Tasty Sushi! I really enjoyed the bagel roll - it was a fried roll with eel, scallion, cucumber and cream cheese, topped with tobiko, eel sauce, and spicy mayo. It was like a cream puff! crispy and filled with hot creamy cheese and eel. My boyfriend loved it too. I also had some other eel roll that was 9 bucks and it was also tasty, though not as tasty as the hot roll. I tried the philly roll - normally I ask for regular salmon instead of smoked - but this smoked salmon was soft and had a nice smoky fragrance - not artificial. They don't skimp on the cream cheese, which I really prefer. The service was good. The sushi rice was just ok, nothing masterful. The atmosphere... would've been better without the chinese singing lady doing a weird rendition of "Beat It" on the flatscreen TV. No music would've been better. So, there goes that star. We will definitely be coming back again for the bagel roll.
(4)
Dennis L.
Well, I've yet to be really disappointed by this place, but not blown away. However, it is much better than average. Its best selling point is the prices. The lunch specials and combo boxes are really reasonably priced for what they give you with them, and fits with my price/quality ratio. It's the little things that matter here... The wasabi is flavorful, and they give you plenty, but not a massive blob, and it's nice that they go through the minute expense of giving you a little plastic tray for your soy sauce so that you can dash the bottom of the sushi with soy sauce and lay wasabi and ginger on top so that you don't get the 'blended' taste of having to lay your soy sauce all over your sushi before you eat it. Also, they use Yamasa instead of a cheap alternative. I do not like the Philadelphia rolls or spicy tuna rolls that much here... something with the flavor of the ingredients other than the tuna for each. I stick to the _________ and avocado rolls generally. The sesame dressing for the salad is just right here, not overwhelming the vegetables like other dressings. The combo boxes are filling as a large meal (for me), the tempura alright, though Ginza does it slightly better, but otherwise, very good for the area. I just wish there was a little bit more rice vinegar to the sushi rice... but that's a personal preference. It seems flavored to avoid offending more than an exclusion. The sushi in general is mildly filled, as opposed to stuffed to the gills at Fin's/Symphony and Koreana. It can be busy at lunch, so I either go a little earlier or call take-out. I won't list dishes to try, since everyone seems to have their own set opinions on what they want at a sushi restaurant before they walk in...
(4)
S S.
I used to eat here all the time, however, the service has gone downhill. The last two times I ordered sushi dishes. Both times I arrived before lunch time, around 11:45 AM. It took them 25 minutes to prepare sushi. I'm going to give them one last chance, then find another sushi place close to work.
(3)
Renizzles M.
We used Samurai Eatery as a weekly option for our office lunch delivery. It is the reason I've stayed clear of sushi in general for quite a while which is disappointing. The maki rolls are tasteless and often arrive warm. Warm raw fish just doesn't sit well with me. I've even tried the veg makis (sweet potato) and it's just bland. Miso soup is basically broth with one or two thumb tac sized tofu pieces. I'm glad we've since found a new place to go, since I haven't had much worse...ever.
(2)
A. W.
I like hiding in here on my lunch breaks.....with a gigantic can of Kirin Ichiban. Sometimes the service is a bit slow, but most of the time you get seated quickly, and served soon after. The lunch specials are reasonable, like Miso soup or salad (go with the soup) and 2 sushi rolls of your choice. The sushi is fresh and they have an awesome selection, crispy shrimp nori rolls. ohhh yeah. I haven't been for dinner, but I definately think if you've got an hour for lunch downtown and crave some japanese cuisine...Samurai is one of the best sushi joints. AND they play easy listening Richard Clayderman background music for you to dine to ;)
(4)
K J.
I should have known that the Chinese and Japanese have some touchy feelings about the past. and it came out full force when I thought I should play safe and went ahead and ordered fried rice from this place the first time. Fail. Couple of months later, after sushi has has become my favorite thing to eat, I went again since I could think of no other place where I can get it in the Downtown area. One star off because it is not the best sushi I have had, but it is good for the price you pay. $9 total for eight rolls. It sure will not be the last you spend on food though (...add the 3 bucks for soup late afternoon and dinner had to be early since I was hungry by 6 and did not have the patience to fix something for myself). Service was good and quick. I was there for less than 10 minutes after I placed my order at the desk The wasabe was particularly strong and hit my nose a couple of times. To sum it up, convenient location, quick service and good food will definitely make me come back again. But I will stick with the sushi, No Thank You.
(4)
Cindy C.
3.5 stars. I can't give it 4 stars b/c you ofcourse are not going to get rockstar quality fish for these prices, but for $10 for a quick fresh light lunch, you can't do any better. The staff here are very nice, and the service is quick/efficient. I also adore the ginger dressing that comes with the salad in their lunch special. Samurai has been on my regular lunch rotation in the financial district for years
(4)
Mike C.
Mediocre sushi, brain dead staff. Don't waste your time or money here.
(2)
Mary N.
Good if you're looking for a fancy yet not over the top sushi place. The bento box is lovely
(4)
Tiff L.
The first time I went, it was pretty okay. The second time, it was bad. Do not order any drinks! The bubble tea tasted more like water than tea. It tasted really nasty and it waste of $5.00.
(3)
Anna K.
Excellent sushi! Always fresh and quick delivery.
(4)
Shan C.
Came here for a quick lunch, I am not a Sushi Fan, so I went for the Chicken Teriyaki, and indeed it came very quickly and let me tell you, It was perfectly tasty. Not overcooked, just perfect tender chicken and the lettuce was wonderful. I think I may come back again, just for that lunch item.
(4)
Michelle K.
Sushi was quick but nothing exciting. I ordered an avocado roll, a spicy tuna roll, and a seaweed salad to go. Avocado roll was very tasty, a little sloppy though. Spicy tuna was eh, not extremely fresh but edible. Seaweed was tasty and a huge portion, but its pretty hard to screw that up. I'd go back if I was by myself just getting take out, but for a sit down meal, I wouldn't bother.
(3)
ilive t.
Came here with a few coworkers for lunch and I was thoroughly disappointed. My coworker for some reason really like this place and insisted we come here even though sakurabana and ginza would have taken about the same time to walk to, order and eat. Maybe it's a sign of tough times in the Downtown/Financial District but when we went in at 11:45 till we left at 12:45, the place was pretty empty. The first red flag for me was the menu. It was the most americanized menu I have ever seen, overly colorful, too many teriyaki/fried/crunchy items. For appetizers we order edamame, gyoza, spring rolls and scallion pancake. These came rather quickly, which was expected since the place was practically empty. The edamame was undercooked, the center had the consistency of a peanut, way too hard for my taste. The scallion pancake was extremely bland, no scallion flavor at all. Gyoza filling was this mushy stuff that didn't taste like anything (pork?/shrimp? - nobody knows...). I didn't try the spring roll. For lunch we order the dragon roll (eel inside, avacado outside), the rainbow roll (crab inside, fish/avacado outside), sakura roll (shrimp tampura inside, spicy tuna outside), and the dynamic roll (spicy tuna inside), and a sashimi regular. The dynamic roll came first - the spicy mayo was so overpowering that there was no tuna flavor left. I'm not a fish snob...but it at least needs to be decent. I guess it was preparing me for the sashimi, expectations down a notch...tray of tuna, salmon, cooked shrimp, octopus, red snapper came. Ok, so I went for the red snapper...it was like biting into a snow ball. The fish was obviously FROZEN before. Ok, ok, maybe its the piece i ate, let's try the salmon - same thing, chilling cold, tuna, same thing! No flavorless spicy tuna could have prepared me for THAT! That is just unbeleivable...the whole point of sashimi is the taste of fresh fish, freezing it defeats the whole purpose, maybe it was never that fresh to begin with, who knows. The dragon roll was somewhat of a breath of fresh air since it has no raw fish and it's so simple it's very very hard to get it wrong. I lost my appetite for anything with raw fish at this point and didn't bother trying the other rolls. Service kept this review from a 1 star though, everyone was super friendly and attentive to empty cups.
(2)
Brendan M.
If the line at Sakura-Bana is just too long and you really have a craving for sushi, Samurai makes for a decent back-up. They do a reasonable sushi roll lunch deal: 2 different rolls plus miso soup or salad for $7.25. That said, they are simply not up to the level of Sakura-Bana, and apart from the roll deal, they actually make for a more expensive lunch spot. So why compromise?
(3)
Keya B.
Love the chicken teriyaki and sushi lunch deals. Service is usually good, although they seem to get lost when the place is full.
(3)
Peanuts The Guinea Pig B.
The quality is very good for the price and they take their food very seriously here. It's my favorite lunch while at work. I eat here about 3 times a week. And the owner is one of the nicest people ever.
(4)
Mike D.
Quick, attentive service, but the food served was just OK. The tempura in my bento box was on the heavy/oily side. The broiled eel was on the underbroiled side. My lunch partner's gyoza were very nice though, and her avocado salad looked great.
(3)
Sutee D.
Given that we were the only people there on a Saturday night, the sushi was better than could have been expected. The temperature of the rolls threw me off though. Rolls/ingredients that are traditionally cold were warm and vice versa. Made our stomachs feel a bit weird afterwards.
(2)
Angel R.
Samurai has treated me so awsome:) Last night I went there the second time I believe with a good friend I gotten say that was one of the best dinner dates. It had a few people (it was nasty rain outside). We had a nice lady who gave us great service (she was waiting all the tables too! We started of with some taro bubble teas which were quite delicious (gotta say thou it was a lil on the pricey side). We had a good variety on the menu too alot to choose from with pictures! which helps if u never even heard of half of the stuff. Me and my friend decided to get the shrimp teriyaki delux box which I think was an awsome price for what it was. It consisted of 6 sushi rolls, shrimp teriyaki on white rice a salad, crispy fried shrimp with fried veggies and soup. for like 15 bucks awsomeness went to my tummy. We didnt stop there though we decided to order 2 green tea fried ice creams which was a first for me but it was...DA BOMB! lol i love everything on my plates i left nothing to be thrown away. It loved the chill atmosphere and everything. Our bill was a bit steep for two but it was one time i actually didnt regret getting everything i ordered, a place to put a pin in. They will see me again I can assure them :)
(5)
Mina I.
$7.25 for 2 rolls soup or salad anytime between 11am - 4pm = super deal. I recommend going for a late lunch (after 2pm) so you get your rolls made fresh, it makes a big difference in the spicy rolls! This place is pretty good for sushi I haven't tried anything else.. They offer shabu/hot pot but only after 4pm or 5pm.. The staff is very friendly but service is a little slow so I don't advise you go here if you're in any rush. General thumbs up for the Roll Lunch!
(3)
Nicole B.
the four stars is for their beagle roll alone! a deep fried eel (i believe) roll smothered in a delicious sauce! yummy yummy!
(4)
Ashley M.
We order from Samurai at least once/week - they know us well - and they almost always screw up our order. Nothing too bad - but they'll bring us miso soup instead of salad or they'll just forget it altogether or something. Sushi's fine. We like the spicy tuna rolls. Its cheap, its convenient, they deliver. If you live/work in the area it makes sense, but I wouldn't journey downtown to eat there.
(2)
Ankita d.
It is in the financial district and is open past 6pm. That's enough to make it my favorite dinner place! Seriously, if you tell them you're really hungry, they'll deliver in under 20 minutes and despite what everyone else says, they have the absolute BEST spicy tuna rolls ever. It's fast, it's cheap, and it delivers. What more can a working girl ask for?
(3)
Carol B.
Rus and I stopped in here while we were wandering about Boston. We were both starved so we hustled in here even though it was quite empty. I got the Futomaki Roll and Rus got the Shrimp Tempura Roll. While waiting, we asked how much the Miso Soup was, to which the waitress said, "I can just give it to you." Sure! The broth on the miso soup wasn't salty. I liked it. We also decided to order two different types of roe, a la carte. The first one were those really big fish roe balls...very oily when you bite into it...I didnt care for it. The first were the standard crunchy little roe that usually top your sushi. I thought that this one was pretty yummy. My futomaki roll was ok...I don't know if the egg or some other ingredient was rancid, but it had a weird taste to it. After I picked out this yellow substance, it was edible again. Rus devoured his Shrimp Tempura Roll without complaints and then went on to eat a strawberry and vanilla mochi. I hate that gum-like texture on the outside of mochi, but I tried a little bit too. Good service. Not rushed at all. Standard prices.
(3)
Paul D.
Very poor selection and all tested the same and not very good. The gyoza were simple terrible. Decor is ok. Service prompt. They advertise shabushabu but don't have it. Not coming back
(2)
Anouska B.
On a light, bright and casual Saturday afternoon, Chelsie H. (shoutooooout!) and I hit up Samurai Eatery, located along an innocuous part of downtown Boston. Chelsie had been to its Samurai brother on Boylston, and had good things to say about it, so we figured it couldn't hurt. It didn't hurt. It didn't rush. It didn't really... do anything. We were lucky to sit in the private Japanese-style 'front' room, with its own screen door and its own private steps. That was fun. We then ordered some green tea, and perused the exhaustive menu. A few giggles, a few sing-alongs later (the speakers were belting out Whitney's greatest hits), and we were ready for food. Our waitress took her SWEET time to take our order, but we figured that, with only three other customers, we'd be sushi-ing in no time. No time became a very long time. We finally received our Eel Boy (a variety of eel sushi and sashimi), our Salmon Boy (ditto, with salmon), our Spicy Tuna (mmmm, spicy tunaaa) and Seaweed Salad. The Eel Sashimi and Spicy Tuna rolls were my favourite. Seemed fresh, professionally arranged, and very affordable. Alas, we didn't receive any soy sauce until we'd heard the end of the Whitney album and waved madly at the waitress. Then, we wanted to try their Bubble Teas. Mistake - our waitress returned twenty minutes later to ask if we wanted them "to go" (wait, what? why would we order them to go?!); it took another 15 minutes to receive them ("yes, for here, we want to drink them here"), and they were ridiculously sweet, lacking in 'tea', lacking in more than a handful of tapioca 'bubbles', too. Finally, we finished our meal and decided to get the check. At this point, there was one other lone diner in the restaurant. Guess how long it took to get the check. Seriously, guess? Twenty minutes. Twenty MINUTES. We split the check and went to leave. Oh, but the waitress stopped us, because she'd forgotten to add the cost of our bubble teas to the bill. You'd think she would have just let us go without paying for the poorly-made beverages. But no. Lucky for her, Chelsie H. and I are nice, honest, conflict-free Yelpers, so we paid the extra $10. [I was *this* close to stealing the bottle of soy sauce in revenge.] This place serves fairly good sushi at fairly affordable prices. It is not somewhere you can just 'pop in' for lunch, though. And the bubble teas should be avoided at ALL cost. For realz.
(2)
Roark D.
I can give a fairly accurate review with this place, I've been here no less than a dozen times since I work a few blocks away. (God help downtown Boston when it feels like the next closest sushi restaurant is in Japan) The good: the food is fair, you get what you pay for. You want sushi they give you sushi. The bad: We all get a kick out of the fact that they NEVER NEVER NEEEEVVEEER get our order right. You ordered a salad? Hope you packed your own, good luck getting it. You want your food cooked a certain way? No you don't. You wanted a beer with your food? How about just a soda. They must have some kind of foreign exchange program with a sushi place in Japan, cause this place is AUTHENTIC, and when I say authentic, I mean the cute asian girls don't give a shit to hear what you ordered. The ugly: The last straw for me was when I went in with a mate of mine and our bill was $25.47. We split the bill amongst the both of us on each of our credit cards. The tall Yoko Ono looking guy in the front took the liberty of charging us both $13.00 each because he decided it would be a better idea to stand in a corner looking like a useless than pay attention in arithmetic class when he was younger. I would much rather they serve me a decapitated head on a bed of lettuce than stick the rod between my cheeks and ram a higher price up there. I don't need this.
(1)
Ambrose C.
I heard about this place when someone told me that you can get a great sushi combo lunch deal for under $12. This deal includes a small number of sushi and you could choose between miso soup or salad. The first time I came here, I got a 6 piece salmon roll, 2 pieces of sushi, and 3 pieces of sashimi. Salmon roll was okay, not really memorable. The sashimi was also okay, needed some good soy sauce and wasabi to make it tastier. They also have another combo deal where you could get two rolls and a miso soup or salad for under $10. I got a Spicy tuna roll and a spicy shrimp roll. Again the sushi was decently good, had a decent amount of spice, but I felt that I did not taste much spicy shrimp or spicy tuna. During my two visits, I found the wasabi here to be a little strong, so I enjoyed it a lot more when it is put in tiny specks on top of the sushi. Gari was decent and made the sushi slightly tastier. As for the miso soups, they have been consistent, they give a decent amount of tofu and Wakame. I did not think the service was particularly great during the lunch hour. I had to wait much more than 10 minutes to get my order, so it's safe to say that you should give them a call before picking up your food because it can be quite a wait. If you are a slightly bigger eater, like I am, I do not think you can get your stomach really full from a sushi lunch combo deal (I actually went to a Chinese bakery to grab a bun for a filling dessert after that). Overall, this is not a bad place to get a decent sushi lunch combo, if you are willing to spend a little more than $10.
(3)
Ariel E.
I've had sushi twice here, and each time, it's tasted off (not something you want to deal with when you're eating raw fish). The combos are A-okay, but nothing to write home about. Service is friendly.
(2)
Soo Jin K.
Wah!!! I don't want to leave. Period. Don't want to go back. I dreaded this moment...you know when all good ends come to an end. The food made the melancholy moment pass smoother. I sat across from my preggo friend and we both ordered Korean food...uh, naturally, because we're at a Japanese restaurant. She ordered the kim-chee-jigae and I had the assorted raw fish with spicy sauce (hwe-doh-bopp). The jigae was really hearty and I thought that the spiciness would affect her digestion, but she seemed fine. I was really thinking that at any moment, she was going to give birth. And that would have been amazing for me to have been there to see that. We looked at each other, I stared and rubbed her belly, she laughed, we laughed, and we just knew that the next time we were going to see each other...she was going to be a mommy. Where did the time go? The last time I saw her, it was at her wedding, 3 years ago. Tears started to form in my eyes...I can't believe I'm missing out on so much! We embraced as I popped another raw fish into my mouth. Hey, can't let that go to waste. I got up, she waddled up, it was time to say our good byes. :(
(4)
Nina W.
DONT GO - finding two-toned colored CAT HAIR on my sashimi was enough for me.. I went for lunch, had a bad feeling but my friend took me there so I felt bad. I got sashimi, it was like, melting in my mouth, I spit it out... Stay away
(1)
Nicole C.
Blah, blah, blah. California roll was primarily cucumber. Huge chunks of it too, not small shreds. If I'd wanted a cucumber roll, I would've ordered a cucumber roll. Chicken teriyaki was extremely thinly sliced (think lox-sized slices) and had no detectable amount of teriyaki sauce on it. Nothing had any taste whatsoever. Thank God for Sriracha. Tiny portions for the price too. See ya lata, Samurai.
(1)
Ellie W.
My six word memoir on Samurai: Salty like ocean salt on crack. Sushi is ok here, not the best, but holy mounds of salt, do not order anything else besides sushi. I took a chance and ordered a Chinese dish here, and I had to down 3 glasses of water afterward.
(3)
Dawn A.
I had beef terriyaki over white rice. It was fine. Nothing I wanted to scream about from the mountain tops, however. The meat wasn't terribly tender but, It tasted fine. One thing that annoyed me is that there is a sign in the window stating the lunch specially is $7.95, but when I got in there the price on the menu and on my bill was $8.95. Not a huge deal, but update the sign in the window if you raised the prices. I felt a little like they lured me with that sign. I guess for downtown crossing area, it's not bad. Just not worth going out of your way for. Yet completely edible. The service was fine and pretty quick. I did not have any sushi, so I cannot comment on the sushi.
(2)
Jessica L.
Awesome little find in the financial distract. Perfect location to visit after shopping in Downtown Crossing. Clean, bright, quaint with attentive wait staff and DELICIOUS SUSHI! My friend and I each had a hand roll lunch with miso soup. The soup was warm, delicious and perfectly Japanese. The spicy tuna was fresh, spicy and delicious. The salmon avocado was delectable and creamy. Definitely recommend!
(5)
Skye G.
I am not really a sushi eater since there are so many options to pick from but there are other things on the menu that are good. I ordered the curry chicken which was a small to medium portion served with a bowl of white rice. The chicken came with a nice sauce mixed with chucks of potatoes and onions. It reminded me of a dish my Mom made me when I as a kid which brought me back to my childhood. There is nothing quite like Mom's homemade meals. The served hot tea and left the kettle for our large group which made it quite easy. We sat in a small area which is hard to get into. I have a small petite sized frame and being dressed for work crawling into this tight small space...well there is nothing classy about seeing this sight. Good thing I had pants on since a skirt may have been more than what the other lunchers would have bargained for. We talked about how hard it would be to clean this section and how it may be a fire hazard for 7 of us to climb out of this clown car. I think the actual seating space could hold another two comfortably but it is more the in and out that is tricky. Once inside it makes for a cozy space to have conversation and not be in the main eatery so it does have pluses. The lunch box meals looked great and I think I will have to try that next time although it does look like quite a bit of food. More than I could eat but worth the price. The sushi specials seem reasonable as well. You get two full rolls with a soup and rice for less about $10. The place gets busy quickly for lunch so go a bit early. The service was mediocre at best. Our group of 7 had food come out at 3 different times. Mine was last and the first group was half way finished before mine arrived and that was after having to ask and check in with someone. I don't think 7 is that big of a party to have our food served and spaced out so much? The others were patient as I finished up my meal. Not sure if this is a regular thing to have meals come out individually or not. Others have had good service so maybe it was a one off. I'd try it again but with so many other good places to try it may be a while before I get back (with my pants on)!
(3)
Pam S.
Would have got a perfect 5 stars if the service was a little faster. They all seem a little confused when serving, seating etc. BUT, the sushi is excellent!! The sashimi is a little pricey and only comes with one piece, but excellent. I'm there probably twice a month or more and I love it! Dragon and rainbow roll with some sashimi fatty yellowtail is what i normally have. Get there right before rush and you will be seated, but it fills up fast!
(4)
Hilary D.
OK, this place has amazing sushi. I am Intervention-style hooked on sushi and I probably order it at least twice a week, so lately I've been on a mission to try new places instead of just hitting up the same four spots. Last week, my need for a fix landed me at Samurai. Their website lets you place an order online, but unfortunately, once you've placed your order, you don't get to review the order first to make sure you entered everything correctly, nor do you receive an order confirmation or an approximate pick-up time, so I had to call Samurai to confirm. If the sushi wasn't so great, I would have taken off a star for this, but seriously, in the grand scheme of things, who cares? From now on, I'll probably just place my orders via telephone. I ordered a sweet potato and a salmon roll, as well as salmon roe nigiri and tobiko nigiri. Everything was superb, and their sushi rice is some of the best I've had. These people know what they're doing. This is truly a hidden gem. Do yourself a favor and consider Samurai next time you're craving sushi.
(5)
Edith K.
really. i used to enjoy coming here back in the day but i was young and naiive. now their sushi falls apart, the quality of their meals are subpar. there are better places in the city!
(2)
Melissa L.
Excellent service. The staff is kind and knows my family since we go there all the time, and they give us free tasty avocado salads (which never skimp on ingredients). Genuinely delicious. The tuna and salmon sushi are delicious and their special rolls are great for low prices. I've also had their shabu shabu which isn't the best I've ever had (I'm very loyal to Kaze), but it's decent and I like having that option. Too bad the place is so small or I'd want to bring a party there. I always sit by the flat screen that plays awful American music sung by Chinese people.
(4)
Soo L.
I would give zero star if I can... From my experience, NEVER eat at a Japanese restaurant that are run by Chinese, and have Chinese food on one menu. The Japanese food always tastes like Chinese food, and that's the problem. I order udon- it was a Chinese vegetable soup with udon noodle in it. There's no way you can call this udon. Rolls- It took forever to get 2 rolls to begin with, then the soft shell crab roll came with bunch of lettuce inside. This has been a very common problem with Japanese restaurant run by Chinese owners- they want to decrease the cost of food by puting in bunch of lettuce or cabbage or peas in EVERY dish. Soft shell crab and lettuce just don't go together. The same oil is used to fry Japanese food and Chinese food. When this happens, all the food tastes like Chinese food. Sorry but I am never returning.
(1)
Stephenie B.
I really like this place and being that I moved here from Texas I was missing my normal sushi place. I'm really picky about sushi places because we are dealing with raw food here! So the first time I went I noticed it was really small....but no fishy smell. That's a bonus! Special note: If you ever walk into a sushi place and it smells "fishy" RUN and run far away. Fresh fish should not have a really strong odor!!!!! Well anyway back to my review. All of the sushi I have tried is really good here! I love the spider and volcano roll. Don't think about it just DO IT!!!! And their lunch specials are really awesome.....I mean really where can you get two regular rolls that comes with miso soup or a salad for less than 10 bucks? ($8.15 +tax to be exact) And all of the rolls I have tried have been great...you can taste the freshness and it makes my tummy REALLY happy! The miso soup is not salty like most places so that is good. They also give you low sodium soy sauce which I like because it is better for you. But they do have the regular if you ask for it. And the ginger salad dressing is really good. So in a nutshell this place has good sushi, for a good price...unless you get the special rolls and appetizers you can walk out of this place paying less than $10 for the lunch special. But if you are extra hungry you can totally satisfy your hunger pains for less than $20.00!!! Did you hear what I said? Less than $20.00!!!!! GO! JUST DO IT!! P.S. Now the reason why I didn't give this place 5 stars is because of the wait, if you are getting something to go call ahead of time. If you are eating there....make sure you are not in a rush and you have set aside enough time to enjoy the experience. P.P.S. If you want to sit near the tv, you have to sit at the table across from the register. Warning....it's near the door and you can sometimes have butts in your face during your meal!
(4)
Lena W.
So gross! I ordered chicken teriyaki. It was absolutely disgusting and the oil was old and rancid. I was hungry and in a rush. I ate one piece of chicken and almost gagged. I couldn't eat another piece because it was so horrible. So I just ate the rice, asked for my check and left. I didn't say anything about how the food wasn't edible because I just wanted to get out of there. There's a pretty good chance that I'm going to get food poisoning tonight.
(1)
Rebecca D.
My office often orders from this establishment and for good reason. It is not often that one can find such good quality sushi at such a reasonable price. If there would be one constructive criticism it would be that they be more forthcoming in when take out orders will be ready. All too often they give a time of 15-20 min and you arrive 30 minutes past only to find the order isn't ready. It gives the impression (true or not) with the time yet to wait that they don't begin making the order till you arrive.
(4)
Lakiya T.
I've been eating at this spot since the day it opened in 2004 or 2005 (Filene's was still open). There hasn't been any changes to the menu (besides pricing) and there doesn't need to be. The rolls are delicious. They offer a nice lunch menu (2 rolls and a choice or miso soup or salad) for about $8.50. When I'm feeling adventurous (and have room) I try a different dessert that I've never had. So far the fried banana and green tea mochi are my favorites. I highly recommend this place if you're craving good sushi on a budget.
(4)
Christopher M.
To break from our usual Vietnamese lunch, the Cock Sauce Crew hit up Samurai Eatery for our Thursday mid day meal. We were seated in a cute, quasi-Tatami room with a view out to the street and a sliding door. It was a bit tricky to climb into your seat, but the door was nice because we Yelpers can get a little rowdy. The menu at Samurai covers a range of Americanized Japanese and Chinese dishes, which is a good thing to note for those of us with picky friends. I got to nibble on a crab Rangoon, which was particularly tasty, and the orange chicken looked pretty tempting (at least as tempting at orange chicken can be). The roll lunch at Samurai Eatery is a good value - $8.15 for two rolls and a miso soup or salad. But you definitely get what you pay for - the spicy tuna roll tasted like grocery store sushi, and the avocado on the tuna avocado roll was so ripe it was hard as a rock. Obviously these were the cheap dishes, so I'm not sure how well this reflects the rest of the sushi menu, but I don't have high hopes. Service was prompt and very friendly, if not entirely comprehendible. I might go back to Samurai Eatery of the opportunity presents itself, but I certainly won't go out of my way to get there.
(3)
Yee T.
This is one of the worst restaurants that I've ever been. It doesn't worth a star for anything. The food and services are extremely awful. Definitely the owner/manager needs to have some customer services and management education. First of all, I am a very good cook and all my Asian friends are Japanese chefs. Some work in the hotel and some even have their franchise businesses. When it comes to have Japanese food and cooking, I could assure you that I know what ingredients and recipes that we need for those dishes... Yesterday, my coworkers and I decided to go out for lunch. One of my coworkers ordered the eel bento box while another coworker and myself ordered the beef teriyaki bento boxes. Mind you, the price of these bento boxes are $17.95/each and they are not from the luncheon menu; and you could actually get these bento boxes some where else (e.g. Ginza - the same walking distance) for $3 lesser. In the addition to that, we ordered the scallion pancake for appetizer. So, here comes the surprises: 1. The scallion pancake never comes before the meal. It came at the same time with the eel bento box. 2. When the beef teriyaki bento boxes arrive, the beef was sooooooooooooo salty that you could taste the bitter of the salt. My coworker (who ordered the eel bento) likes salty food and thought that this beef teriyaki bento was way too salty for her. 3. So, I asked the waitress to come and asked her whether the beef teriyaki should be cooked with a little sweetness side? This is her response: "so, what do you want me to do? do you want sugar?"... What the heck... What kind of service is it? Finally, I asked her to replace my beef teriyaki with eel since they both have the same price. My co-worker's beef teriyaki bento was as salty as mine as they came out from the same batch. So we have specifically requested to have it replace with eel... 4. Instead, she came back with another beef teriyaki and asked us to try. This one is no different than the first 2 dishes. Obviously, they brought it back in the kitchen, rinsed off the taste and stirred fry again... I asked my 2 coworkers to try a piece before I picked on one... They were still extremely salty. So, this time, we told the waitress that we made it clear to have ours replaced with the eel... 5. She came back with the eel replacement. What came in my eyes were how small the piece of eel is in both dishes when it came to comparing with the other one that my other coworker ordered. Each piece of eel was measured approximately 1.5 inch. So, I asked the manager to come and explained to him that the portion of the meal was not equally served for the bento box that costs $17.95 each. I showed him ours (my and another coworker) along with the original order of the eel bento box that my other friend ordered. Obviously there was at least 3 inches difference. Guess what he said... "Oh, we have just waisted a lot of beef and we have just thrown away those." And my coworker responded "that's your problem. You couldn't expect us to eat that type of salty food." Manager's response: "Sorry" and walked away. 6. so, here comes the bill... 2 beef teriyaki bento $35.90, 1 eel bento $17.95, 1 scallion pancake $4.90, tax... and total.. so readers, should we pay the entire meal and tips? or should we skip the tip and pay for the meal only? Finally, we decided to pay the entire bill and no tip. All 3 of us had such a memorable lunch there and would NEVER EVER go back there again.
(1)
Anastasia R.
So you are a secretary in an office of one of the big 4 financial consultant firms and the economy collapses...almost. Everyone in your office seems to be doing ok but there is a bit of underlying stress as everyone tries to avoid bumping into the 800 lb gorilla sitting by the coffee machine. Lay offs are happening at companies all over the country, business is hard, and everyone is scared shitless of loosing their job. I usually don't take a lunch break, I just eat at my desk, but I really needed to get some air last week so I took myself out for Sushi at the Samurai Eatery. I like sushi places because I live under the illusion that it can't take that long to make because you don't have to cook it. This is usually not the case, but Samurai pulled through for me. My soup, dumplings and spicy tuna came out one after another almost as soon as I ordered. This was a wonderful little reprieve, great service, cheap and fantastically fresh plus I was out of there in under a half hour and back in the office before I could even be a blip in the radar.
(4)
Ella F.
This place is good for lunch, they have a great lunch special with 2 rolls and a salad or soup for about $10. The sushi is average; I've definitely had better. However, for the price it's good. I came once for dinner with my dad before a Celtics game. The service was very speedy (which was good, we'd had issues with that when we'd go to Ginza), but again, the food was meh. I'll go again for the convenience/price, but not unless it's for lunch or overtime dinner at work.
(3)
Candice P.
Samurai is a good spot for a quick, cheap, and filling lunch. If you are not in the mood for your basic workday sandwich or want something healthier than a slice of pizza then I suggest you try sushi. Honestly, there is really nothing special about this place but for $8.15 you get two rolls of high quality sushi and a salad. If you are in the Downtown Crossing/Financial District area I think this is the best sushi place. There is not really anything that makes this place stand out (except for the homeless person I see sleeping in the doorway every morning), it's just your run of the mill sushi place.
(3)
Roxana S.
It was a great place to eat loved the ice cream!!!
(5)
Deanna W.
Pretty good. The fish is alright and they give you a decent amount of it. Price isn't too bad either. I've eaten here a few times and it's probably my first choice of sushi places in the downtown area, but if I really wanted good sushi I'd probably just take green line down to Allston.
(3)
Lindsay B.
The food is probably a 2 or a 3 - it's standard mediocre sushi. The reason it gets 4 is because the specials are amazing and if you do delivery, they're available all day/night. The service was..weird. We were the only table there and it was really slow - my sushi came out about 7-8 mins after my boyfriends. But seriously, price wise, it's amazing.
(4)
Elisabeth G.
Last weekend, I my friend and ordered delivery sushi from here and were called A HALF HOUR LATER, after our food had been prepared, to be told that they wouldn't deliver to my apartment in Dorchester after 6pm anymore (they have done so a number of times in the past). So basically, until I decide to eat like a senior citizen, I can never get delivery from here again! This same friend and I have probably spent the equivalent of a semester of Harvard tuition at this place (and they know this). It just seems like really bad customer service to me. I will miss you Samurai, but my loyalty is to the one who will bring Salmon Avocado rolls to my door at 8pm on a Friday.
(2)
Heather G.
I only ever got pickup or delivery dinner from Samurai, so I cannot speak to the restaurant's in-dining experience. However, after eating here many times (it was always the quickest to deliver to my apartment), here is what I don't like about Samurai: 1. they charge you $1 for a little plastic container of extra teryaki if you ask for it. It's 2oz of teryaki. Seriously? 2. the beef is really mushy and has a pulverized consistency. Tastes like nothing 3. The rice never seems to be fresh, and sticks together in one congealed stack. 4. One time, we found a green rubber band (like the one that is used to bundle greens) mixed in with the veggies atop the rice. 5. It's about $2 more expensive than the same plate of chicken teryaki/rice you get at the food court, and WORLDS less tasty. 6. The sushi has never been fresh when I ordered it for dinner. The rice is always chewy and the fish has no flavor, leading me to believe it's been sitting out all day and/or they were using the leftovers they couldn't sell earlier. After the rubber band incident, I realized that, while this place delivers quickly, i'd rather just walk to Faneuil Hall and get Megumi for less money.
(1)
Sarah T.
I love this place! The sushi's great and it's my "go to" place whenever I want some sushi in downtown that's affordable and yummy. I usually come late at night with my friends, so I'm happy that they're still open so late even if downtown looks pretty stranded at night. It's a great place for you and your friends to talk comfortably and enjoy a good meal. The service is okay, as long as they're not rude then I'm all set! I definitely recommend this place!
(4)
Julie C.
Went here today for lunch( i braved the frigid temps for my sushi craving). Normally this place is really good and fresh but on this particular day, it was so-so. I give it 4 stars b/c when I have gone here before its been really good. The salmon wasn't so tasty and the rolls just seem like mush fish that was old. They do have a pretty reasonable lunch deal 2 rolls and your choice of miso soup or salad for 8.25, ( i remember when it was only 7.25!) oh that inflation! anyway, its quick cheap good eat if you are looking for a lunch time spot. The place gets crowded since its so small but they are pretty good about turning tables. Service could be more attentive , you usually need to grab someone's attention.
(4)
Zyna P.
Came here for Mother's Day. I uploaded a couple of photos. The staff are so nice and the food is awesome!
(5)
Cahaya S.
still good stuff! But on my last visit back east -- prices had gone up a bit ..... Lunch special rolls are now $9.25.
(4)
Jessica P.
Can't beat $5 rolls and $5 glass of wine. I come here when I'm craving sushi and I don't feel like spending alot. The rolls are pretty good for the price and they have a decent selection. The service is really slow and kinda vanishes at some points. Not sure where they go because the place is literally one long room, but if you need them don't hold your breath. Definitely want to try their lunch box special, I think it's less than $10 and it seems like you get a ton of food.
Ordered takeout for a late night dinner. The sushi combos seem to be a pretty good value. We ordered two combos and we were pretty close to $25. We had a coupon that gave us either a free california roll or crab rangoon once you exceed $25. Two combos and a fried spring roll did the trick. Initially, they didn't give us the miso soup, but they quickly brought out the soups once we mentioned it. The fish wasn't that fresh. It just didn't taste right. The rolls were a good size, not a lot of rice in them. The Salmon nigiri sushi was sliced very very thin. Quite a nice demonstration of knife skill by the chef. The rice was a bit too sweet for my taste. Miso soup was bland and didn't have any seaweed. The worst part was the fried Spring roll. It was like chewing on a tasteless crunchy sponge filled with oil. Points to Samurai for making the spring rolls instead of buying the frozen kind from the market. I could tell from the lack of uniformity of the two pieces. I might have caught them on a bad night and it was 10pm.
(2)
Sara S.
This place is in kind of in a strange location... next to the side enterence of TJMaxx and Boston Sports Club in Downtown Crossing. I didn't notice it until about three months ago, and have been eyeing it as they have ridiculous lunch specials since. In celebration of my newly aquired iPhone, I decided to go and knock this place off my list of sushi places to try. For $8.15, one can get a miso soup/green salad with ginger dressing, and two regular rolls. The list is HUGE, and includes things like California, spicy tuna, una avo... the ones that aren't too crazy or ridiculous. They also have rolls that aren't on the $8.15 list that are still really freaking cheap. This is, like, Zen320 cheap, except I think this place is better than Zen320. I got a salad, spicy tuna roll, and una avo roll. The rolls were great, although the rice was warm. I had to wait a bit for it to cool down, because something just does not seem right about warm sushi rice. Once eaten, they were good. Not Douzo or Suishaya good, but great quality for the price. The salad tasted OK but slightly pathetic looking, and the ginger dressing wasn't all that great. The service was great, and I love the atmosphere with the light wood. Tons of seating. And the sushi chef today was a woman! Girl power. This place delivers to Beacon Hill, which is AWESOME. Not five stars because of the warm rice and pathetic salad. However, I totally recommend this place, especially for lunch in the Financial District/Downtown!
(4)
Leighann F.
On Thursday we had lunch at Samurai I ate so much you'd a thought I was high. The sushi was yum And it filled up my tum But I've had better, I can't tell a lie. We sat down and chatted through lunch On crab rangoons and tempura we did munch The tea went to waste Like mushrooms it did taste And it made all of our faces go scrunch By the end of the meal we were satisfied "The service was quick!" somebody cried. We paid the bill After we'd had our fill And we were glad Samurai Eatery was tried.
(3)
Jennifer M.
LOVE this place! The Lunch Sushi/Sashimi special #3 is fantastic, and so affordable! We order it from my office and the super chearp delivery is fast enough that our Miso is still steaming ;) The sashimi is very fresh and juicy, yum!
(4)
EricaLynn J.
Samurai Eatery is an above-average restaurant (great, quick service, big menu, decorated neatly) with just average food. I enjoyed my rolls, sushi, salad, and soup but nothing blew me away or was all that memorable. I would return for a quick lunch or something to take out, perhaps, but it's not going to be my first choice.
(3)
Aditi R.
They have phenomenal lunch specials - though I have to say their rolls aren't that great either. I guess for the price you pay, you get something accordingly. They have a wide variety of lunch specials so it caters to everyone's asian taste! Plus on a budget. I love their seaweed salad. They give you plenty of it and it's spiced well. Their lunch rolls are regular rolls and their miso soup is decent as well. The salad option is good as I really like the dressing. I've gone to sit there and eat as well and one time with a large group of people. They had us sit in this private room which was nice and cozy and made us feel like we were in an asian restaurant. If you want your food delivered they're fairly quick with that as well and do not charge a delivery charge if you order more than $15. Overall, for a quick sushi fix during work, I'll find myself here, but otherwise I'll try much better establishments like Fugakyu/Douzo/Oishii for good tasting, different sushi.
(3)
Bryan P.
Fools! God will torture your soul in eternity for rating his House of Living Samurai any lower than a 5. The sushi is speciously fresh, the calamari aggrandizing, and the courses par for. Inexpensive, atmospheric, and tolerant of gringo. The portions could be larger, perhaps, but the Americans should be smaller.
(5)
Daniel M.
Cute, clean, fast, delicious. These are all things that speak to me come time to lunch. So when we had to say goodbye to someone at work today (seems to be happening a lot lately) I went on the prowl to find sushi near work that could fit the bill. Off to Yelp I went and after verifying that a few trusted Yelpers (Thanks guys!) dug this place I figured it was safe to bring the work folk here. They didn't disappoint. I was struck first by how small the restaurant is. For the neighborhood I know I shouldn't expect much more but it is pretty teeny. The second thing I noticed were the heating elements for Shabu (!!). Sadly I didn't see anything pertaining to Shabu Shabu on the menu. :'( Ah well, sushi it is then. It's a hard knock life really. The food arrived quickly and was pretty decent fare. We had a mix of spicy tuna, (crispy?) tuna, and the dragon roll. All were good, the dragon roll being the stand-out item. The presentation and flavor of this roll really stood out. Served on a rectangular platter the roll was a work of art. Truly a well thought-out piece that managed to taste just as good as it looked. Well played. While we dined we saw people come in for lunch and leave quickly. This is a good thing when you're pressed for time. Service was perfunctory, they could step that up a bit, but nothing too horrible. Also good to know, they deliver! That can come in handy some day. This is a good lunch spot and I will be back when I can't spare enough time to hit up Chinatown.
(3)
Joanne L.
I came here today with a few friends since I had gift certificates. I ordered the sushi regular, a couple of friends ordered the combos (eel and chicken teriyaki), and my husband ordered spicy tofu. My sushi regular was just "eh." I've definitely had waaaay better sushi. First of all, the sushi was kind of warm. Second, the fish didn't taste as fresh as it could be. The combo dishes looked good and were quite large. It comes with a California Roll, tempura, rice, salad, and then the main entree. They had no great comments, but finished the meal since it wash just "eh". Finally, the worst dish of all was the spicy tofu. My husband soon realized, he probably should've just stuck with the Japanese food. The peas in the dish were quite hard. It tasted like you were eating peanuts. It seemed like the peas were old and/or dried out and then cooked in this dish. I would have to say the service was friendly and fast, but we will never go back again.
(2)
Shane S.
Ordered the chicken teriyaki but got something that was definitely not teriyaki and I'm not sure if it was even chicken... Some sort of fried salty meat over greasy fried rice.
(1)
Kristin G.
I eat here at least once or twice a week as this is one of the only sushi places in the financial district, and I have to say the location and value keep me coming back. You can't find a better sushi lunch deal downtown -- two rolls and soup or salad for under $10. The sushi isn't the most delicious or creative I've ever had, but the lunch deal includes a large array of rolls that are light and fresh (I would highly recommend the spicy shrimp roll as the spicy mayo here is great). The miso soup here is possibly the best I've ever had -- very flavorful with a nice amount of scallions, seaweed and tofu. They also serve delicious, complimentary tea. Unfortunately, the service at Samurai leaves something to be desired. Sometimes I feel rushed, while other times I have to beg for my check. There are some waitresses that are prompt and accurate, and a few that are always terribly confused. All in all Samurai is a good value in a convenient location with inconsistent service -- nothing fancy, just cheap sushi.
(3)
Diana B.
The lunch special is GREAT! Miso soup and two rolls for $9 =) great food at a price you CANT BEAT!! My friend ordered the eel terriaki delux combo box and was very happy with his order. Nice size meal--I shall return for!
(5)
Sean M.
so des ka! Probably the worst green tea I have ever had, it had a faint motor oil aroma and was light brown. The miso soup that came with the sashimi lunch special was average and had quite a bit of tofu and a tiny amount of seaweed. The fish is not very high quality. We had mostly sashimi and there was painfully obvious hydrolyzed protein breakdown in the fish, like it had been previously frozen, probably multiple times. The soft shell crab was flash-fried and served with spicy mayo, that was pretty good. They burned the eel (unagi), thus robbing it of any flavor and made it dry. The salmon roe (ikura) also had that "past expiration date" flavor that just does not give one that "warm fuzzy" required when eating RAW fish. We had a time getting the check, since we didn't eat everything and they thought we were not finished. * Stick to the Maki, and ... * Use lots of wasabi, drink alcohol, and... * Consider getting something cooked. * Don't eat a la carte the prices are per piece and not so cheap. * The service was attentive. * Price/Value is lacking.
(2)
Cecilia L.
Fish sometimes tastes fishy, rice is far too sweet, menu is over-Americanized and prices are too high for the quality. Despite that, I gave Samurai a three-star rating until last night, when I had a spicy tuna roll and yellowtail roll here. They tasted funny but I ate them anyway, subjecting myself to a torturous night of stomach flu. NOT FRESH.
(1)
Alice C.
seasoning on the luscious Volcano roll was perfect! Can order online (phone is better though according to owner) and pick-up and pay in cash (credit card option available) Place was hopping at 1pm on a Friday
(5)
Amanda L.
You can definitely tell this place has a lot of regulars, because the employees know most of them by name. When I used to work at Filene's Basement, Samurai was literally 5 seconds away from the employee entrance. I used to come here a lot when I wanted my sushi fix, and was too lazy to walk up to the sushi place in the corner mall. This place is nicer than you would expect on the inside, and it doesn't reek of the ugliness that is Franklin St. The employees are all very friendly and like I said, they remember you if you come in often enough. While I've never done sit down service, the fact that there is a constant flow of people during the lunch hour, I suspect it easily fits into the one hour allotted lunch hour. I have always gotten takeout, and while I've either called it in or ordered straight in the restaurant, I don't think I've ever waited more than 15 minutes. The sushi I've ordered has always been fresh and delicious, and the prices aren't too shabby. Their edamame is cheaper than a lot of other sushi places, and they give you a lot. Their lunch specials are a great bargain and will leave you feeling full for the rest of the day. Now that I work in South Station, it's more of a trek for me, but not by much so I still enjoy coming here from time to time.
(4)
Thy L.
Another place that serves mediocre sushi in downtown Boston, but has a good lunch menu. For $8.75 (tax included) you can choose two sushi rolls from a list of 24 items and get a side of salad or soup. The list is fairly generous since you get to pick the popular staples like spicy tuna, spicy salmon, eel & avocado/cucumber, and so forth. Good deal! Sushi Time is a bit cheaper, but I like the options at Samurai. The people here are also nicer :)
(3)
Deb K.
2 rolls of sushi and a salad: $8 Bottle of Pinot to share with the ladies: $22 Making reservations at lunch: Free Fun girlie lunch to start off the weekend early: Priceless
(5)
Erica S.
This is probably my favorite downtown lunch spot. I always leave stuffed, and never spend more than $10 or so. There are tons of awesome lunch specials, most notably the deal for 2 rolls of sushi and soup or salad for $7.95. The sushi is fresh and better than you'd expect for the price, and there is a large selection. I also highly recommend the chicken teriyaki-- it's a large portion, and the chicken is all lean white meat (I'm picky about meat and this is good). Tip: If you show up with a party of 4 or more, they will let you sit in the bamboo room in the front, if it's available. It's a sunny, cozy little nook all to itself, filled with bamboo plants and cushioned wood benches. Best seats in the house!
(4)
Anne K.
I have gotten the lunch takeout from here and have been happy everytime. For $8 you get two rolls and your choice of soup or salad - such a steal! Dined in once for lunch, and was pleased. While crowded everytime, there is never a long wait. Love it for the sushi, just wish there wasn't weird 90's music videos playing. Seriously. Check it out.
(5)
David M.
I'm a bit torn on how to rate this place. I just got back from eating lunch here. I got seated quickly, and was able to order in minutes. I got the lunch special, which consisted of two rolls with the salad or soup (honestly, do they have to be cheap and make you choose. Miso soup is not expensive...). The salad came quickly, but minus half a star for it being shaved carrots, iceberg lettuce and cucumbers. I like more green... and less white in my salad. The ginger dressing was great however. A few minutes after i finished the salad, and I think this was just luck as opposed to good service, the rolls came out. They were still just a bit warm, and the salmon was as good as I've ever had. The eel was also pretty good. Bonus points for drizzling a soy reduction over the top. Minus points for the occasional very small bone in the eel. I have to hold off on five stars for the waitress dropping off my check, then walking to the far side of the restaurant and never coming back. I had to flag down another waitress. There was also the horrible, worst I've ever had, green tea. (see Sean M's review for a good description) For ten dollars, this was a pretty solid place for lunch. Since a sushi lunch usually costs 15+, I'll give this place a 4 stars... but I hope they clean up their act so I can change it to five one day.
(4)
Juliana N.
Had lunch here with a few girlfriends. The wait was about 10 mintues during lunchtimes, but not bad. We sat down and ordered mostly from the lunch specials. Portion is okay and price is okay for the downtown Boston area. It's a pretty small space inside but the turnover isnt too bad since people are going in and out. i'd go back for lunch!
(3)
huong n.
the service was ok. the decor was a tacky imitation of a japanese restaurant. the lunch deal was not that great. i had the eel cucumber roll and the spicy tuna hand roll - needed to turn on the "eat to live" switch to finish the meal. the miso soup was a waste of resource to make it.
(1)
Jennifer G.
Love this place! Great, fresh food. Super friendly owners. Pretty good service. It's a regular lunch spot for us. Try the super-addictive Tiffany roll :)
(5)
Kristen J.
I've had a lot of sushi from here, and what I can say is that it is consistently good. And although they recently raised their prices slightly, it's still a lot cheaper than most places around. I love the two roll + soup/salad at lunch option. I usually order spicy tuna and salmon avocado with a miso soup. They will deliver right to my office too, which is great! If I go after work and order to go the waitress usually pours me a cup of tea while I wait. They serve beer too, if you are interested in a Sapporo with your sushi. Oh, I almost forgot, the TV playing Japanese music videos (or on occasion Careless Whisper by George Michael) completes the experience.
(4)
Michele A.
It's fabulous because it's cheap and delicious. It's not so fabulous because it takes them forever to deliver, and on Grub Hub you can't just order online and you have to call instead. Either way, they deliver and hot sushi isn't really an issue. Yay Samurai!
(4)
Megan P.
I really like this place. They have great sushi for an amazing price. I also love their bubble tea and like to order one to go on the way out. The service is pretty good sometimes you have to get their attention but once they see you need something they come right over. Love taking my lunch break here.
(4)
Tiffany F.
Good for a working lunch - the service is quick so you won't be out of the office for a full hour and still get the luxury of table service rather than eating at one of the many grab and go spots around the neighborhood. Service is good and they are very attentive - probably because they know their lunch time crowd isn't trying to sit around and order rounds of sake for hours. Sushi is decent. Not the best, but good and for the price it's a decent deal. Particularly the $10.95 two roll lunch combo that comes with a choice of miso soup or salad as well. Warning: if you're coming with a group of +4, they'll put you in a private room/booth which is nice that they can accommodate for it, but you'll have no choice but to crawl across the seats. So ladies, don't say I didn't warn you.
(3)
L T.
This is not a good restaurant. The food is not disgusting, but it's not good either. Pro: - 1 waitress was very attentive. Kudos to her Cons: - Another waitress mistook our order - They put lettuce pretty much in all of their sushi rolls. I mean, I get it, lettuce is cheap, but that doesn't mean you should put it everywhere! - Do not order their bubble teas. We ordered honeydew bubble tea. Specifically asking for it to be cold ... it came out warm in and strange looking green. Will not be going back.
(2)
Jonathan N.
I walked pass this restaurant numerous times over the pass year but never have the chance to try it out. Today I did and it wasn't a good experience at all. I walked in the restaurant at about 3pm and the place is complete empty. I ordered 3 sushi dishes and a green tea ice cream tempura for dessert. The sushi look and tastes really bad. The rice is too soft. The fish are not fresh. The ice cream dessert came out all melted and I couldn't belly finish it up. The place is pretty cute looking with nice setting with Japanese decorations. The sushi are cheap so I guess you get what you pay for except for the green tea ice cream. Which cost almost $7.00 that serves in a small bowl. Save your money and go to Sushi time in Corner mall or the sushi place in Walgreens down the street. They tastes way better than here. I don't think I'll be coming back here again.
(1)
Joelle K.
This is a very average sushi/Chinese food place. I stopped in for lunch last week and had the pork fried rice. I was grateful that the server brought a fork with my meal, as there was no way I could eat with chopsticks. The rice was pretty good, but much better when I added soy sauce. The pork was overlooked and chewy. Our server hardly checked on us and took forever to get us the check, even when it was obvious that we had been done for quite some time. I'll be checking out one of the many other Chinese food options in the area before I return.
(3)
Christian H.
TL;DR: Sushi had tiny fish bone in it (warning: the following is kind of gross) I had eaten takeout here probably 5 or 6 times (I work across the street) and always enjoyed their sushi rolls and miso soup. However, last night when working late I got takeout and had a very bad experience, which gave me the sense that they rushed my order. I got the sweet potato roll, which had undercooked sweet potato (had always been great in prior visit), and the New York Roll (eel), which, upon eating the last piece, I felt something tiny and hard in it. I spit it out but subsequently had a scratching in my throat, which turned out to be a tiny fish bone in my tonsil. Sorry for the graphic review - long story short, I cannot recommend this place to anyone.
(1)
Ryan W.
Normally I would give a place like this 3 stars because the food itself is definitely not something to jump out the window for, but there are several redeeming factors that make this place 4 stars for me: 1. They were open during blizzard Hercules when many other businesses gave up. Thank you for feeding me. 2. This place is a GREAT value. If you order online, you can get three rolls for for $15. That's less than the super market and it is better quality. Overall the online take out pricing is very reasonable. 3. They will make the sushi with brown rice for you which is my preferred method. 4. The sushi is good, just not great. Enjoy!
(4)
Lisa B.
So I would of never ever thought of eating here! My daughter found this place on her college break... I live quite close, and I am always looking for someplace new to dine... I was leery at first, because they are REALLY inexpensive... However, the sushi (spicy tuna and salmon) I had was very fresh. Definitely sushi grade. The Miso soup was spot on! Service was great, very attentive, but not pushy... and most importantly they are VERY CLEAN!
(4)
Adrianna C.
I have been coming to this place for years and 95% it's amazing! Pros: -Their specialty rolls! I love the "bagel roll" and "dynamite roll" -green tea is fresh -fast! -love the dessert mochi Cons: -their crab rangoons. Barely any crab filling in them. I suggest the scallion pancakes instead!! -sushi is a treat for me, so I like to go all out. When I order delivery, sometimes they forget my extra spicy mayo on the side.
(5)
JoJo B.
I love sushi and this place is just meh! The bagel roll had bones in it which is never pleasant! I would say that the only thing going for this place is its location (if you work Downtown, as I do) and the price (pretty cheap). The chicken teriyaki, is unlike any i've had before but I wouldn't say it was great!
(2)
Robert C.
When I ordered a tuna roll, there was a bad taste to it. They tried to say that it was a result of ordering brown rice with the roll, but I have had tuna rolls with brown rice before. They did return the roll and prepare a new one for me, but I was overall surprised by the poor quality of the fish.
(2)
Ngan T.
Good lunch deals and private booth. That's it. Service is inattentive. Sushi fell apart between chopsticks and gigantic chunks of cucumber. Miso soup needed more miso. Tasted like chicken broth.
Takes Reservations : No Delivery : Yes Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch Parking : Street Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
The popularity of Chinese food in America can be adjudicated by the appearance of China Town in many major cities in the United State of America. The popular trend of ordering or opting for Chinese take away food isn't unknown in America. Chinese take away food comes to rescue when you're too tired from work or too exhausted to cook. No one can resist the temptation of eating spicy noodles, shrimp, chicken, beef or pork cooked in the sweet and spicy sauce. The cooking method of authentic Chinese food is a lot different compared to what is served in America.
Generally, Chinese use dark meat small bones and organs to cook dishes but this changes when you are eating American-Chinese fusion food prepared using white boneless meat cooked with broccoli, carrots and onions. Back in China, the food is less spicy and oily as they favor steaming and braising method for cooking the most popular dishes. So, if you have a taste for authentic Chinese food, then try finding a real Chinese restaurant in the city. You can also try the most popular fusion Chinese food like Pecking Duck, Chicken Feet, Hot Pot, Shrimp Dumpling Soup, Mapo Tofu, Wontons, Chop Suey, Egg Rolls and not to forget Fortune Cookies.
There are not many restaurants in America serving authentic Chinese food. A little research on Restaurant Listings directory can help you locate the best Chinese restaurants in the city. Chinese cuisine is continuously evolving, and you can find a variety of dishes categorized as the food for lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, and diabetic friendly. So, if you have a group of friends with different taste patterns, save the hassle and visit the nearest Chinese restaurant in your city.
Aretha B.
Tasty Sushi! I really enjoyed the bagel roll - it was a fried roll with eel, scallion, cucumber and cream cheese, topped with tobiko, eel sauce, and spicy mayo. It was like a cream puff! crispy and filled with hot creamy cheese and eel. My boyfriend loved it too. I also had some other eel roll that was 9 bucks and it was also tasty, though not as tasty as the hot roll. I tried the philly roll - normally I ask for regular salmon instead of smoked - but this smoked salmon was soft and had a nice smoky fragrance - not artificial. They don't skimp on the cream cheese, which I really prefer. The service was good. The sushi rice was just ok, nothing masterful. The atmosphere... would've been better without the chinese singing lady doing a weird rendition of "Beat It" on the flatscreen TV. No music would've been better. So, there goes that star. We will definitely be coming back again for the bagel roll.
(4)Dennis L.
Well, I've yet to be really disappointed by this place, but not blown away. However, it is much better than average. Its best selling point is the prices. The lunch specials and combo boxes are really reasonably priced for what they give you with them, and fits with my price/quality ratio. It's the little things that matter here... The wasabi is flavorful, and they give you plenty, but not a massive blob, and it's nice that they go through the minute expense of giving you a little plastic tray for your soy sauce so that you can dash the bottom of the sushi with soy sauce and lay wasabi and ginger on top so that you don't get the 'blended' taste of having to lay your soy sauce all over your sushi before you eat it. Also, they use Yamasa instead of a cheap alternative. I do not like the Philadelphia rolls or spicy tuna rolls that much here... something with the flavor of the ingredients other than the tuna for each. I stick to the _________ and avocado rolls generally. The sesame dressing for the salad is just right here, not overwhelming the vegetables like other dressings. The combo boxes are filling as a large meal (for me), the tempura alright, though Ginza does it slightly better, but otherwise, very good for the area. I just wish there was a little bit more rice vinegar to the sushi rice... but that's a personal preference. It seems flavored to avoid offending more than an exclusion. The sushi in general is mildly filled, as opposed to stuffed to the gills at Fin's/Symphony and Koreana. It can be busy at lunch, so I either go a little earlier or call take-out. I won't list dishes to try, since everyone seems to have their own set opinions on what they want at a sushi restaurant before they walk in...
(4)S S.
I used to eat here all the time, however, the service has gone downhill. The last two times I ordered sushi dishes. Both times I arrived before lunch time, around 11:45 AM. It took them 25 minutes to prepare sushi. I'm going to give them one last chance, then find another sushi place close to work.
(3)Renizzles M.
We used Samurai Eatery as a weekly option for our office lunch delivery. It is the reason I've stayed clear of sushi in general for quite a while which is disappointing. The maki rolls are tasteless and often arrive warm. Warm raw fish just doesn't sit well with me. I've even tried the veg makis (sweet potato) and it's just bland. Miso soup is basically broth with one or two thumb tac sized tofu pieces. I'm glad we've since found a new place to go, since I haven't had much worse...ever.
(2)A. W.
I like hiding in here on my lunch breaks.....with a gigantic can of Kirin Ichiban. Sometimes the service is a bit slow, but most of the time you get seated quickly, and served soon after. The lunch specials are reasonable, like Miso soup or salad (go with the soup) and 2 sushi rolls of your choice. The sushi is fresh and they have an awesome selection, crispy shrimp nori rolls. ohhh yeah. I haven't been for dinner, but I definately think if you've got an hour for lunch downtown and crave some japanese cuisine...Samurai is one of the best sushi joints. AND they play easy listening Richard Clayderman background music for you to dine to ;)
(4)K J.
I should have known that the Chinese and Japanese have some touchy feelings about the past. and it came out full force when I thought I should play safe and went ahead and ordered fried rice from this place the first time. Fail. Couple of months later, after sushi has has become my favorite thing to eat, I went again since I could think of no other place where I can get it in the Downtown area. One star off because it is not the best sushi I have had, but it is good for the price you pay. $9 total for eight rolls. It sure will not be the last you spend on food though (...add the 3 bucks for soup late afternoon and dinner had to be early since I was hungry by 6 and did not have the patience to fix something for myself). Service was good and quick. I was there for less than 10 minutes after I placed my order at the desk The wasabe was particularly strong and hit my nose a couple of times. To sum it up, convenient location, quick service and good food will definitely make me come back again. But I will stick with the sushi, No Thank You.
(4)Cindy C.
3.5 stars. I can't give it 4 stars b/c you ofcourse are not going to get rockstar quality fish for these prices, but for $10 for a quick fresh light lunch, you can't do any better. The staff here are very nice, and the service is quick/efficient. I also adore the ginger dressing that comes with the salad in their lunch special. Samurai has been on my regular lunch rotation in the financial district for years
(4)Mike C.
Mediocre sushi, brain dead staff. Don't waste your time or money here.
(2)Mary N.
Good if you're looking for a fancy yet not over the top sushi place. The bento box is lovely
(4)Tiff L.
The first time I went, it was pretty okay. The second time, it was bad. Do not order any drinks! The bubble tea tasted more like water than tea. It tasted really nasty and it waste of $5.00.
(3)Anna K.
Excellent sushi! Always fresh and quick delivery.
(4)Shan C.
Came here for a quick lunch, I am not a Sushi Fan, so I went for the Chicken Teriyaki, and indeed it came very quickly and let me tell you, It was perfectly tasty. Not overcooked, just perfect tender chicken and the lettuce was wonderful. I think I may come back again, just for that lunch item.
(4)Michelle K.
Sushi was quick but nothing exciting. I ordered an avocado roll, a spicy tuna roll, and a seaweed salad to go. Avocado roll was very tasty, a little sloppy though. Spicy tuna was eh, not extremely fresh but edible. Seaweed was tasty and a huge portion, but its pretty hard to screw that up. I'd go back if I was by myself just getting take out, but for a sit down meal, I wouldn't bother.
(3)ilive t.
Came here with a few coworkers for lunch and I was thoroughly disappointed. My coworker for some reason really like this place and insisted we come here even though sakurabana and ginza would have taken about the same time to walk to, order and eat. Maybe it's a sign of tough times in the Downtown/Financial District but when we went in at 11:45 till we left at 12:45, the place was pretty empty. The first red flag for me was the menu. It was the most americanized menu I have ever seen, overly colorful, too many teriyaki/fried/crunchy items. For appetizers we order edamame, gyoza, spring rolls and scallion pancake. These came rather quickly, which was expected since the place was practically empty. The edamame was undercooked, the center had the consistency of a peanut, way too hard for my taste. The scallion pancake was extremely bland, no scallion flavor at all. Gyoza filling was this mushy stuff that didn't taste like anything (pork?/shrimp? - nobody knows...). I didn't try the spring roll. For lunch we order the dragon roll (eel inside, avacado outside), the rainbow roll (crab inside, fish/avacado outside), sakura roll (shrimp tampura inside, spicy tuna outside), and the dynamic roll (spicy tuna inside), and a sashimi regular. The dynamic roll came first - the spicy mayo was so overpowering that there was no tuna flavor left. I'm not a fish snob...but it at least needs to be decent. I guess it was preparing me for the sashimi, expectations down a notch...tray of tuna, salmon, cooked shrimp, octopus, red snapper came. Ok, so I went for the red snapper...it was like biting into a snow ball. The fish was obviously FROZEN before. Ok, ok, maybe its the piece i ate, let's try the salmon - same thing, chilling cold, tuna, same thing! No flavorless spicy tuna could have prepared me for THAT! That is just unbeleivable...the whole point of sashimi is the taste of fresh fish, freezing it defeats the whole purpose, maybe it was never that fresh to begin with, who knows. The dragon roll was somewhat of a breath of fresh air since it has no raw fish and it's so simple it's very very hard to get it wrong. I lost my appetite for anything with raw fish at this point and didn't bother trying the other rolls. Service kept this review from a 1 star though, everyone was super friendly and attentive to empty cups.
(2)Brendan M.
If the line at Sakura-Bana is just too long and you really have a craving for sushi, Samurai makes for a decent back-up. They do a reasonable sushi roll lunch deal: 2 different rolls plus miso soup or salad for $7.25. That said, they are simply not up to the level of Sakura-Bana, and apart from the roll deal, they actually make for a more expensive lunch spot. So why compromise?
(3)Keya B.
Love the chicken teriyaki and sushi lunch deals. Service is usually good, although they seem to get lost when the place is full.
(3)Peanuts The Guinea Pig B.
The quality is very good for the price and they take their food very seriously here. It's my favorite lunch while at work. I eat here about 3 times a week. And the owner is one of the nicest people ever.
(4)Mike D.
Quick, attentive service, but the food served was just OK. The tempura in my bento box was on the heavy/oily side. The broiled eel was on the underbroiled side. My lunch partner's gyoza were very nice though, and her avocado salad looked great.
(3)Sutee D.
Given that we were the only people there on a Saturday night, the sushi was better than could have been expected. The temperature of the rolls threw me off though. Rolls/ingredients that are traditionally cold were warm and vice versa. Made our stomachs feel a bit weird afterwards.
(2)Angel R.
Samurai has treated me so awsome:) Last night I went there the second time I believe with a good friend I gotten say that was one of the best dinner dates. It had a few people (it was nasty rain outside). We had a nice lady who gave us great service (she was waiting all the tables too! We started of with some taro bubble teas which were quite delicious (gotta say thou it was a lil on the pricey side). We had a good variety on the menu too alot to choose from with pictures! which helps if u never even heard of half of the stuff. Me and my friend decided to get the shrimp teriyaki delux box which I think was an awsome price for what it was. It consisted of 6 sushi rolls, shrimp teriyaki on white rice a salad, crispy fried shrimp with fried veggies and soup. for like 15 bucks awsomeness went to my tummy. We didnt stop there though we decided to order 2 green tea fried ice creams which was a first for me but it was...DA BOMB! lol i love everything on my plates i left nothing to be thrown away. It loved the chill atmosphere and everything. Our bill was a bit steep for two but it was one time i actually didnt regret getting everything i ordered, a place to put a pin in. They will see me again I can assure them :)
(5)Mina I.
$7.25 for 2 rolls soup or salad anytime between 11am - 4pm = super deal. I recommend going for a late lunch (after 2pm) so you get your rolls made fresh, it makes a big difference in the spicy rolls! This place is pretty good for sushi I haven't tried anything else.. They offer shabu/hot pot but only after 4pm or 5pm.. The staff is very friendly but service is a little slow so I don't advise you go here if you're in any rush. General thumbs up for the Roll Lunch!
(3)Nicole B.
the four stars is for their beagle roll alone! a deep fried eel (i believe) roll smothered in a delicious sauce! yummy yummy!
(4)Ashley M.
We order from Samurai at least once/week - they know us well - and they almost always screw up our order. Nothing too bad - but they'll bring us miso soup instead of salad or they'll just forget it altogether or something. Sushi's fine. We like the spicy tuna rolls. Its cheap, its convenient, they deliver. If you live/work in the area it makes sense, but I wouldn't journey downtown to eat there.
(2)Ankita d.
It is in the financial district and is open past 6pm. That's enough to make it my favorite dinner place! Seriously, if you tell them you're really hungry, they'll deliver in under 20 minutes and despite what everyone else says, they have the absolute BEST spicy tuna rolls ever. It's fast, it's cheap, and it delivers. What more can a working girl ask for?
(3)Carol B.
Rus and I stopped in here while we were wandering about Boston. We were both starved so we hustled in here even though it was quite empty. I got the Futomaki Roll and Rus got the Shrimp Tempura Roll. While waiting, we asked how much the Miso Soup was, to which the waitress said, "I can just give it to you." Sure! The broth on the miso soup wasn't salty. I liked it. We also decided to order two different types of roe, a la carte. The first one were those really big fish roe balls...very oily when you bite into it...I didnt care for it. The first were the standard crunchy little roe that usually top your sushi. I thought that this one was pretty yummy. My futomaki roll was ok...I don't know if the egg or some other ingredient was rancid, but it had a weird taste to it. After I picked out this yellow substance, it was edible again. Rus devoured his Shrimp Tempura Roll without complaints and then went on to eat a strawberry and vanilla mochi. I hate that gum-like texture on the outside of mochi, but I tried a little bit too. Good service. Not rushed at all. Standard prices.
(3)Paul D.
Very poor selection and all tested the same and not very good. The gyoza were simple terrible. Decor is ok. Service prompt. They advertise shabushabu but don't have it. Not coming back
(2)Anouska B.
On a light, bright and casual Saturday afternoon, Chelsie H. (shoutooooout!) and I hit up Samurai Eatery, located along an innocuous part of downtown Boston. Chelsie had been to its Samurai brother on Boylston, and had good things to say about it, so we figured it couldn't hurt. It didn't hurt. It didn't rush. It didn't really... do anything. We were lucky to sit in the private Japanese-style 'front' room, with its own screen door and its own private steps. That was fun. We then ordered some green tea, and perused the exhaustive menu. A few giggles, a few sing-alongs later (the speakers were belting out Whitney's greatest hits), and we were ready for food. Our waitress took her SWEET time to take our order, but we figured that, with only three other customers, we'd be sushi-ing in no time. No time became a very long time. We finally received our Eel Boy (a variety of eel sushi and sashimi), our Salmon Boy (ditto, with salmon), our Spicy Tuna (mmmm, spicy tunaaa) and Seaweed Salad. The Eel Sashimi and Spicy Tuna rolls were my favourite. Seemed fresh, professionally arranged, and very affordable. Alas, we didn't receive any soy sauce until we'd heard the end of the Whitney album and waved madly at the waitress. Then, we wanted to try their Bubble Teas. Mistake - our waitress returned twenty minutes later to ask if we wanted them "to go" (wait, what? why would we order them to go?!); it took another 15 minutes to receive them ("yes, for here, we want to drink them here"), and they were ridiculously sweet, lacking in 'tea', lacking in more than a handful of tapioca 'bubbles', too. Finally, we finished our meal and decided to get the check. At this point, there was one other lone diner in the restaurant. Guess how long it took to get the check. Seriously, guess? Twenty minutes. Twenty MINUTES. We split the check and went to leave. Oh, but the waitress stopped us, because she'd forgotten to add the cost of our bubble teas to the bill. You'd think she would have just let us go without paying for the poorly-made beverages. But no. Lucky for her, Chelsie H. and I are nice, honest, conflict-free Yelpers, so we paid the extra $10. [I was *this* close to stealing the bottle of soy sauce in revenge.] This place serves fairly good sushi at fairly affordable prices. It is not somewhere you can just 'pop in' for lunch, though. And the bubble teas should be avoided at ALL cost. For realz.
(2)Roark D.
I can give a fairly accurate review with this place, I've been here no less than a dozen times since I work a few blocks away. (God help downtown Boston when it feels like the next closest sushi restaurant is in Japan) The good: the food is fair, you get what you pay for. You want sushi they give you sushi. The bad: We all get a kick out of the fact that they NEVER NEVER NEEEEVVEEER get our order right. You ordered a salad? Hope you packed your own, good luck getting it. You want your food cooked a certain way? No you don't. You wanted a beer with your food? How about just a soda. They must have some kind of foreign exchange program with a sushi place in Japan, cause this place is AUTHENTIC, and when I say authentic, I mean the cute asian girls don't give a shit to hear what you ordered. The ugly: The last straw for me was when I went in with a mate of mine and our bill was $25.47. We split the bill amongst the both of us on each of our credit cards. The tall Yoko Ono looking guy in the front took the liberty of charging us both $13.00 each because he decided it would be a better idea to stand in a corner looking like a useless than pay attention in arithmetic class when he was younger. I would much rather they serve me a decapitated head on a bed of lettuce than stick the rod between my cheeks and ram a higher price up there. I don't need this.
(1)Ambrose C.
I heard about this place when someone told me that you can get a great sushi combo lunch deal for under $12. This deal includes a small number of sushi and you could choose between miso soup or salad. The first time I came here, I got a 6 piece salmon roll, 2 pieces of sushi, and 3 pieces of sashimi. Salmon roll was okay, not really memorable. The sashimi was also okay, needed some good soy sauce and wasabi to make it tastier. They also have another combo deal where you could get two rolls and a miso soup or salad for under $10. I got a Spicy tuna roll and a spicy shrimp roll. Again the sushi was decently good, had a decent amount of spice, but I felt that I did not taste much spicy shrimp or spicy tuna. During my two visits, I found the wasabi here to be a little strong, so I enjoyed it a lot more when it is put in tiny specks on top of the sushi. Gari was decent and made the sushi slightly tastier. As for the miso soups, they have been consistent, they give a decent amount of tofu and Wakame. I did not think the service was particularly great during the lunch hour. I had to wait much more than 10 minutes to get my order, so it's safe to say that you should give them a call before picking up your food because it can be quite a wait. If you are a slightly bigger eater, like I am, I do not think you can get your stomach really full from a sushi lunch combo deal (I actually went to a Chinese bakery to grab a bun for a filling dessert after that). Overall, this is not a bad place to get a decent sushi lunch combo, if you are willing to spend a little more than $10.
(3)Ariel E.
I've had sushi twice here, and each time, it's tasted off (not something you want to deal with when you're eating raw fish). The combos are A-okay, but nothing to write home about. Service is friendly.
(2)Soo Jin K.
Wah!!! I don't want to leave. Period. Don't want to go back. I dreaded this moment...you know when all good ends come to an end. The food made the melancholy moment pass smoother. I sat across from my preggo friend and we both ordered Korean food...uh, naturally, because we're at a Japanese restaurant. She ordered the kim-chee-jigae and I had the assorted raw fish with spicy sauce (hwe-doh-bopp). The jigae was really hearty and I thought that the spiciness would affect her digestion, but she seemed fine. I was really thinking that at any moment, she was going to give birth. And that would have been amazing for me to have been there to see that. We looked at each other, I stared and rubbed her belly, she laughed, we laughed, and we just knew that the next time we were going to see each other...she was going to be a mommy. Where did the time go? The last time I saw her, it was at her wedding, 3 years ago. Tears started to form in my eyes...I can't believe I'm missing out on so much! We embraced as I popped another raw fish into my mouth. Hey, can't let that go to waste. I got up, she waddled up, it was time to say our good byes. :(
(4)Nina W.
DONT GO - finding two-toned colored CAT HAIR on my sashimi was enough for me.. I went for lunch, had a bad feeling but my friend took me there so I felt bad. I got sashimi, it was like, melting in my mouth, I spit it out... Stay away
(1)Nicole C.
Blah, blah, blah. California roll was primarily cucumber. Huge chunks of it too, not small shreds. If I'd wanted a cucumber roll, I would've ordered a cucumber roll. Chicken teriyaki was extremely thinly sliced (think lox-sized slices) and had no detectable amount of teriyaki sauce on it. Nothing had any taste whatsoever. Thank God for Sriracha. Tiny portions for the price too. See ya lata, Samurai.
(1)Ellie W.
My six word memoir on Samurai: Salty like ocean salt on crack. Sushi is ok here, not the best, but holy mounds of salt, do not order anything else besides sushi. I took a chance and ordered a Chinese dish here, and I had to down 3 glasses of water afterward.
(3)Dawn A.
I had beef terriyaki over white rice. It was fine. Nothing I wanted to scream about from the mountain tops, however. The meat wasn't terribly tender but, It tasted fine. One thing that annoyed me is that there is a sign in the window stating the lunch specially is $7.95, but when I got in there the price on the menu and on my bill was $8.95. Not a huge deal, but update the sign in the window if you raised the prices. I felt a little like they lured me with that sign. I guess for downtown crossing area, it's not bad. Just not worth going out of your way for. Yet completely edible. The service was fine and pretty quick. I did not have any sushi, so I cannot comment on the sushi.
(2)Jessica L.
Awesome little find in the financial distract. Perfect location to visit after shopping in Downtown Crossing. Clean, bright, quaint with attentive wait staff and DELICIOUS SUSHI! My friend and I each had a hand roll lunch with miso soup. The soup was warm, delicious and perfectly Japanese. The spicy tuna was fresh, spicy and delicious. The salmon avocado was delectable and creamy. Definitely recommend!
(5)Skye G.
I am not really a sushi eater since there are so many options to pick from but there are other things on the menu that are good. I ordered the curry chicken which was a small to medium portion served with a bowl of white rice. The chicken came with a nice sauce mixed with chucks of potatoes and onions. It reminded me of a dish my Mom made me when I as a kid which brought me back to my childhood. There is nothing quite like Mom's homemade meals. The served hot tea and left the kettle for our large group which made it quite easy. We sat in a small area which is hard to get into. I have a small petite sized frame and being dressed for work crawling into this tight small space...well there is nothing classy about seeing this sight. Good thing I had pants on since a skirt may have been more than what the other lunchers would have bargained for. We talked about how hard it would be to clean this section and how it may be a fire hazard for 7 of us to climb out of this clown car. I think the actual seating space could hold another two comfortably but it is more the in and out that is tricky. Once inside it makes for a cozy space to have conversation and not be in the main eatery so it does have pluses. The lunch box meals looked great and I think I will have to try that next time although it does look like quite a bit of food. More than I could eat but worth the price. The sushi specials seem reasonable as well. You get two full rolls with a soup and rice for less about $10. The place gets busy quickly for lunch so go a bit early. The service was mediocre at best. Our group of 7 had food come out at 3 different times. Mine was last and the first group was half way finished before mine arrived and that was after having to ask and check in with someone. I don't think 7 is that big of a party to have our food served and spaced out so much? The others were patient as I finished up my meal. Not sure if this is a regular thing to have meals come out individually or not. Others have had good service so maybe it was a one off. I'd try it again but with so many other good places to try it may be a while before I get back (with my pants on)!
(3)Pam S.
Would have got a perfect 5 stars if the service was a little faster. They all seem a little confused when serving, seating etc. BUT, the sushi is excellent!! The sashimi is a little pricey and only comes with one piece, but excellent. I'm there probably twice a month or more and I love it! Dragon and rainbow roll with some sashimi fatty yellowtail is what i normally have. Get there right before rush and you will be seated, but it fills up fast!
(4)Hilary D.
OK, this place has amazing sushi. I am Intervention-style hooked on sushi and I probably order it at least twice a week, so lately I've been on a mission to try new places instead of just hitting up the same four spots. Last week, my need for a fix landed me at Samurai. Their website lets you place an order online, but unfortunately, once you've placed your order, you don't get to review the order first to make sure you entered everything correctly, nor do you receive an order confirmation or an approximate pick-up time, so I had to call Samurai to confirm. If the sushi wasn't so great, I would have taken off a star for this, but seriously, in the grand scheme of things, who cares? From now on, I'll probably just place my orders via telephone. I ordered a sweet potato and a salmon roll, as well as salmon roe nigiri and tobiko nigiri. Everything was superb, and their sushi rice is some of the best I've had. These people know what they're doing. This is truly a hidden gem. Do yourself a favor and consider Samurai next time you're craving sushi.
(5)Edith K.
really. i used to enjoy coming here back in the day but i was young and naiive. now their sushi falls apart, the quality of their meals are subpar. there are better places in the city!
(2)Melissa L.
Excellent service. The staff is kind and knows my family since we go there all the time, and they give us free tasty avocado salads (which never skimp on ingredients). Genuinely delicious. The tuna and salmon sushi are delicious and their special rolls are great for low prices. I've also had their shabu shabu which isn't the best I've ever had (I'm very loyal to Kaze), but it's decent and I like having that option. Too bad the place is so small or I'd want to bring a party there. I always sit by the flat screen that plays awful American music sung by Chinese people.
(4)Soo L.
I would give zero star if I can... From my experience, NEVER eat at a Japanese restaurant that are run by Chinese, and have Chinese food on one menu. The Japanese food always tastes like Chinese food, and that's the problem. I order udon- it was a Chinese vegetable soup with udon noodle in it. There's no way you can call this udon. Rolls- It took forever to get 2 rolls to begin with, then the soft shell crab roll came with bunch of lettuce inside. This has been a very common problem with Japanese restaurant run by Chinese owners- they want to decrease the cost of food by puting in bunch of lettuce or cabbage or peas in EVERY dish. Soft shell crab and lettuce just don't go together. The same oil is used to fry Japanese food and Chinese food. When this happens, all the food tastes like Chinese food. Sorry but I am never returning.
(1)Stephenie B.
I really like this place and being that I moved here from Texas I was missing my normal sushi place. I'm really picky about sushi places because we are dealing with raw food here! So the first time I went I noticed it was really small....but no fishy smell. That's a bonus! Special note: If you ever walk into a sushi place and it smells "fishy" RUN and run far away. Fresh fish should not have a really strong odor!!!!! Well anyway back to my review. All of the sushi I have tried is really good here! I love the spider and volcano roll. Don't think about it just DO IT!!!! And their lunch specials are really awesome.....I mean really where can you get two regular rolls that comes with miso soup or a salad for less than 10 bucks? ($8.15 +tax to be exact) And all of the rolls I have tried have been great...you can taste the freshness and it makes my tummy REALLY happy! The miso soup is not salty like most places so that is good. They also give you low sodium soy sauce which I like because it is better for you. But they do have the regular if you ask for it. And the ginger salad dressing is really good. So in a nutshell this place has good sushi, for a good price...unless you get the special rolls and appetizers you can walk out of this place paying less than $10 for the lunch special. But if you are extra hungry you can totally satisfy your hunger pains for less than $20.00!!! Did you hear what I said? Less than $20.00!!!!! GO! JUST DO IT!! P.S. Now the reason why I didn't give this place 5 stars is because of the wait, if you are getting something to go call ahead of time. If you are eating there....make sure you are not in a rush and you have set aside enough time to enjoy the experience. P.P.S. If you want to sit near the tv, you have to sit at the table across from the register. Warning....it's near the door and you can sometimes have butts in your face during your meal!
(4)Lena W.
So gross! I ordered chicken teriyaki. It was absolutely disgusting and the oil was old and rancid. I was hungry and in a rush. I ate one piece of chicken and almost gagged. I couldn't eat another piece because it was so horrible. So I just ate the rice, asked for my check and left. I didn't say anything about how the food wasn't edible because I just wanted to get out of there. There's a pretty good chance that I'm going to get food poisoning tonight.
(1)Rebecca D.
My office often orders from this establishment and for good reason. It is not often that one can find such good quality sushi at such a reasonable price. If there would be one constructive criticism it would be that they be more forthcoming in when take out orders will be ready. All too often they give a time of 15-20 min and you arrive 30 minutes past only to find the order isn't ready. It gives the impression (true or not) with the time yet to wait that they don't begin making the order till you arrive.
(4)Lakiya T.
I've been eating at this spot since the day it opened in 2004 or 2005 (Filene's was still open). There hasn't been any changes to the menu (besides pricing) and there doesn't need to be. The rolls are delicious. They offer a nice lunch menu (2 rolls and a choice or miso soup or salad) for about $8.50. When I'm feeling adventurous (and have room) I try a different dessert that I've never had. So far the fried banana and green tea mochi are my favorites. I highly recommend this place if you're craving good sushi on a budget.
(4)Christopher M.
To break from our usual Vietnamese lunch, the Cock Sauce Crew hit up Samurai Eatery for our Thursday mid day meal. We were seated in a cute, quasi-Tatami room with a view out to the street and a sliding door. It was a bit tricky to climb into your seat, but the door was nice because we Yelpers can get a little rowdy. The menu at Samurai covers a range of Americanized Japanese and Chinese dishes, which is a good thing to note for those of us with picky friends. I got to nibble on a crab Rangoon, which was particularly tasty, and the orange chicken looked pretty tempting (at least as tempting at orange chicken can be). The roll lunch at Samurai Eatery is a good value - $8.15 for two rolls and a miso soup or salad. But you definitely get what you pay for - the spicy tuna roll tasted like grocery store sushi, and the avocado on the tuna avocado roll was so ripe it was hard as a rock. Obviously these were the cheap dishes, so I'm not sure how well this reflects the rest of the sushi menu, but I don't have high hopes. Service was prompt and very friendly, if not entirely comprehendible. I might go back to Samurai Eatery of the opportunity presents itself, but I certainly won't go out of my way to get there.
(3)Yee T.
This is one of the worst restaurants that I've ever been. It doesn't worth a star for anything. The food and services are extremely awful. Definitely the owner/manager needs to have some customer services and management education. First of all, I am a very good cook and all my Asian friends are Japanese chefs. Some work in the hotel and some even have their franchise businesses. When it comes to have Japanese food and cooking, I could assure you that I know what ingredients and recipes that we need for those dishes... Yesterday, my coworkers and I decided to go out for lunch. One of my coworkers ordered the eel bento box while another coworker and myself ordered the beef teriyaki bento boxes. Mind you, the price of these bento boxes are $17.95/each and they are not from the luncheon menu; and you could actually get these bento boxes some where else (e.g. Ginza - the same walking distance) for $3 lesser. In the addition to that, we ordered the scallion pancake for appetizer. So, here comes the surprises: 1. The scallion pancake never comes before the meal. It came at the same time with the eel bento box. 2. When the beef teriyaki bento boxes arrive, the beef was sooooooooooooo salty that you could taste the bitter of the salt. My coworker (who ordered the eel bento) likes salty food and thought that this beef teriyaki bento was way too salty for her. 3. So, I asked the waitress to come and asked her whether the beef teriyaki should be cooked with a little sweetness side? This is her response: "so, what do you want me to do? do you want sugar?"... What the heck... What kind of service is it? Finally, I asked her to replace my beef teriyaki with eel since they both have the same price. My co-worker's beef teriyaki bento was as salty as mine as they came out from the same batch. So we have specifically requested to have it replace with eel... 4. Instead, she came back with another beef teriyaki and asked us to try. This one is no different than the first 2 dishes. Obviously, they brought it back in the kitchen, rinsed off the taste and stirred fry again... I asked my 2 coworkers to try a piece before I picked on one... They were still extremely salty. So, this time, we told the waitress that we made it clear to have ours replaced with the eel... 5. She came back with the eel replacement. What came in my eyes were how small the piece of eel is in both dishes when it came to comparing with the other one that my other coworker ordered. Each piece of eel was measured approximately 1.5 inch. So, I asked the manager to come and explained to him that the portion of the meal was not equally served for the bento box that costs $17.95 each. I showed him ours (my and another coworker) along with the original order of the eel bento box that my other friend ordered. Obviously there was at least 3 inches difference. Guess what he said... "Oh, we have just waisted a lot of beef and we have just thrown away those." And my coworker responded "that's your problem. You couldn't expect us to eat that type of salty food." Manager's response: "Sorry" and walked away. 6. so, here comes the bill... 2 beef teriyaki bento $35.90, 1 eel bento $17.95, 1 scallion pancake $4.90, tax... and total.. so readers, should we pay the entire meal and tips? or should we skip the tip and pay for the meal only? Finally, we decided to pay the entire bill and no tip. All 3 of us had such a memorable lunch there and would NEVER EVER go back there again.
(1)Anastasia R.
So you are a secretary in an office of one of the big 4 financial consultant firms and the economy collapses...almost. Everyone in your office seems to be doing ok but there is a bit of underlying stress as everyone tries to avoid bumping into the 800 lb gorilla sitting by the coffee machine. Lay offs are happening at companies all over the country, business is hard, and everyone is scared shitless of loosing their job. I usually don't take a lunch break, I just eat at my desk, but I really needed to get some air last week so I took myself out for Sushi at the Samurai Eatery. I like sushi places because I live under the illusion that it can't take that long to make because you don't have to cook it. This is usually not the case, but Samurai pulled through for me. My soup, dumplings and spicy tuna came out one after another almost as soon as I ordered. This was a wonderful little reprieve, great service, cheap and fantastically fresh plus I was out of there in under a half hour and back in the office before I could even be a blip in the radar.
(4)Ella F.
This place is good for lunch, they have a great lunch special with 2 rolls and a salad or soup for about $10. The sushi is average; I've definitely had better. However, for the price it's good. I came once for dinner with my dad before a Celtics game. The service was very speedy (which was good, we'd had issues with that when we'd go to Ginza), but again, the food was meh. I'll go again for the convenience/price, but not unless it's for lunch or overtime dinner at work.
(3)Candice P.
Samurai is a good spot for a quick, cheap, and filling lunch. If you are not in the mood for your basic workday sandwich or want something healthier than a slice of pizza then I suggest you try sushi. Honestly, there is really nothing special about this place but for $8.15 you get two rolls of high quality sushi and a salad. If you are in the Downtown Crossing/Financial District area I think this is the best sushi place. There is not really anything that makes this place stand out (except for the homeless person I see sleeping in the doorway every morning), it's just your run of the mill sushi place.
(3)Roxana S.
It was a great place to eat loved the ice cream!!!
(5)Deanna W.
Pretty good. The fish is alright and they give you a decent amount of it. Price isn't too bad either. I've eaten here a few times and it's probably my first choice of sushi places in the downtown area, but if I really wanted good sushi I'd probably just take green line down to Allston.
(3)Lindsay B.
The food is probably a 2 or a 3 - it's standard mediocre sushi. The reason it gets 4 is because the specials are amazing and if you do delivery, they're available all day/night. The service was..weird. We were the only table there and it was really slow - my sushi came out about 7-8 mins after my boyfriends. But seriously, price wise, it's amazing.
(4)Elisabeth G.
Last weekend, I my friend and ordered delivery sushi from here and were called A HALF HOUR LATER, after our food had been prepared, to be told that they wouldn't deliver to my apartment in Dorchester after 6pm anymore (they have done so a number of times in the past). So basically, until I decide to eat like a senior citizen, I can never get delivery from here again! This same friend and I have probably spent the equivalent of a semester of Harvard tuition at this place (and they know this). It just seems like really bad customer service to me. I will miss you Samurai, but my loyalty is to the one who will bring Salmon Avocado rolls to my door at 8pm on a Friday.
(2)Heather G.
I only ever got pickup or delivery dinner from Samurai, so I cannot speak to the restaurant's in-dining experience. However, after eating here many times (it was always the quickest to deliver to my apartment), here is what I don't like about Samurai: 1. they charge you $1 for a little plastic container of extra teryaki if you ask for it. It's 2oz of teryaki. Seriously? 2. the beef is really mushy and has a pulverized consistency. Tastes like nothing 3. The rice never seems to be fresh, and sticks together in one congealed stack. 4. One time, we found a green rubber band (like the one that is used to bundle greens) mixed in with the veggies atop the rice. 5. It's about $2 more expensive than the same plate of chicken teryaki/rice you get at the food court, and WORLDS less tasty. 6. The sushi has never been fresh when I ordered it for dinner. The rice is always chewy and the fish has no flavor, leading me to believe it's been sitting out all day and/or they were using the leftovers they couldn't sell earlier. After the rubber band incident, I realized that, while this place delivers quickly, i'd rather just walk to Faneuil Hall and get Megumi for less money.
(1)Sarah T.
I love this place! The sushi's great and it's my "go to" place whenever I want some sushi in downtown that's affordable and yummy. I usually come late at night with my friends, so I'm happy that they're still open so late even if downtown looks pretty stranded at night. It's a great place for you and your friends to talk comfortably and enjoy a good meal. The service is okay, as long as they're not rude then I'm all set! I definitely recommend this place!
(4)Julie C.
Went here today for lunch( i braved the frigid temps for my sushi craving). Normally this place is really good and fresh but on this particular day, it was so-so. I give it 4 stars b/c when I have gone here before its been really good. The salmon wasn't so tasty and the rolls just seem like mush fish that was old. They do have a pretty reasonable lunch deal 2 rolls and your choice of miso soup or salad for 8.25, ( i remember when it was only 7.25!) oh that inflation! anyway, its quick cheap good eat if you are looking for a lunch time spot. The place gets crowded since its so small but they are pretty good about turning tables. Service could be more attentive , you usually need to grab someone's attention.
(4)Zyna P.
Came here for Mother's Day. I uploaded a couple of photos. The staff are so nice and the food is awesome!
(5)Cahaya S.
still good stuff! But on my last visit back east -- prices had gone up a bit ..... Lunch special rolls are now $9.25.
(4)Jessica P.
Can't beat $5 rolls and $5 glass of wine. I come here when I'm craving sushi and I don't feel like spending alot. The rolls are pretty good for the price and they have a decent selection. The service is really slow and kinda vanishes at some points. Not sure where they go because the place is literally one long room, but if you need them don't hold your breath. Definitely want to try their lunch box special, I think it's less than $10 and it seems like you get a ton of food.
(3)Josh U.
Food 3 Décor 2 Service 3 Value 3 This is my occasional lunch treat spot. I usually opt for the two roll lunch combo + another roll. The triforce consists of yellow tail, white tuna and spicy salmon. The small salad is doused in a very sweet dressing that normally I would mind but it somehow works. The yellow tail and white tuna rolls are well constructed and tasty. I've noticed that Samurai tends to use a thicker nori (seaweed) than most places and makes the rolls slightly chewier. The spicy salmon roll is usually not spicy at all so I'm not sure why its called such. It comes with tempura flakes which adds a pleasant flavorful crunch. This place can get a little crowded around lunchtime but it is almost vacant around 11:30 so plan early. Overall a solid lunch.
(3)J W.
Ordered takeout for a late night dinner. The sushi combos seem to be a pretty good value. We ordered two combos and we were pretty close to $25. We had a coupon that gave us either a free california roll or crab rangoon once you exceed $25. Two combos and a fried spring roll did the trick. Initially, they didn't give us the miso soup, but they quickly brought out the soups once we mentioned it. The fish wasn't that fresh. It just didn't taste right. The rolls were a good size, not a lot of rice in them. The Salmon nigiri sushi was sliced very very thin. Quite a nice demonstration of knife skill by the chef. The rice was a bit too sweet for my taste. Miso soup was bland and didn't have any seaweed. The worst part was the fried Spring roll. It was like chewing on a tasteless crunchy sponge filled with oil. Points to Samurai for making the spring rolls instead of buying the frozen kind from the market. I could tell from the lack of uniformity of the two pieces. I might have caught them on a bad night and it was 10pm.
(2)Sara S.
This place is in kind of in a strange location... next to the side enterence of TJMaxx and Boston Sports Club in Downtown Crossing. I didn't notice it until about three months ago, and have been eyeing it as they have ridiculous lunch specials since. In celebration of my newly aquired iPhone, I decided to go and knock this place off my list of sushi places to try. For $8.15, one can get a miso soup/green salad with ginger dressing, and two regular rolls. The list is HUGE, and includes things like California, spicy tuna, una avo... the ones that aren't too crazy or ridiculous. They also have rolls that aren't on the $8.15 list that are still really freaking cheap. This is, like, Zen320 cheap, except I think this place is better than Zen320. I got a salad, spicy tuna roll, and una avo roll. The rolls were great, although the rice was warm. I had to wait a bit for it to cool down, because something just does not seem right about warm sushi rice. Once eaten, they were good. Not Douzo or Suishaya good, but great quality for the price. The salad tasted OK but slightly pathetic looking, and the ginger dressing wasn't all that great. The service was great, and I love the atmosphere with the light wood. Tons of seating. And the sushi chef today was a woman! Girl power. This place delivers to Beacon Hill, which is AWESOME. Not five stars because of the warm rice and pathetic salad. However, I totally recommend this place, especially for lunch in the Financial District/Downtown!
(4)Leighann F.
On Thursday we had lunch at Samurai I ate so much you'd a thought I was high. The sushi was yum And it filled up my tum But I've had better, I can't tell a lie. We sat down and chatted through lunch On crab rangoons and tempura we did munch The tea went to waste Like mushrooms it did taste And it made all of our faces go scrunch By the end of the meal we were satisfied "The service was quick!" somebody cried. We paid the bill After we'd had our fill And we were glad Samurai Eatery was tried.
(3)Jennifer M.
LOVE this place! The Lunch Sushi/Sashimi special #3 is fantastic, and so affordable! We order it from my office and the super chearp delivery is fast enough that our Miso is still steaming ;) The sashimi is very fresh and juicy, yum!
(4)EricaLynn J.
Samurai Eatery is an above-average restaurant (great, quick service, big menu, decorated neatly) with just average food. I enjoyed my rolls, sushi, salad, and soup but nothing blew me away or was all that memorable. I would return for a quick lunch or something to take out, perhaps, but it's not going to be my first choice.
(3)Aditi R.
They have phenomenal lunch specials - though I have to say their rolls aren't that great either. I guess for the price you pay, you get something accordingly. They have a wide variety of lunch specials so it caters to everyone's asian taste! Plus on a budget. I love their seaweed salad. They give you plenty of it and it's spiced well. Their lunch rolls are regular rolls and their miso soup is decent as well. The salad option is good as I really like the dressing. I've gone to sit there and eat as well and one time with a large group of people. They had us sit in this private room which was nice and cozy and made us feel like we were in an asian restaurant. If you want your food delivered they're fairly quick with that as well and do not charge a delivery charge if you order more than $15. Overall, for a quick sushi fix during work, I'll find myself here, but otherwise I'll try much better establishments like Fugakyu/Douzo/Oishii for good tasting, different sushi.
(3)Bryan P.
Fools! God will torture your soul in eternity for rating his House of Living Samurai any lower than a 5. The sushi is speciously fresh, the calamari aggrandizing, and the courses par for. Inexpensive, atmospheric, and tolerant of gringo. The portions could be larger, perhaps, but the Americans should be smaller.
(5)Daniel M.
Cute, clean, fast, delicious. These are all things that speak to me come time to lunch. So when we had to say goodbye to someone at work today (seems to be happening a lot lately) I went on the prowl to find sushi near work that could fit the bill. Off to Yelp I went and after verifying that a few trusted Yelpers (Thanks guys!) dug this place I figured it was safe to bring the work folk here. They didn't disappoint. I was struck first by how small the restaurant is. For the neighborhood I know I shouldn't expect much more but it is pretty teeny. The second thing I noticed were the heating elements for Shabu (!!). Sadly I didn't see anything pertaining to Shabu Shabu on the menu. :'( Ah well, sushi it is then. It's a hard knock life really. The food arrived quickly and was pretty decent fare. We had a mix of spicy tuna, (crispy?) tuna, and the dragon roll. All were good, the dragon roll being the stand-out item. The presentation and flavor of this roll really stood out. Served on a rectangular platter the roll was a work of art. Truly a well thought-out piece that managed to taste just as good as it looked. Well played. While we dined we saw people come in for lunch and leave quickly. This is a good thing when you're pressed for time. Service was perfunctory, they could step that up a bit, but nothing too horrible. Also good to know, they deliver! That can come in handy some day. This is a good lunch spot and I will be back when I can't spare enough time to hit up Chinatown.
(3)Joanne L.
I came here today with a few friends since I had gift certificates. I ordered the sushi regular, a couple of friends ordered the combos (eel and chicken teriyaki), and my husband ordered spicy tofu. My sushi regular was just "eh." I've definitely had waaaay better sushi. First of all, the sushi was kind of warm. Second, the fish didn't taste as fresh as it could be. The combo dishes looked good and were quite large. It comes with a California Roll, tempura, rice, salad, and then the main entree. They had no great comments, but finished the meal since it wash just "eh". Finally, the worst dish of all was the spicy tofu. My husband soon realized, he probably should've just stuck with the Japanese food. The peas in the dish were quite hard. It tasted like you were eating peanuts. It seemed like the peas were old and/or dried out and then cooked in this dish. I would have to say the service was friendly and fast, but we will never go back again.
(2)Shane S.
Ordered the chicken teriyaki but got something that was definitely not teriyaki and I'm not sure if it was even chicken... Some sort of fried salty meat over greasy fried rice.
(1)Kristin G.
I eat here at least once or twice a week as this is one of the only sushi places in the financial district, and I have to say the location and value keep me coming back. You can't find a better sushi lunch deal downtown -- two rolls and soup or salad for under $10. The sushi isn't the most delicious or creative I've ever had, but the lunch deal includes a large array of rolls that are light and fresh (I would highly recommend the spicy shrimp roll as the spicy mayo here is great). The miso soup here is possibly the best I've ever had -- very flavorful with a nice amount of scallions, seaweed and tofu. They also serve delicious, complimentary tea. Unfortunately, the service at Samurai leaves something to be desired. Sometimes I feel rushed, while other times I have to beg for my check. There are some waitresses that are prompt and accurate, and a few that are always terribly confused. All in all Samurai is a good value in a convenient location with inconsistent service -- nothing fancy, just cheap sushi.
(3)Diana B.
The lunch special is GREAT! Miso soup and two rolls for $9 =) great food at a price you CANT BEAT!! My friend ordered the eel terriaki delux combo box and was very happy with his order. Nice size meal--I shall return for!
(5)Sean M.
so des ka! Probably the worst green tea I have ever had, it had a faint motor oil aroma and was light brown. The miso soup that came with the sashimi lunch special was average and had quite a bit of tofu and a tiny amount of seaweed. The fish is not very high quality. We had mostly sashimi and there was painfully obvious hydrolyzed protein breakdown in the fish, like it had been previously frozen, probably multiple times. The soft shell crab was flash-fried and served with spicy mayo, that was pretty good. They burned the eel (unagi), thus robbing it of any flavor and made it dry. The salmon roe (ikura) also had that "past expiration date" flavor that just does not give one that "warm fuzzy" required when eating RAW fish. We had a time getting the check, since we didn't eat everything and they thought we were not finished. * Stick to the Maki, and ... * Use lots of wasabi, drink alcohol, and... * Consider getting something cooked. * Don't eat a la carte the prices are per piece and not so cheap. * The service was attentive. * Price/Value is lacking.
(2)Cecilia L.
Fish sometimes tastes fishy, rice is far too sweet, menu is over-Americanized and prices are too high for the quality. Despite that, I gave Samurai a three-star rating until last night, when I had a spicy tuna roll and yellowtail roll here. They tasted funny but I ate them anyway, subjecting myself to a torturous night of stomach flu. NOT FRESH.
(1)Alice C.
seasoning on the luscious Volcano roll was perfect! Can order online (phone is better though according to owner) and pick-up and pay in cash (credit card option available) Place was hopping at 1pm on a Friday
(5)Amanda L.
You can definitely tell this place has a lot of regulars, because the employees know most of them by name. When I used to work at Filene's Basement, Samurai was literally 5 seconds away from the employee entrance. I used to come here a lot when I wanted my sushi fix, and was too lazy to walk up to the sushi place in the corner mall. This place is nicer than you would expect on the inside, and it doesn't reek of the ugliness that is Franklin St. The employees are all very friendly and like I said, they remember you if you come in often enough. While I've never done sit down service, the fact that there is a constant flow of people during the lunch hour, I suspect it easily fits into the one hour allotted lunch hour. I have always gotten takeout, and while I've either called it in or ordered straight in the restaurant, I don't think I've ever waited more than 15 minutes. The sushi I've ordered has always been fresh and delicious, and the prices aren't too shabby. Their edamame is cheaper than a lot of other sushi places, and they give you a lot. Their lunch specials are a great bargain and will leave you feeling full for the rest of the day. Now that I work in South Station, it's more of a trek for me, but not by much so I still enjoy coming here from time to time.
(4)Thy L.
Another place that serves mediocre sushi in downtown Boston, but has a good lunch menu. For $8.75 (tax included) you can choose two sushi rolls from a list of 24 items and get a side of salad or soup. The list is fairly generous since you get to pick the popular staples like spicy tuna, spicy salmon, eel & avocado/cucumber, and so forth. Good deal! Sushi Time is a bit cheaper, but I like the options at Samurai. The people here are also nicer :)
(3)Deb K.
2 rolls of sushi and a salad: $8 Bottle of Pinot to share with the ladies: $22 Making reservations at lunch: Free Fun girlie lunch to start off the weekend early: Priceless
(5)Erica S.
This is probably my favorite downtown lunch spot. I always leave stuffed, and never spend more than $10 or so. There are tons of awesome lunch specials, most notably the deal for 2 rolls of sushi and soup or salad for $7.95. The sushi is fresh and better than you'd expect for the price, and there is a large selection. I also highly recommend the chicken teriyaki-- it's a large portion, and the chicken is all lean white meat (I'm picky about meat and this is good). Tip: If you show up with a party of 4 or more, they will let you sit in the bamboo room in the front, if it's available. It's a sunny, cozy little nook all to itself, filled with bamboo plants and cushioned wood benches. Best seats in the house!
(4)Anne K.
I have gotten the lunch takeout from here and have been happy everytime. For $8 you get two rolls and your choice of soup or salad - such a steal! Dined in once for lunch, and was pleased. While crowded everytime, there is never a long wait. Love it for the sushi, just wish there wasn't weird 90's music videos playing. Seriously. Check it out.
(5)David M.
I'm a bit torn on how to rate this place. I just got back from eating lunch here. I got seated quickly, and was able to order in minutes. I got the lunch special, which consisted of two rolls with the salad or soup (honestly, do they have to be cheap and make you choose. Miso soup is not expensive...). The salad came quickly, but minus half a star for it being shaved carrots, iceberg lettuce and cucumbers. I like more green... and less white in my salad. The ginger dressing was great however. A few minutes after i finished the salad, and I think this was just luck as opposed to good service, the rolls came out. They were still just a bit warm, and the salmon was as good as I've ever had. The eel was also pretty good. Bonus points for drizzling a soy reduction over the top. Minus points for the occasional very small bone in the eel. I have to hold off on five stars for the waitress dropping off my check, then walking to the far side of the restaurant and never coming back. I had to flag down another waitress. There was also the horrible, worst I've ever had, green tea. (see Sean M's review for a good description) For ten dollars, this was a pretty solid place for lunch. Since a sushi lunch usually costs 15+, I'll give this place a 4 stars... but I hope they clean up their act so I can change it to five one day.
(4)Juliana N.
Had lunch here with a few girlfriends. The wait was about 10 mintues during lunchtimes, but not bad. We sat down and ordered mostly from the lunch specials. Portion is okay and price is okay for the downtown Boston area. It's a pretty small space inside but the turnover isnt too bad since people are going in and out. i'd go back for lunch!
(3)huong n.
the service was ok. the decor was a tacky imitation of a japanese restaurant. the lunch deal was not that great. i had the eel cucumber roll and the spicy tuna hand roll - needed to turn on the "eat to live" switch to finish the meal. the miso soup was a waste of resource to make it.
(1)Jennifer G.
Love this place! Great, fresh food. Super friendly owners. Pretty good service. It's a regular lunch spot for us. Try the super-addictive Tiffany roll :)
(5)Kristen J.
I've had a lot of sushi from here, and what I can say is that it is consistently good. And although they recently raised their prices slightly, it's still a lot cheaper than most places around. I love the two roll + soup/salad at lunch option. I usually order spicy tuna and salmon avocado with a miso soup. They will deliver right to my office too, which is great! If I go after work and order to go the waitress usually pours me a cup of tea while I wait. They serve beer too, if you are interested in a Sapporo with your sushi. Oh, I almost forgot, the TV playing Japanese music videos (or on occasion Careless Whisper by George Michael) completes the experience.
(4)Michele A.
It's fabulous because it's cheap and delicious. It's not so fabulous because it takes them forever to deliver, and on Grub Hub you can't just order online and you have to call instead. Either way, they deliver and hot sushi isn't really an issue. Yay Samurai!
(4)Megan P.
I really like this place. They have great sushi for an amazing price. I also love their bubble tea and like to order one to go on the way out. The service is pretty good sometimes you have to get their attention but once they see you need something they come right over. Love taking my lunch break here.
(4)Tiffany F.
Good for a working lunch - the service is quick so you won't be out of the office for a full hour and still get the luxury of table service rather than eating at one of the many grab and go spots around the neighborhood. Service is good and they are very attentive - probably because they know their lunch time crowd isn't trying to sit around and order rounds of sake for hours. Sushi is decent. Not the best, but good and for the price it's a decent deal. Particularly the $10.95 two roll lunch combo that comes with a choice of miso soup or salad as well. Warning: if you're coming with a group of +4, they'll put you in a private room/booth which is nice that they can accommodate for it, but you'll have no choice but to crawl across the seats. So ladies, don't say I didn't warn you.
(3)L T.
This is not a good restaurant. The food is not disgusting, but it's not good either. Pro: - 1 waitress was very attentive. Kudos to her Cons: - Another waitress mistook our order - They put lettuce pretty much in all of their sushi rolls. I mean, I get it, lettuce is cheap, but that doesn't mean you should put it everywhere! - Do not order their bubble teas. We ordered honeydew bubble tea. Specifically asking for it to be cold ... it came out warm in and strange looking green. Will not be going back.
(2)Jonathan N.
I walked pass this restaurant numerous times over the pass year but never have the chance to try it out. Today I did and it wasn't a good experience at all. I walked in the restaurant at about 3pm and the place is complete empty. I ordered 3 sushi dishes and a green tea ice cream tempura for dessert. The sushi look and tastes really bad. The rice is too soft. The fish are not fresh. The ice cream dessert came out all melted and I couldn't belly finish it up. The place is pretty cute looking with nice setting with Japanese decorations. The sushi are cheap so I guess you get what you pay for except for the green tea ice cream. Which cost almost $7.00 that serves in a small bowl. Save your money and go to Sushi time in Corner mall or the sushi place in Walgreens down the street. They tastes way better than here. I don't think I'll be coming back here again.
(1)Joelle K.
This is a very average sushi/Chinese food place. I stopped in for lunch last week and had the pork fried rice. I was grateful that the server brought a fork with my meal, as there was no way I could eat with chopsticks. The rice was pretty good, but much better when I added soy sauce. The pork was overlooked and chewy. Our server hardly checked on us and took forever to get us the check, even when it was obvious that we had been done for quite some time. I'll be checking out one of the many other Chinese food options in the area before I return.
(3)Christian H.
TL;DR: Sushi had tiny fish bone in it (warning: the following is kind of gross) I had eaten takeout here probably 5 or 6 times (I work across the street) and always enjoyed their sushi rolls and miso soup. However, last night when working late I got takeout and had a very bad experience, which gave me the sense that they rushed my order. I got the sweet potato roll, which had undercooked sweet potato (had always been great in prior visit), and the New York Roll (eel), which, upon eating the last piece, I felt something tiny and hard in it. I spit it out but subsequently had a scratching in my throat, which turned out to be a tiny fish bone in my tonsil. Sorry for the graphic review - long story short, I cannot recommend this place to anyone.
(1)Ryan W.
Normally I would give a place like this 3 stars because the food itself is definitely not something to jump out the window for, but there are several redeeming factors that make this place 4 stars for me: 1. They were open during blizzard Hercules when many other businesses gave up. Thank you for feeding me. 2. This place is a GREAT value. If you order online, you can get three rolls for for $15. That's less than the super market and it is better quality. Overall the online take out pricing is very reasonable. 3. They will make the sushi with brown rice for you which is my preferred method. 4. The sushi is good, just not great. Enjoy!
(4)Lisa B.
So I would of never ever thought of eating here! My daughter found this place on her college break... I live quite close, and I am always looking for someplace new to dine... I was leery at first, because they are REALLY inexpensive... However, the sushi (spicy tuna and salmon) I had was very fresh. Definitely sushi grade. The Miso soup was spot on! Service was great, very attentive, but not pushy... and most importantly they are VERY CLEAN!
(4)Adrianna C.
I have been coming to this place for years and 95% it's amazing! Pros: -Their specialty rolls! I love the "bagel roll" and "dynamite roll" -green tea is fresh -fast! -love the dessert mochi Cons: -their crab rangoons. Barely any crab filling in them. I suggest the scallion pancakes instead!! -sushi is a treat for me, so I like to go all out. When I order delivery, sometimes they forget my extra spicy mayo on the side.
(5)JoJo B.
I love sushi and this place is just meh! The bagel roll had bones in it which is never pleasant! I would say that the only thing going for this place is its location (if you work Downtown, as I do) and the price (pretty cheap). The chicken teriyaki, is unlike any i've had before but I wouldn't say it was great!
(2)Robert C.
When I ordered a tuna roll, there was a bad taste to it. They tried to say that it was a result of ordering brown rice with the roll, but I have had tuna rolls with brown rice before. They did return the roll and prepare a new one for me, but I was overall surprised by the poor quality of the fish.
(2)Ngan T.
Good lunch deals and private booth. That's it. Service is inattentive. Sushi fell apart between chopsticks and gigantic chunks of cucumber. Miso soup needed more miso. Tasted like chicken broth.
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