Oya opened in Boston in 2007 but our visit last Friday was my very first. Tales of expensive but very small portions kept me away. Although it is the premier dining destination in Boston for those with good tastebuds, a love of Japanese fusion food and an expansive wallet, I knew it wasn't a place that would make Paul feel comfortable. He would be worrying too much about how many shoes and bags he could have bought for the money instead.
I finally got the opportunity though - we had to go in order to spend a Xmas gift card from my sister which would supplement the cost. Unfortunately, we were not able to make a reservation for our wedding anniversary - so Friday January 9th it was. I had full intentions to bring my digital SLR camera to record the events but forgot at the last minute! The iPhone camera would have to do.
First impressions - The restaurant is located close to the Boston business district down a very quiet street. The doorway is very discreet - aside from the Oya sign, the entrance is a nondescript wooden door. Most windows are covered by shoji paper. Upon entering, the place was less hallowed than I expected and bustled with music and activity. The servers were pleasant and welcoming. The restaurant was fairly full - no doubt, filled with bankers and other individuals that were celebrating special occasions. We had booked seats at the Chef's counter which was a great vantage point to watch the sushi chefs in action. No less than 4 sushi chefs worked the counter with the master chef supervising an apprentice all evening.
There are 3 ways to eat at Oya. The Grand Omakase menu has 22 courses but will set you back at $350 per person (excluding drinks and 20% gratuity). There was a more reasonable 17 course Omakase at $185 per person. Or you could order your own from the extensive menu of 18 items. Having done some research, I came prepared to order a number of recommended dishes so we went for the a la carte approach. I ordered 13 items - a mixture of sushi, sashimi and cooked dishes. Our server then arranged the delivery order into one that would make sense.
We started with the salmon nigiri - with an unfiltered wheat soy moromi. The salmon came on a jet-black ridged plate which set off the pink salmon perfectly. I noticed the sushi rice was perfect - at exactly the right level of acidity and temperature. This dish tasted good but it was not mind-blowing.
Our next dish was the Negihama - yellowtail with tobanjan and white scallion which is a fermented bean paste. The tobanjan had a very strong flavor and although pleasant, overpowered the fish.
Our next nigiri course was the bluefin chutoro with republic of georgia herb sauce - a fattier cut of tuna than regular akami. However, chutoro is not as fatty (read expensive) as otoro. The server informed us that the tarragon in the herb sauce is flown up to Boston from Georgia hence the name. The chutoro was a delectable bite but again the flavors of the interesting sauce was very intense. It was delicious but certainly those who are sushi traditionalists may feel the sauce masked the fresh flavor of the fish.
Our next sushi course was the fried kumamoto oyster with yuzu kosho aioli and squid ink bubbles. This was my favorite nigiri with the crunch of the oyster contrasting nicely with the aioli and squid ink bubbles.
We then had the one sashimi dish we had chosen - diver scallop with sage tempura, olive oil bubbles and meyer lemon. This was a well-balanced, subtle dish. The scallop was fresh and the olive oil bubbles was fun.
At this point, our meal transitioned to warm dishes with a bowl of matsutake broth with yuzu, rosemary and mitsuba. We only ordered one portion of the broth and the server was kind enough to split into two separate bowls. The broth was earthy and the mitsuba (Japanese wild parsley) gave it an interesting lilt. The bowl was beautiful but the broth was under-whelming. Paul did not care for it and gave me the remainder of his bowl.
The next dish was delicious, filled with unami - shrimp tempura with a bacon truffle emulsion and scallion ginger oil. I had one piece and let Paul have the rest of the plate as I had drunk most of the broth.
Following the tempura was the onsen egg with dashi sauce, truffle salt and homemade pickled garlic. I ordered two eggs (one each) as it might have got too messy to split. The egg was perfectly cooked and delicious, although the flavors were not unique.
We then had the warm seared spanish octopus with squid ink soba, bonito, mentaiko and sudachi. This was one of my favorite dishes especially the squid ink soba which was flavorful and full of unami from the mentaiko and bonito. The octopus was tender if a little dry. Sharing a bowl of noodles was a smart idea to make us feel a little fuller!
Our next course was the grilled chanterelle and shiitake mushroom sashimi with rosemary garlic oil, sesame froth and soy. This is a popular dish at Oya- especially if you are a mushroom fan. The mushrooms were perfectly cooked and their original flavor allowed to shine in this dish. All the supplemental oils and froth only added to the main ingredient. I especially liked the tiny pieces of sweet sesame brittle that added a crunchy sweetness to each bite.
Coming to the tail end of our culinary adventure - I had ordered the yuzu-brined chicken wing ballotine with napa cabbage and shittake stuffing on a bed of kimchi. This was a dish of intensive preparation - apparently, the chicken wing bone is extracted and the remaining meat mixed with cabbbage and shittake is re-constructed with its skin.
As the dessert, I had ordered the foie gras sushi - balsamic chocolate kabayaki, claudio coral raisin cocoa pulp with a sip of aged sake. At $33 for two bite-sized pieces, this was an indulgent, decadent dessert. I tasted a tiny amount of alcohol in the sushi so ended up eating both pieces as Paul is allergic to alcohol. The flavor of the foie gras with the chocolate was expectedly rich and delicious. The aged sake which was similar to a sweet brandy was the perfect companion for the dish and left a lingering sweetness.
And that was the end of our meal! We were given some home-made chocolates as we settled the bill which was a nice finishing touch - milk chocolate with salted caramel and champagne truffle.
We certainly were not stuffed but felt comfortably satisfied. Some friends had warned us that we may have to go into Chinatown for a bowl of noodles but careful selection of the a la carte menu (including the squid ink noodles) helped us feel more full. Now on to the nit-picking....
I certainly won't complain about the food which was creative and very well-done. High-quality ingredients are used and most of the flavor combinations were unique and delicious. However, for this price point, I expected the dishware to be more spectacular. Some of the sushi boards were a little worn around the edges and there were some dishes that could have sparkled more. I understand Oya is more Japanese fusion than traditional kaiseki but I would have thought for the price, the symbolism and aesthetics of kaiseki dishware could be incorporated.
Another improvement point - although we sat at the Chef's counter, the policy is for the server to bring the food to us even though the dish was within our arm's reach and in front of us! The chef does not serve us directly. This meant that we had to wait several minutes for our dish that was right in front of us for the taking.
Now on to the monetary damage - we certainly did not go for the most decadent approach but felt we got a good taster of what Oya had to offer. For our modest 13 dishes with simple green tea (no alcohol), the cost came to $250. With gratuity, that was $300 total. It was a good culinary experience, especially for Boston. However, Paul was not comfortable most of the evening and felt the food was overdone and too complex and "fancy". I enjoyed the different flavors but agreed he has a point when the supplemental ingredients overpower the raw fish in the sushi dishes.
Final verdict? Super for a very special occasion if you can let go of the fact that one bite may be equivalent to $30.
