It’s not hard to find the best sushi in Boston. As our national obsession with all things Japanese continues to expand (here’s looking at you, sushi burrito!), Japanese food trends continue their march onto Boston’s food scene. From ramen and poke bowls (one of 2018’s top food trends, according to the Insider) to izakaya fare and sushi in traditional and new forms, it’s easier than ever to find not only interesting Japanese restaurants but also great sushi and sashimi. We took a look around the expanding options to find the 10 best sushi restaurants and delivery in Boston.
1. Yoki Express Restaurant (Boston Wharf Road, Boston)
Known for their poke bowls, Yoki Express Restaurant serves up a variety of land- and sea-based proteins, such as grilled chicken, tofu, and tuna. The build-your-own poke bowl allows custom selection of everything from Atlantic salmon to shredded roast beef, a base of white or brown rice or mixed greens, and traditional or modern veggies and sauces to keep things interesting. Or choose flavors the chef has designed like the Sakura Del Sol sushi burrito with raw salmon, red cabbage, radish, mixed greens, jalapeños, and spicy mayo. The popular El Matador sushi burrito is cooked teriyaki beef, mixed greens, corn, cucumbers, avocado, and jalapeños, wrapped in a layer of rice and nori seaweed. Can’t decide? Go for the box of six sushi burritos to experience all the flavors and expand your understanding of the best sushi in Boston.
2. Sweet Rice Thai Kitchen and Sushi Bar (Main Street, Boston)
The sushi platters, such as Sushi Boat B—which includes California rolls, rainbow rolls, narutomaki rolls (imitation crab, avocado, and tobiko in a cucumber wrapper), spicy tuna rolls, and assorted sushi and sashimi—is the way to go, if sushi is the go-to meal of the day. But to experience a blend of Thai and Japanese flavors, try the catering packages called combos. The catering packages include appetizers like Thai chicken wings, two different sushi rolls, a chicken entree such as panang curry, and a tofu entree such as tofu with vegetables. Don’t forget to add rice or a noodle side dish (included), such as chicken pad thai with egg and sprouts to round out the generously portioned combo.
3. Shanghai Moon 1987 (Salem Street, Medford)
As its name might imply, Shanghai Moon 1987 brings Chinese and Japanese dishes to the sushi delivery of Boston’s catering scene. Select from an array of appetizers, such as pan-fried vegetable dumplings and entrees like mapo tofu and Hunan beef, when ordering a party tray. The tray comes with three appetizers, two entrees, a vegetarian entree, lo mein, fried rice, and soup. That will feed your crowd. It’s on the sushi platters that the flavors skew Japanese. Try the shrimp-tempura roll platter. The rolls are topped with eel sauce and sesame seeds for a bit of savory crunchiness in every bite.
4. Mixit Restaurant (Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge)
The best sushi in Boston sometimes comes from restaurants like Mixit, whose dishes are borne of Asian diasporas. And sushi delivery in Boston does not get easier than with their noodle bowls. Perhaps inspired by the current ramen craze, Mixit has noodles that include varieties from traditional ramen to rice-based vermicelli. Choose your broth (red coconut curry adds a spicy heat) and proteins like hard-boiled egg or chicken wontons to effortlessly pull together a complete meal. Look beyond the bowl for entrees such as teriyaki vegetables and a wealth of sushi maki, traditional rolls, and new rolls. The Mixit roll—shrimp tempura, jalapeño, and spicy mayo crunch topped with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, lemon, cilantro, and tobiko (fish roe)—will power up even the quietest afternoon.
5. North End Fish (Salem Street, Boston)
If you grew up watching the show of the same name, you may want to order The Love Boat just because you can. (The name alone is reason enough to try some of the best sushi in Boston.) And even if you are too young to remember that 1980s show, it is a great name for a party platter that includes eight pieces of sushi, sixteen pieces of sashimi, and two maki rolls. There are some vegetarian rolls (tofu skin, avocado, and cucumber) and salads like seaweed or spicy crab. The menu appears made for pescatarians, offering layers of fish and veggies in most nigiri sushi and maki. Try the “ocean roll” with spicy scallop, cucumber, and avocado topped with salmon, crunchy bits, eel sauce, and mayo. It makes choosing sushi delivery in Boston a no-brainer.
6. Umai (Newbury Street, Boston)
Notable for offering desserts like New York-style cheesecake and tiramisu, Umai earns raves for its chef’s special maki, like the Umai maki (shrimp, tobiko, avocado, and cucumber topped with a layer of crunchy spicy tuna) and Volcano maki (shrimp, tobiko, and cucumber topped with a layer of seared tuna and a beguiling blend of sesame garlic sauce and spicy mayo). Look for both of these maki rolls on the Cater Combo 2. But popular dishes like pork katsu and teriyaki tofu are reliable, familiar favorites, always nice to have when ordering sushi delivery, Boston.
7. Genki Ya (Tremont Street, Boston)
Genki Ya has platters that combine sushi and sashimi or sushi and maki, but the Makimono tray is where everything is wrapped in crispy seaweed. Though the mini platter earns its place as most ordered, Genki Ya has a stand-alone vegetarian platter that includes mushroom-tempura rolls, sweet-potato rolls, avocado rolls, cucumber rolls, and rolls stuffed with fruits and vegetables like the avocado-cucumber, garden, and honey rolls. Not only does that make a nice change of pace from the expected raw fish that is the heart of most sushi menus, it will make for good water-cooler conversation the next day (did that roll have banana in it?).
8. Ocean Sushi Organic Restaurant (Oak Grove Avenue, Melrose)
Dumplings are popular for their petite size and endless appeal. At Ocean Sushi Organic Restaurant, try two in the Asian style: gyoza, stuffed with vegetables or pork and fried or steamed, and shu mai, shrimp dumplings in a delicate ginger sauce. The spicy-tuna salad with seaweed, diced tuna, mango, ponzu, and Sriracha sauce is also popular with denizens of sushi delivery, Boston, but choose the 12 Regular Rolls option and up to 36 varieties of sushi, from salmon skin to a futomaki roll with egg: yours with a few clicks of the mouse.
9. Ginger Exchange (Huntington Avenue, Boston)
This is not your mother’s sushi, but so what? Some of the best sushi in Boston is to be had in dishes like Thai spring rolls (a customer favorite) and the bao-bao boxes. Lee’s Bao Bao Box is two steamed buns (bao) filled with Korean beef and a choice of a side (fries or a salad). There is even a cooked-roll platter with California, shrimp tempura, chicken teriyaki, avocado and cucumber, and sweet potato rolls for those days when raw is a little too risky. And for dessert, molten-chocolate cake or banana cheesecake rolls mean leftovers for your afternoon coffee break.
10. Thelonious Monkfish (Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge)
You don’t have to like jazz or even get the joke expressed by the word-play of Thelonious Monkfish. Proudly fusion, with Vietnamese, Japanese, and Chinese flavors, the menu here is heavy on sushi nigiri and sashimi like uni quail egg and hamachi (yellowtail). Fun names like Fever Wings (they are spicy!) and Magic Teriyaki Wings (no word on what makes them otherworldly) lift a menu of more familiar appetizers like vegetable tempura and shrimp potstickers. Curries, like massaman curry, come with your choice of fish or vegetables or add an order of french fries just because you can at this staple of sushi delivery, Boston.
Whether you are looking for traditional or modern sushi, all the new and classic options are yours to try.