I get cravings for good Japanese or Japanese-esque food when I am traveling. While I was in Boston, I looked for a good Japanese type restaurant, and this one seemed the most interesting to me. I as started to walk towards the location of the restaurant, I realized I was walking into China town. So, my hopes of this spot being authentic was pretty much gone, but that was ok.
The restaurant is a few steps down from the street. The only source of natural light was the entrance door, but it was nice and bright in there. The space is not too big, but enough amount of seating. A staff came to me as soon as I entered, and directed me to one of the bar seat since I was alone. He was very nice and polite. He also explained the menu for me since I have never been there before.
The bar counter was clean…and I mean, there was no table setting. But then, the staff pulled out a drawer off the counter table, where they had paper napkins and chopsticks! It is a clever way to store them and keep the counter space clean and neat.
For drink, I ordered Iced Yuzu Tea ($3). It came in a large glass, which I was very happy about. It a small amount of yuzu peels on the bottom, which was nice. It was sweet and ice cold, perfect on a hot day! It was quite tasty!
For the food, I wanted their Kaisen Don, which is sashimi rice bowl. They come with sushi rice, miso soup and pickle. They had a nice variety of kaisen don, so it was not easy to choose just one… I didn’t find the perfect bowl with the sashimi I wanted. Well, the good thing is, you have add-ons for bowls as well. So, I ended up with Sake Ikura Don ($15) with Tuna ($3) add on. The food came out super fast!
It was quite nice, good portion, beautiful sashimi pieces and exactly what I was looking for. The Sake Ikura Don came with six slices of salmon sashimi, with small mountain of ikura, or salmon roe. Add on comes with two pieces, so I got two pieces of tuna sashimi. This made the order to be $17, a bit pricey, but it certainly hit the spot.
They have very cute old-fashion soy-sauce container and spice container on the bar counter. I always like some antique-looking or old fashion items… I put some wasabi and soy sauce on the small side place, mixed them well for my donburi.
Salmon sashimi was fresh and tender, with generous amount of ikura that was really tasty. Rice does not have strong sweet Vinegar flavor, which was a bit disappointing… Tuna sashimi was really thick, tender, and soft. The kaisen don was not super amazing, but tasty and exactly what I was craving.
They have a bathroom in the back, clean, roomy and bright. They seems to do a good job on the maintenance and cleaning, which is very appreciated.
The staffs were all non-Japanese, but they were very polite and helpful. I felt welcomed and it was good, relaxing lunch. Again, the price point could get high based on what you want, but the sashimi was fresh and pretty good portion. I am glad I got to go try them out!
Tora Japanese Restaurant – 20B Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111