When Cafe Sushi failed to emerge with the rest of the dining world from Covid – sticking with takeout-only for years – it looked like dine-in prospects were slim, and we semirecently highlighted the virtues of its fresh Shoten to-go boxes. Shortly after we published, noticing a building permit in the window, we were told Cafe Sushi was in fact remodeling and reopening.
And here we are.
The new digs have a neon-splashed decor and an izakaya vibe, with a few tatami-room alcoves for larger parties. The place to eat is the sushi bar, which oddly is not where the sushi is prepared – you no longer stare into a glass case at your fin-flapping fresh fish. It’s now a sake bar, with a bounty of cold, high-quality sakes and rice wines visible inside glass coolers and a few on tap.
If you’ve come to Cafe Sushi, you are rightfully there for fresh fish on rice. But before getting to the main event, consider the small plates: carrot and ginger salad, fresh and refreshing; karaage (spiced fried chicken thigh), tender and juicy and in a near meal-sized portion with togarashi mayo for dipping; and the must-have, and perhaps my favorite, gindara misozuke, or miso glazed sablefish. This is a fall-apart-tender, slightly oily fish also called black cod, though not part of the same family or related. In texture and flavor, it’s much like the underappreciated butterfish, and the miso-soy bathing adds a nuanced complexity. This is pretty much the universal ideal of cooked fish, meaty (like sword or blue), flakey (like haddock) and silky (like butterfish or fresh caught trout), prepared and served with apex perfection.
The hand rolls are solid – the tuna with seared avocado and truffle oil did me right – but I’m a sushi purist at heart, and the sushi part of the menu rotates the most. There’s generally a salmon or two (king and belly) a tuna (fatty belly) and something close to the coveted classic centerpiece, yellowtail, but I suggest going bold with Japanese barracuda or a rich and silky long-tail snapper that’s somewhere between a sea bass and a super lean hamachi, and likely better than the best you’ve had of either.
You can taste the care and quality in each bite. Each piece of nigiri is a carefully prepared work of art without random globules of fat or patches of unintended skin. There’s a pleasing homogeneity in texture and flavor, and the rice plays a nicely subtle second fiddle – sticky but not gooey or over-infused with vinegar and sugar. The fish, too, is at the perfect temperature to let its natural flavor come through. It’s the kind of consistent, simple perfection, without pomp, I’ve seen at Sushi Kappo Toraya just over the line in Arlington.
On the maki slate, jump on the Crunch (eel, avocado, spicy crab and eel sauce with tempura flakes) and know that when you get crab – or kani – in your rolls, it’s the real deal, not a whitefish imitation. The nigiri and maki listings have a respectable vegetarian lean, too. The Tomato Zuke is a trip, in that it’s a slice of a hothouse tomato that looks like a red lean piece of ahi but is quite pleasingly something else once it crosses your lips.
Cafe Sushi has been around for more than 40 years – yes, you read that right. It was opened by Saburo and Jitsue Imura in 1984 and today is run by their sons, Kenshi and Seizi. The tag “Nisei,” means “second generation,” which applies to the ownership and the revamped look. The Shoten side of the house – the term means roughly “bookstore” or “little shop” – is still open for grab-and-go lunchboxes and evening takeout. The website (one of the more well done and complete eatery sites I’ve navigated) has a nisei and a shoten portal, and IRL there are separate entrances from the street too.
Back to those sakes: It’s high-quality stuff, universally smooth with no after-kick. The menu slots it into kitschy categories such as “Clean Lines,” “Koji Cool” and “Bubbles & Cream.” There’s even one or two brewers from New England on the list. Just ask your server for pairing recommendations and be happy. (Though if you need a down-the-middle, crisp and clean recommendation, let me steer you to the Drunken Whale.) Your glass carafe comes within a masu or sake box, a small wooden tray that serves as a coaster and catchall. For festive flair, your server may over pour – once the glass is empty, pour in the splash from the box and enjoy your bonus.
Before and during Covid the brothers Imura were up for the James Beard award multiple times; now that Michelin has come to town to look for quality and consistency, one could imagine gen two getting some attention.
Cafe Sushi Nisei, 1105 Massachusetts Ave., Mid-Cambridge
Cambridge writer Tom Meek’s reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in WBUR’s The ARTery, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, The Rumpus, The Charleston City Paper and SLAB literary journal. Tom is also a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and rides his bike everywhere.
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