The best dinner of our New England vacation was in Boston’s renowned restaurant O Ya, featuring haute modern Japanese cuisine. Hidden away on a side street, this small restaurant seats only as many as 40 people and is typically packed, as a popular choice for locals, out-of-towners, and professionals in the culinary industry. The setting is sleek and intimate, with about 10 tables in the dining room and more seating at the L-shaped sushi bar. We had the bar seats closest to the kitchen, able to observe both the sushi chefs and the kitchen staff at work.
O Ya restaurant is owned by Tim and Nancy Cushman. Tim is the executive chef and a formerly an apprentice of the famous Chef Nobu Matsuhisa. He can be seen supervising the kitchen as well as greeting customers. His wife Nancy is the sommelier, offering a reasonable wine list and an impressive sake list as well as friendly conversation in the dining room. The sushi bar is tended by an expert team of sushi chefs, while in the busy kitchen one can spot Top Chef’s Tiffany (Season 1) who recently joined O Ya as a sous-chef.
Dining at O Ya consists of selecting from, and experiencing, a series of small plates and tasty morsels. Each of the small plates comprises about four bites. The menu has two sides; one side lists sushi and sashimi, while the other side features specialties from the kitchen under various categories: vegetable, pork, wagyu beef, chicken, truffles & eggs, and other. There is also a Chef’s tasting menu, but we decided it would be a lot of fun to choose our own dishes. To accompany our nouveau Japanese themed meal, we ordered cups of hot green tea which our waitress refilled for us throughout the evening.
For our first course, we selected the Tamago Omelette “Roll”. The delicate texture of the omelette was amazing, and its flavors were enhanced by the earthiness of summer truffles and the sweetness of robiola cheese. Dashi sauce, a broth typically made with bonito flakes, added a lovely savory touch.
Our second course was Foie Gras Gyoza, consisting of crispy fried dumplings filled with rich and delicious foie gras and with a nice kick from Kyoto Sansho, a special Japanese pepper, and sauce with pink peppercorns. We could have ordered two or three more plates of these heavenly dumplings.
Next, we sampled Chopped Tea Brined Chicken Thighs, which were “fall-apart” tender with a delicate perfumed taste from the tea brine, and very refreshing with thinly sliced cucumber, avocado and carrot. The ponzu vinaigrette added delightful notes of citrus, while the crunchy bits of tempura enhanced the textures of the dish.
The Grilled Lobster followed, served on a charred tomato slice and tempura of shiso, an herb leaf similar to mint. A touch of ponzu aioli was a welcome tanginess to compliment the lobster. While I thought the lobster could have been just a bit more tender, the flavors were excellent.
We also sampled a wonderfully crisp Wild Rock Shrimp Kakiage, a special mixed tempura preparation. The shrimp was served over an herbal broth made with mitsuba, Japanese wild parsley, and topped with fresh yuzu zest and warm sesame mayo.
Our next-to-last course was Porcelet Tonkatsu, a thin and breaded slice of delicate pork, served with foie gras, cabbage shiso slow and dashi apple sauce. Like the other dishes, this was “melt-in-your mouth” good.
While we were eating these delightful morsels, we watched one of the sushi chefs caramelizing some gorgeous looking scallops with a blow torch. We could resist ordering this beautiful plate of Seared Diver Scallop served with foie gras, juicy shiso grapes, and vin cotto, a sweet, slow cooked wine reduction.
With this sweet finish, we did not even need dessert. Delightfully creative, each dish we enjoyed was thoughtfully crafted, evocative of bright flavors, and mouthwateringly satisfying. We loved each and every morsel, and our taste buds were left with a long lasting impression of amazing and unique Japanese fusion flavors. O Ya is an excellent culinary destination in Boston, and one of the finest examples of modern Japanese fusion we have found.
