Ebi Sushi

When I was a younger I hated seafood. Absolutely could not bring myself to eat it. But one random day when I was about 17 my dad took me for sushi despite my protests. I’m a bit of a daddy’s girl, so I gave in pretty quickly. After a couple of makis and a few pieces of sweet shrimp, I was totally sold. The only problems is you really have to eat with sushi with someone that knows what they’re doing a few times before you can man that ship! So until I reached that point, the only time I ate sushi was with my dad. It was during those father-daughter dinners I realized I loved sushi! Strange, I totally loved raw seafood but could not stand the presence of cooked fish or seafood.

Anyway, years later I found myself in Boston eating what I consider to be much better sushi than what we had access to in Kentucky! Maybe it’s geography….that whole close to the ocean thing?!? I lived pretty close to a great sushi place when I was in Brighton, however, moving to the other side of the river changed things for me. There is just no easy way for me to get over there for sushi and frankly, its annoying and maaaaaybe I’m turning into one of those Cambridge/Somerville-ites that refuses to cross the river unless absolutely necessary!

So I’ve been desperately trying to find a restaurant that I can call my sushi home. Mind you, I’m referring to an affordable sushi place to pick up on the fly or have a casual eat in! There’s a few sushi places in town that are amazing but you leave broke wondering if there are criminal charges you can bring against the restaurant. So finding my sushi home has been no easy task! I tried Medford, Inman Square, Powderhouse, Davis Square, Fresh Pond….the list goes on.

So when Ebi Sushi moved into Union Square, I, ever the optimist, was very hopeful that it would be spectacular! Josh, on the other hand, was adamant that it was going to be some scary hole in the wall sushi joint that smells like fish! Incidentally, that was the first lesson at Dan Spencer Sushi University….If the restaurant smells like fish, don’t eat there!

Squid Salad

On one of my days off I ran in quickly for a quick lunch to go. I had a spicy salmon maki and a Japanese squash maki. It was perfect for a quickie so I could keep moving. And it was definitely tasty. But I’m much more of a purist and I like my raw fish with raw fish or maybe a little rice underneath. Therefore, I decided to eat there again when I didn’t have any time constraints. So I invited my friend Gisela to have dinner there with me. We ordered an unagi roll, octapus sushi and chirashi deluxe. I was so excited. But the waitress came back and told us they were out of octupus. So we ordered squid. Well, she came back again, full of apology to let us know they were out of squid sushi as well. Not wanting to think anymore, we decided the chirashi would be enough. The waitress politely walked away and came back with a cold squid salad compliments of Ebi to make up for not having the stuff we wanted. It was amazing. Had a bit of a scallion and soy flavor but the fish itself was perfect. We then got our sushi. The chirashi came out with salmon, himachi, salmon row, tuna, sea urchin, mackerel, another type of white fish, shrimp, crab and bean curd. There may have been more but you get the idea! I started eating the fish and wow, it was really delicious. It was just really really fresh fish. There was no goopy sauce getting in the way as you try to locate the fish and no rice overkill. It’s my opinion that if the fish is good enough it really doesn’t need, nor should it have sauce. Maybe a dip in the soy, or a leeeetle bbq on the eel, but that’s it! So I mowed chirashi until I couldn’t fit anymore in the belly. A terrible shame to throw away the leftover, but even my most valiant eating effort couldn’t put away this bowl of goodness! I waddled home totally convinced that I had located the diamond in the rough. An actual sushi place amidst the wannabe sushi restaurants in this area. Sorry if your favorite of the sushi world is one of these places….but I’m writing this to move you forward!

Chirashi Deluxe

Immediately after that dinner I knew I wanted to use my valuable resource (this blog) to get the word out on what real sushi should taste like. Also what it should cost….this place is maybe the cheapest sushi I’ve come across!

A couple of weeks later I decided Josh was trying this place if I had to drag him kicking and screaming. I also really wanted to try their lunch specials since they were so cheap. So I go a sashimi lunch special. It came with miso soup, rice, tempura, salad, sashimi, a California roll, and shrimp shumai. This thing is huge and it cost $11.50! I mean, really? So again, the food was amazing. Josh was really impressed. The quality of the fish is what impressed him the most. Whew! And the super friendly service definitely didn’t hurt this review. Josh and I sat at the sushi bar and chatted with the chef, Jose, the whole meal. He is super nice and helpful with recommendations to boot! We talked sushi and different places we’ve eaten and how special Ebi Sushi really is comparatively. Jose was super nice and so was the lone waitress. In fact, when I apologized for photographing our plates explaining that I wanted to blog the restaurant, she paid me the huge compliment of inquiring about the blog and actually took down the website on our ticket!

Ebi also has a creative and interesting cooked Japanese menu that I believe has got to be as awesome as the sushi!

This little bitty sushi restaurant is packing huge flavor and has truly enriched an up and coming Union Square. On behalf of the sushi eating Union community, I’d like to Thank You Ebi Sushi! You have definitely found yourself a lifer!

Sashimi Lunch Special

Get yourself down to Ebi Sushi. If you need a partner, I’m totally in! They are located at 290 Somerville Ave., Union Square, Somerville. If you’re familiar with Union, they are right next to the Dunks on the corner of Prospect Street.

Kampai!