Restaurants

Unexpected in Madrid: YokaLoka

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One afternoon, Jonathan and I were strolling and browsing through Mercado Antón Martin when we stumbled across YokaLoka. We are obsessed with sushi, but we were in Madrid. And in Madrid, you eat like the Spanish, not the Japanese. After a few minutes of convincing (Jonathan: We’ll just have a few pieces, it’s kind of like tapas, right?), I caved in. After all, it was the first sushi restaurant we had seen so far, and how good can sushi be in Madrid?

Boy, was I wrong. The sake was amazing - it was extremely high quality, and the best part, you could easily taste that it was fresh! I guess that’s the great thing about being located in a fish market in the Iberian peninsula, fresh seafood all the time. Since we ordered the sake (I’m all about the salmon), we had to order the anago too (Jonathan’s all about the eel).

I’m not a huge anago connoisseur, but according to Jonathan, it was great. If you can get his picky approval on eel, then you’ve really done something right.

Unfortunately, there were slight downsides to everything else but the fish - the rice was not properly cooled, the pieces wobbly shaped, and the nori ripped like a 5 year-old. But the Japanese YokaLoka ladies were so kind - they tried to speak English with us, served us complimentary drinks, and even green tea chocolates! It’s hard to come by such hospitality at dining establishments, especially in Madrid.

If you’re a tourist in Madrid, you probably shouldn’t eat a full meal here. After all, you’re in Spain! But if you’re a local, and you just can’t resist some good sushi, YokaLoka is a stop you need to make.

They point to the fish to clarify that “toro” is not bull, “jajajajaja”.

Jonathan excited for sushi!

A Sushi Lover's Rant (Boston Edition)

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My girlfriend (@militzazik) and I were planning a lunch date via text, and when she suggested “Organic sush,” I immediately replied, “No. If you’re referring to Genki Ya.” So, she let me choose.

So what is my problem?

THERE ARE NO GOOD SUSHI PLACES IN BOSTON! (I wish I could triple underline that for even more emphasis…)

I love sushi. (Maybe even a bit obsessed considering I was a nigiri this past Halloween…) I have explored so many sushi places, but there are none in this whole city that I am crazy about! The In-N-Out effect, as you West-Coasters know - is the feeling that you just got to have it. And there is no sushi restaurant in Boston that embodies the In-N-Out effect… It’s so disappointing!

Just to prove that I am not over-exaggerating, I am going to list all the sushi restaurants that I have been to so that:

  • A. people don’t judge me for being narrow-minded (aka not having enough data points)
  • B. people can suggest sushi restaurants that I have not been to yet
  • C. to show how wrong Yelp can be…*

So here’s my list after being in Boston for almost 4 school years:

  1. Douzo
  2. O Ya
  3. Genki Ya
  4. Basho
  5. Fish Market
  6. Fin’s
  7. Fugakyu
  8. Ginga
  9. Maluken
  10. Kayuga
  11. Hana Sushi
  12. Blue Fin
  13. Masa’s
  14. Symphony Sushi
  15. Minado (buffet doesn’t really count…)
  16. Some others that I don’t remember because they were that noteworthy…

*Please note that I am basing my judgements on SUSHI (sashimi, nigiri, etc.), NOT ROLLS (Philadelphia rolls? wtf…). And that’s why you find so many of these restaurants rated so highly on Yelp - because people review these places for their exotic/non-Japanese rolls… with cream cheese. It really frustrates me when I’m looking for a sushi place on Yelp, because if these are the highly rated ones, then I wouldn’t even consider the even lower rated ones!

I do admit that I enjoy going back to Douzo, but that’s ONE… in ALL of Boston. Oishii, Uni, and Shiki are still on my list to try, but fusion/contemporary sushi should be in its own category.

I suppose people find me a bit extreme, but I have such a passionate love for this cuisine. You can find great Japanese food like donburi and seaweed salad in Boston, but great sushi? Difficult. This is a public plea for help - do you have any other sushi restaurant recommendations?

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Update Jan. 27, 2015

Since writing this article, I have been to a few more sushi places including my new favorite, Cafe Sushi, but even then, it's hit or miss (for the first time in my life, I found a bone in my sashimi... yes, this happened at Cafe Sushi). Unfortunately, I am still on the search, but maybe it's time I learn to cut my own fish.