA BASS cucumber vinaigrette, avocado, cilantro* ($20). The fish itself was lost in the other flavors of this dish-the avocado added creaminess but the cilantro completely overpowered the sushi.

SHRIMP TEMPURA with bacon truffle emulsion, scallion ginger oil ($18). The emulsion was amazing, it was light and airy but still had a strong smokey flavor. The tempura was crisp and delicious.

We also had the FRIED SOFT SHELL CRAB soy sesame mousse, tamari yuzu beurre blanc, meyer lemon zest ($17). It looked like the shrimp tempura, I forgot to take a picture of it because soft shell crab isn’t my cup of tea. Gabe reported it to be delicious.

We ended the night with a wild huckleberry crunch dessert ($12) we were in such a rush to try it that I didn’t snap a picture. Shaped like a tart, the desert was served on a a bed of crunchy rice cereal-it was almost like a fruit tart but instead of a shell it was on a rice crispy treat( a classy rice crispy treat). The berries were ripe and a perfect balance to the pastry cream it sat on.

Our server, Tim, was outstanding. He offered excellent suggestions, and when we said that the menu looked overwhelming, he told us that we should just mark what we want off with a pen to make it easier to order (which ended up being a great idea). He was knowledgeable, friendly and efficient. We really had an excellent time, we were there for about two hours!! I would highly recommend O Ya for a special dinner-Gabe and I concluded that it was one of the best dinners we have had over our 7+ years of friendship and dinners out.

O Ya

Tuesday-Thursday 5 – 9:30pm

Friday-Saturday 5 – 10:00pm

Closed Sunday, Monday

www.oyarestaurantboston.com

9 East Street
Boston, MA 02111

(617) 654-9900

Valet parking is available at 107 South Street, on the corner of East and South Streets in front of Sorriso Restaurant. $15

 

Tags: restaurant, sushi