We had heard about Symphony Sushi through word of mouth; it seemed almost an urban myth of delicious yet affordably priced sushi right in our own Fenway back yard, really. Yet the rumors proved true - the sushi was absolutely delicious.
In my mind there are three types of sushi in the U.S.: the cheap, the traditional, and the innovative. Now cheap sushi can be easily found in most places (probably not in the rural midwest, but I've never been there, honestly) and it'll do the trick if you just need a quick fix california roll. Real traditional sushi comes from authentic Japanese restaurants that tend to use the same standard fish and seafood staples, so you know what generally to expect from the menu, whether it be in New York or San Francisco. (West coast typically wins for freshness and authenticity in my mind, but the actual tuna roll itself is the same concept.) The third tier, innovative sushi, is the more eclectic sushi restaurants for today's diners in the modern culinary community. See my previous post "Fish and Fruit" for more fussing over this. Symphony Sushi tiptoes off the edge of authentic and dips its feet into the innovation pool, with a nice smattering of surprising sushi.
Most importantly, it was extremely fresh. The sashimi platter (pictured above) came with an array of mouth-watering high quality raw fish, propped on a shimmering nest of shaved daikon tendrils. Appetizers include the agedashi tofu, which has received rave reviews from my friends who go back to feed their cravings for Symphany Sushi nearly every week; agedashi is hot tofu, fried and served in a tentsuyu broth of mirin, sho-yu and dashi - if you think you don't like tofu, try this. Trust me.
Then came the creations that led me to dub Symphony innovative, such as the French salmon tata with chopped apple, black caviar and grapeseed oil. The signature rolls included the Mexican roll, with spicy tuna, avocado and tobasco sauce, and the Cowboy maki with asparagus and broiled sirloin steak. Not exactly standard. I chose the Hawaiian maki, spicy tuna with avocado and mango in rice nori, and it was incredible. Literally an explosion of flavor with every bite, the spicy fish and sweet mango juice melding together in my mouth - it was, in fact, a taste symphony ... of sushi. (Pun intended.)
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