Basic is Best at Douzo Boston

By: Finance Foodie

So a few months back, I took my friend out for his belated birthday dinner. We decided to go to Douzo, as I was lured in by its snazzy website and close proximity to my apartment (travel times are kept to a bare minimum during the brutally cold Boston winters). Now my sushi experiences have ranged from Hall of Fame worthy (i.e. O Ya, Sushi Yasuda) to Hall of Lame worthy (i.e. BONDSt - although the waiters were hot, Todai), so I was pretty excited to see where Douzo would land on my Sushi Scale.

As I entered the restaurant on that blustery Saturday night, I immediately realized I should of made reservations - the place was more packed than the opening day of the Barney's Warehouse Sale! And it was only 7:30! After we were finally seated (one hour later), we scanned the menu and placed our order.

Starters
Pork Gyoza - Not bad but pretty standard; tasted and looked like the frozen Wei-Chun dumplings my mom buys at the Chinese supermarket (folds were too even to have been homemade)
Seafood Kaiyaki - this was a medley of mixed seafood (scallop, clam, shrimp) baked in a clam shell and topped with cheese and some unidentifiable spicy (creole?) seasoning. At least it was interesting.
Sushi
Rainbow Roll (not pictured) and Spider Roll- Not too difficult to mess up these very standard rolls; best items of the night
Amaebi Mango Roll - mango and cucumber wrapped with sweet shrimp and sliced mango: good on paper but not good in life - the overbearing bitterness of the mango made the entire roll unpleasant to eat
Fluke - seasoned with ume plum paste and shiso leaf; once again, the odd flavor combination didn't really work: sushi had an almost herbal aftertaste
Torch Roll - avocado and cucumber wrapped with seared yellowtail, with black tobiko and yuzu sauce - plus points for creativity, minus points for being not tasty

Dessert
Skipped - had dessert at the party we attend afterwards

So in summary, my taste buds (like Mr. Toad) went on a wild, fairly pricey (rolls averaged $13-$15) and somewhat unpleasant ride that night. My advice, stick with the basics at Douzo and save the theatrics for the theatre.

Douzo
131 Dartmouth Street
Boston, MA 02115

(617) 859-8885