My Boston Trip--Chapter 1: Sushi in Natick

photos from Chris' cell phone


It was Patriots' Day (click here if you're not from Massachusetts and/or do not know about this state holiday), perhaps better known as the day of the Boston Marathon. Since I had business in Boston on Tuesday (called to audition for Jeopardy! after doing well on the online test), I thought I'd stay over Monday night, which made sense on that level. Since Western MA does not receive Boston channels (at least not without cable or satellite service, which I don't have), I didn't have the big hype from those channels to remind me that the marathon was upcoming, and it only occurred to me the day before. So I spent Sunday night looking up the travel delays and road closings. Lucky me, most of the streets surrounding my hotel were going to be closed until 6 PM on Monday. Then traffic was bound to go nuts, Boston traffic being crazy enough as is.

So we changed plans, got off the Mass Pike in Framingham instead of Boston, and followed Route 9 east into Natick. (Route 9 becomes Huntington Ave. in Boston, which is where we were staying.) Across Route 9 from the Natick Mall is Minado Japanese Seafood Buffet Restaurant, which bills itself as "The Ultimate Sushi Buffet". Yes it is, indeed. Not only were there numerous varieties of sushi, but there was plenty for the non-sushi person, in this case, my husband Chris. There were pot stickers, shu mai, teriyaki beef, skewers of meat and vegetables, salads, and little cakes (which Chris piled onto a plate and made the majority of his meal).

When the motorcoach pulled up and unloaded a swarm of Korean visitors, some who had just run the marathon, I was worried. Would I get any food any time soon with this many people crowding the buffet? My fear was unfounded. The buffet is so well designed that the line naturally moves quickly. Because it's not a straight line but multiple segments perpendicular to each other, it's easy to skip over stretches of the buffet that may not interest you, or politely cut in (saying "excuse me"), get what you want, and get out.

I came to eat a lot of sushi, but because there was so much else to try, I didn't have quite as much as I had expected. I will admit that I don't know much about sushi. I think that, since my introduction to sushi in college, I developed my tastes and preferences based mostly on what's likely to be available in a cafeteria or grocery store, ie. California rolls, Philadelphia Rolls, and Salmon both in rolls or draped over rice. I should probably have been braver and sampled more of the buffet, but I gravitated toward my favorites and anything with avocado in it. I did try the sea urchin, which I had heard described as apricot-y, but tasted like cheap diet vanilla pudding to me. (To be fair, I have been fighting allergies lately, so maybe someday, if by some miracle my head finally clears up, I might discover that I like the stuff.) One of my favorite rolls was the "galaxy roll", which included grated carrots, cucumber, avocado, and rice dyed purple with beet juice. For dessert, I had various avocado and salmon sushis(?) with fresh pineapple and honeydew melon, which was a delightful combination. (Those cakes Chris had looked great, but I had no room for them.)


The cost of the buffet for each of us was about $30. (Lunch is $16 weekdays and $20 weekends and holidays--kids' pricing goes by height. <5' is half adult price, <4' is 1/5 adult price, <3' free.) Drinks sold separately.

Maybe it was the time of year, but the crab shells (snow crab legs, blue crabs halved) were very difficult to crack, especially since they don't provide mallets or crackers. It wasn't worth the effort and was a very messy endeavor to try and get to the crab meat.

Soft serve ice cream is usually included on the buffet, but they had technical difficulties with that the day we were there.

This buffet would be dangerous for those with food allergies. Especially at the sushi end of the buffet, utensils are shared between dishes, so those tongs would have touched anything within two feet of them.

But, overall, now I know where I want Chris to take me for my birthday (though maybe for lunch to save money).
www.minado.com