Picked this restaurant for a special occasion to go somewhere more fancy than usual. It didn't…read moredisappoint. It's a fairly small dining area but upscale and has an intimate atmosphere. They give you the little shrunken hand towels for your table. They have a range of appetizers that are unique; I like that their menu has things you don't see everywhere. We ordered pickled vegetables which were interesting, and the wasabi shumai (I recommend this - shumai but with a kick). We ordered 5 rolls which is a good amount for two. Their signature roll is delicious and comes with a sauce that adds some sweetness and flavor compared to soy sauce. The other rolls were also very tasty, and inventive. I don't remember the names but you can't go wrong. The fish is high quality, melt-in-your-mouth. I would certainly come back here for other occasions. Prices are a little higher than other places I go but I was looking for a nicer experience.

Nice if dated interior…read more Nice servers but they are not in synch with each other. Two waiters asked me if I wanted to order a drink in 30 seconds I told one of them I wanted hot tea at the end of my meal, but it never happened. Ice water is ridiculous in the winter, and it's also disgusting with germs. I got you nice salmon, teriyaki lunch, special, which comes with two things that need to be dipped, but no sauce for them. Comes with broccoli and carrot that needs to be cut, but no knife. Carrot was not quite cooked. Soup and salad were good. Salmon dinner was excellent. Prices are decent. This could be a great restaurant if they would pay attention.

Got out for lunch at Fuji in Newton, MA. Pictured here is the lunch bento box for $23. Absolutely…read morescrumptious meal with large pieces of wild caught salmon. The salmon was cooked to perfection ... temperature (moist) and flavors (delicious). The dining room was bright and clean as was the restroom. Our waiter Steven was great and checked on us often. We got in just before the lunch crowd.

Delicious food, well seasoned, good service - friendly and prompt. Nice outdoor seating too, with…read morelights and umbrellas. They're also very knowledgeable and accommodating with allergies. Only reason this got a 4 instead of 5: First, prices are very high. Second, the chicken dish was too spicy and parts of it (mostly edges) were barely warm.

This is my second time here and I still love it. Will recommend to reserve a table if you have a…read moreparty of more than 2 as the space is limited. However, I haven't seen people wait too long. I love the options and sushi is very fresh. The ramen is also delicious. The staff is friendly and efficient. The sake selection is great and the price is affordable. I highly recommend to come back to this place if you want an affordable yet quality sushi experience.

I feel like Chiharu is a bit of a hidden gem! Despite its unassuming exterior, I was pleasantly…read moresurprised with how nice my food was. We came on a weeknight and easily snagged seats. The hostess was very kind and accommodating. I have high suspicions this place is owned by Chinese people based on some clues, such as Chinese style noodles on the ramen menu and steamed pork buns as an appetizer. We got the beef noodle soup which was excellent (albeit not expected in a Japanese restaurant!). It was actually a little spicy. Came with lots of beef and a flavorful and rich broth. We got two of the special rolls, Kiss of Fire and (I think) Torched Yellowtail, which were both tasty. No complaints there! For our appetizer we got sashimi salad, composed of strips of several kinds of raw fish (salmon, tuna, white tuna, yellowtail) and some surimi and avocado on top of a bed of greens. There was a ponzu like sauce on the side. Although fresh and not bad tasting, I think this was a bit plain. Overall though, the prices and vibes were good and I'd come back!

Friday night dinner, we talked about 20 places, could not make up our mind…read more Found ourselves at the Arsenal restaurant farm, Anne and literally just walked by this place, and it looked interesting. Incredible menu, very unusual for a Japanese restaurant to have curry fries and skewers with five different ingredients! Had a lovely Sapporo beer, Moy Roll, fabulous dumplings, seaweed salad, curry fries, it was outstanding! The service was amazing, they kept sending another person over to us to check on us and we were out of there in 35 minutes lol. One of the best meals we've had recently. And under $80, including tip with alcohol!

Yakitori liver (5) was lovely and creamy. Tori jiro roll…read more(24) was a little salty and not really very special -- could've been crispier. For the price, I'd skip this Curry ramen (16+4 for karaage) had great rich broth and generous noodles and toppings. The noodles weren't amazing, but it was quite filling for the price. This would be fine if you lived in the area, but not worth a special visit.

First time here and it was great! We did the AYCE all-you-can-eat on a Monday (they only do it…read moreMonday and Tuesdays) - got there around 7:30p and even though it was very full, we got seated quickly with a table for 3. It's $50 for the regular AYCE or $80 for the Premium AYCE. We opted for the former, and it was plenty great. We have done lots of AYCE sushi and I will say this is the BEST of them - I think it's because it's the same grade sushi as they would normally do Ala carte on other nights. The $50 menu had plenty of sashimi and regular nigiri (sushi with rice) options and some Thai too. We had mostly the sashimi Salmon, Tuna, Yellowtail, Octopus, a few rolls, some edamame, gyoza, shumai. My favorites were the salmon, as the cuts were large, thick and amazing silky, and the gyoza, as it was perfectly crispy. The Pad Thai was bit way too sweet for my taste - a skip for me next time. The decor is very nice - reminded me of a dive Tokyo bar. Service was quick and very attentive. We will be back!

Have been hearing about their Mon & Tue AYCE, so went on to try it a month or so ago. With what…read moreseems to be a recent price increase, now $50++ allows access to a good variety of sushi/sashimi, on top of apps, ramen, poke bowls, and cooked rice/noodle dishes. Whereas $80++ offers diners a set of amount of uni, plus unlimited amount of everything else, wagyu included. Sounds like a good deal, especially when one can eat a lot. Even as we are no longer Team Eat Till You Burst, we went for the premium, mainly for the nicer cuts such as toro and wagyu, and because uni!! Jumping in shortly after 5pm, we were promptly seated, marked a bunch of stuff on paper, and soon after submission, we got food brought to our table. It was a decent meal overall, so why 3 stars? Let's recap. Menu variety is fantastic, though of course we didn't get "one of everything", coz that's simply impossible. While the premium did cover a lot of grounds, it would have been nice if they also included anago (sea eel) which is currently only available on the a la cart menu, and maybe even offer couple lesser-known items such as monk fish liver app, sea grapes, off-the-beaten-path fish cuts, what have you. Would be happy even if we only get an allotment of those like we do with the uni. Now, service - great overall. Servers circulated around and were alert of customers' needs. Approached at appropriate times to take our order sheets, refill water, provide new order sheets, and ask if we wanted more food. So kudos on that. Their denotation of serving "regular portion" of cooked food had us hesitant in ordering, since we didn't want to be wasteful (or use our limited stomach space for dishes we can easily get elsewhere). But from other tables' orders as well as the one noodle dish that we ended up getting, it seems that the portion size was what I would like to see at AYCE places -- about 50-60% of regular Asian dish size, where 3-4 people can each have a couple bites "just to try". However, to think if that is what they call "regular portion", then it is definitely "Brookline pricing" on a la carte, which I would not recommend one to do such things on these items. Food is fantastic in general; we got a variety of stuff, and everything was really of top quality and taste. The meal would have been a "highly recommended" if they didn't serve the uni that we got. Out of the 12 pcs of uni sushi, all of them were... while not "foul" to a point where one cannot safely consume, they were definitely more sub-par than "ok but not great". Colors aside (which I understand there can be a range depending on origins and such), the uni was a "splat" of yellow stuff on rice, without distinct shape of the flesh. On top of the fishy smell (I'm talking about slightly ammonia-ish), the presentation and taste-texture upon them hitting our tongues... really left the ENTIRE room to be desired. In retrospect, we should have sent them back even if they weren't going to replace them. But instead, we stupidly forced ourselves to shove them all down in cowardly silence, then ordered another round of wagyu just to make us feel a little better about it. Yes, we weren't smart as customers. But if the restaurant is going to charge $100++ per person (after tax and tip), someone from the kitchen should have known better than pushing this thing out for customers to deal with. In their defense, yes, the uni itself was still "edible" in a sense that it didn't make us sick, but I'd maintain that better judgment should have been made. Once the shell was cracked open and you see this pale-gray yellow mush, it should have been decided that it is better repurposed, than be served straight to your customers as your star/featured product. As seen in other diners' experiences, it could just have been a one-off mishap, so I'm not knocking them entirely. But I do hope the restaurant would improve on their QC accordingly. It was such a disappointing low point in an otherwise wonderful meal.

As a former restaurant owner in Canada, I love the opportunity to try new restaurants. We walked in…read moreto a lovely interior, commented on the very cool octopus like chandelier. This was the absolute worst Japanese food experience for my family EVER. (Go to Uni - same price and no comparison of quality). First, we checked that there were gluten free options (there were according to the menu) because I have celiac disease. I was informed that nearly all the gluten free items indeed had cross contamination so couldn't be trusted. We ordered several items, asked the server to confirm with the chef before we ordered. She suggested we decide first and the chef could let us know if he/she could do it. First we ordered sushi, And edamame, my son and daughter ordered a main course, the uni Risotto, which was very, very strongly fishy tasting and some salmon crispy rice item, which was also disappointing. Everything came without order or reason, our sushi came out last, but not all of it, we got some sushi after we received our dessert. Eventually, I was told the mushrooms and the eggplant could be prepared safely. The eggplant was the second best item of the evening. The mushrooms were not palatable, they were in fact disgusting, truly. We had to repeatedly ask for water, a drink spilled and we asked for a replacement napkin, which we also never got. The sushi was pedestrian, the sweet chili sauce on the scallop roll tasted exactly like the sweet sauce you buy at Whole Foods. The spicy salmon was the best sushi item, and even that, the sauce was runny. The pickled ginger was great, but we received two slices for three rolls. The tuna sushi my son ordered was also okay, but certainly not worth the $$$. Ironically, the desserts were the only enjoyable items, even though one came before the sushi. I would not waste my money nor my time here, go to Uni, there is absolutely no comparison! So very disappointing.

A hidden gem in Chestnut Hill with great food! Perfect for date night or a night out with friends…read more Our server was attentive and quick, which we appreciated very much. We loved the madai uzusukuri, pork belly bao bun, miso black cod, tako, and sashimi (otoro, chutoro, king salmon)! Madai uzusukuri - the sauce was perfection and the dish was topped with some crunch, which made it delightful. The pork belly bao bun was fairly fatty (which I loved) and slightly salty. Tako was perfectly grilled, meaty with a tangy and mildly spicy sauce. And our favorite, miso black cod! Loved that it comes with soshito peppers. I'm biased because I love miso black cod, but this did not disappoint. Wonderful taste and great texture. Will need to come again to try their omakase.

AMAZING. First time here and we will be back. Their miso ramen is incredible and staff is…read morepersonable and kind! Didn't even take pictures because we ate all the food so quick. Great ramen, great small bites, great cocktails

Cute spot out in Newton, usually pretty busy and they've been around for quite some time so overall…read morethey are doing something right! We had about a 20-30 min wait for a table and explored the area and shops on the block while we waited. When we got seated we cruised the menu and ordered the following: APPETIZERS - chicken karaage - our order came with crispy chicken however lacked seasoning and was a bit over cooked and dry. - okonomiyaki-styled tater tots - the BEST appetizer we ordered, needed a pinch of salt, but flavor wise with the bonito flakes and sauce it was a hit! - green papaya salad this needed more seasoning, mortared herbs and chilis maybe tomatoes and garlic. Pass next time. RAMEN - miso ramen for the kiddo and she enjoyed it. She can't eat spicy so this was a very mild ramen. Didn't think the miso flavor came thru but she enjoyed it. - spicy miso ramen the lady got this one and i tried a some, the broth was lacking a bit of depth today. It's not spicy so normally I'd say even the non-spicy crowd probably would be able to handle it. The broth just tasted more watery was looking for the punch of flavor. Now the noodles were chewy and had great bounce to them, the char siu pork cuts were tender and melt in your mouth! - chef's ultra ramen - this broth definitely was the better broth out of all the ramens in my opinion with plenty of proteins and more depth of flavor, umami, smokiness, smelled great too. - spicy tan tan the brother got this one, it's typically what i would normally go for, he enjoyed it, not too spicy either, could use some more crunchy garlic with the chili oil. Overall would come back to give it another go, perhaps the heavy dinner rush some things got lost in the cooking on certain dishes.

I liked to gate keep this place since it is so good! The sushi is always beyond fresh which is what…read moremakes me come back! It is very small in there but they make it work with the space they have. The sushi came out super fast and was extremely fresh. If you are looking for a local spot with really quality sushi, I would definitely stop by to dine in or take out!

Awesome local place good food good service. Get the Watertown roll. Small cute and cozy.read more

The diningroom was. Right with front windows. The entry at was broken off from the main dining…read moreroom. It reminded me of Japan with wall escentuated by wooden strips. They have banners with Japanese symbols adjacent to the sushi bar. I had the udon with mixed vegetables and chicken. Yum. I wish I had more of it. I like to try some of the other items on the menu so I will have to return.

High quality sushi spot serving great fish in a welcoming setting…read more Foods: I've ordered pick up a number of times and the Sushi for 2 Combo has been such a treat and consistently good. All of the rolls and nigiri are prepared very well and the unique fish flavors really come through. Service: The front of house is always super pleasant and the speed of the kitchen staff astound me. I ordered pickup around early dinner and they had my order ready in almost 10 minutes. Not only was the dining area filled seated there were piles of pickup orders beside mine. Atmosphere: The interior is super clean with pleasant light wood furnishing and the chefs station could be watched from all tables.

Great dinner tonight - my daughter and I took my grandkids and everything was delicious -- we…read moreordered two of just about everything and the top favorites included the spicy yellowtail and scallops rolls. The lobster and wagyu also received high marks as well. Their sashimi is great too - we had the crunchy garlic hamachi -- it was flavorful without overpowering the fish. Make sure you ask about their yummy desserts -- but you have to ask for them since they're not on the menu. The concept is simple -- hand rolls and sashimi, but the fish is super fresh and the seasoning delicious. The staff is attentive and helpful - happy to provide recommendations and suggestions. They're very social, so plan to have a "chat-full" dinner Pro-Tip: This is an okay place to bring kids if they like sushi (even if it's just seaweed and rice rolls) - but they only have limited counter seating, so I recommend going early. We'll definitely be back!

Went at 5pm on Wednesday. Quiet, intimate and limited menu.....which was what made it so…read morespectacular. Simple menu and very warm quiet service, unless you actually wanted to converse with the server and sushi chef.....and then it became almost like taking to longtime friends. Great quality fish. We had the wagyu special hand roll.....melt in your mouth richness. I was very surprised by the ikura. They were perfect firm spheres of salty richness.......I am so used to the added sweetness of ikura at other places that I forgot how much I liked salmon roe. The crispy hamachi crude was also amazing. The food was served one by one, gently placed in front of us by the lone sushi chef, almost omakase style. The toro was veru good as well as the scallop. I definitely plan on returning.