Sushi in Chinatown

[anais_in_waiting]

I'm hoping to go for sushi in Chinatown tomorrow night. Can you suggest a nice, moderately priced spot? Ginza has been recommended, but, ya know....

[kweesee]

ginza is the only place in chiantown that has sushi, but its not good at all. i wouldnt trust the other places that might serve sushi in chinatown...i mean thats not where you'd go for sushi afterall

[9lives]

I think you'd be surprised at Montien..small selection of high quality fish..usually 4 or 5 seats at the bar; but they go through a lot of volume because of the busy restaurant. They get deliveries from Rocky Neck Seafood a few times/week. I had a "red clam" sashimi that was very good; also the hamachi belly..fatty like tuna belly.

I don't much care for Suishaya's raw fish..though they sometimes have hamachi kama on the menu.

[Gordough]

I have had always had above average sushi at Montien.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Pardon me for intruding on your board, but I'm curious: why would sushi be found in Boston's Chinatown??

[finlero]

Hey Sam Fujisaka,

It's more of an "East Asiatown" than a Chinatown. Boston is about an eighth the size of NYC, and 3,000 miles further away from Asia than San Francisco. If sublime sushi chow were your goal, it's unlikely you'd go directly to Boston's Chinatown without passing go or collecting $200, but it still has our strongest concentration of East Asian restaurants.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Wow, finlero. Thank you. Do you know of CH threads that have photos of Boston's Chinatown or Chinatown restaurants and foods?

[finlero]

Man, you're making me wish I were more of a shutterbug.

9lives is my favorite Boston hound for this kind of thing. A few of his photo sets...

Potluck Cafe (Fou Zhou style, thanks to limster for the tip): http://flickr.com/photos/61246842@N00/sets/72157600400612796/

O Ya (Boston's high-profile exorbitant izakaya): http://flickr.com/photos/61246842@N00/sets/72157600189543512/

Peach Farm (Chinese seafood):
http://flickr.com/photos/61246842@N00/sets/72157600189533898/

Also, a Wikipedia article on Boston's Chinatown:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatow...

[Sam Fujisaka]

These are great! Thank you!!!!! Pure food porn fun. And I learned a couple of things--I'll make a couple of dishes; and learned a presentation trick for one dish!

[9lives]

Finlero, Thx for the kind words.

Here's the main link to my flickr site...best to look at different "sets"

Lots of local Asian spots and more..

http://flickr.com/photos/61246842@N00/
Hope you enjoy!

[Sam Fujisaka]

9lives, thank you! You're pushing all the right buttons: fish, smoked fish, fishing, Chinese and other foods, ...

[gini]

Oh man - these photos bring back great memories and make me hungry! Thanks for sharing!

[Food4Thought]

If I'm restricted to CT, I choose Ginza. I've had a few sushi items at Suishaya and enjoyed them but I have found the Korean side of the menu in steep decline over that last few visits. Typically at Montien I focus on the Thai, but it's good to know it's another option for sushi.

[kobuta]

If it's sushi you want, then my experience is Ginza's the best (though I like theri non-sushi items better). Admittedly I haven't tried Montien, but I don't think I would ever venture into a Thai restaurant for sushi. Apollo and Suishaya are actually more Korean, and I find their Korean menus stronger than their sushi.

[miiki]

Well, unless it has been sold, Ginza's owners are Chinese, not Japanese.
A Japanese friend of mine was an early sushi chef there and prepared excellent sushi and sahimi.
But the atmosphere, to my mind has never been truly Japanese.
For what it's worth.
Everything changes though

[kobuta]

My comment was not re: the ethnicity of the owners. Though Chinese owned (as is Fugakyu, one of my favorites), Ginza is meant to be a Japanese restaurant and their menu is entirely Japanese, not a hodge podge of Asian (which drives me nuts). Call me silly, but I wouldn't walk into either of them if I wanted Italian. Montien is a Thai restaurant - a pretty good one too - but one that decided to just throw sushi on their menu a few years ago. It's one thing if it's a Thai take on sushi like Byuk Kung's Korean take on certain Chinese foods as served in Korea, but as far as I know the owners just wanted to cater to the pan-Asian crowd.

[SaraASR]

Suishaya is awesome!!! Go there! Incredibly fresh, tons of variety, fun scene... I went a few weeks ago and I'm dying to go back. They also have Korean food that looks out of this world.

[finlero]

Ginza is definitely my favorite in Chinatown. I tried Apollo a number of years ago, and wasn't crazy about it. Haven't tried Montien.

If you can venture a little further and spend a bit more cash, Oishii in the South End is in another class entirely. Then there's O Ya, but that's getting pretty E ticket...

[yumyum]

I didn't care for Ginza last time I went, although other visits have been fine. A better choice would be the tiny sushi bar at Montien, on the edge of the Theater District.

Not sure how feasible this is on a Saturday night, though. If you went early I think you'd be ok.

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Montien Thai Restaurant
63 Stuart St, Boston, MA 02116