No Relation — Restaurant in Boston

A "hidden" sushi bar inside of a tiki bar? Two white guys slinging fusion sushi? I was intrigued enough to take one for the team and drop $95 on a ticket, but I went in with very, very low expectations.

I'm happy to report that No Relation delivered in just about every way. The meal was a pleasure and I would (will!) certainly visit again.

Upon arriving at Shore Leave, we were taken through the bar and to the back, down a fairly long hallway that acts as a nice delineation between the noise of the outer bar and the relative serenity of the sushi experience. The sushi bar itself is a small and fairly sparse room. Just a bar, around 10 seats, some bottles on the wall, and a bit of room for staff to move around. Color and decoration, while minimal, supports and focuses the sushi bar theme nicely, and the overall impression is fairly elegant -- again, surprising for the back of a tiki bar.

We were presented with menus listing what we'd be eating -- a nice touch, although I would rather have received the menu at the end, as I enjoy a bit of a surprise -- and the two chefs began working on our meals. The chefs, while friendly and more than willing to answer questions, were not quite as exuberant as many chefs I've encountered when dining omakase style in the past. Not necessarily a minus, but just something worth noting.

Our 14 courses consisted of 11 pieces of nigiri, a handroll, a "sashimi" course, and a soup (a Japanese-influenced nod to clam chowder) to finish. Of these I would say that almost all were great to excellent.

One of the pieces I was especially worried about as a sushi traditionalist, "Ocean Trout with Flavors of Thailand," turned out to be one of the best of the night. The "flavors of Thailand" -- a concentrated dollop of paste on top of the piece -- provided a nice pop and yet were subtle enough to not overpower either the fish or rice.

Other stand outs included a deliciously fatty marinated chutoro with fried shallot, an amazingly tender and very large scallop featuring brown butter, striped jack with Maine uni and Maui onion (another one I was concerned about going in), and sea bream with cherry blossom.

The only course I found somewhat disappointing was the sashimi of horse mackerel, which was presented sauced and wrapped in cucumber. Mackerel is one of my favorites, and I found it to be completely overpowered by its accompaniments.

I also opted for the $60 beverage pairing. My pairing included two sakes, a Champagne, a rose, and an amontillado to finish. Both of the sakes were interesting and appropriate -- the first off-dry to compliment some of the more focused flavors at the beginning of the meal, and the second quite a bit drier, which worked nicely with the fattier courses. The Champagne I found to overpower the course it was served with, and while the rose faired better, it wasn't quite a perfect match. The sherry, which I'm guessing was mostly intended to pair with the final course of "clam chowder," was interesting and something I'd like to try again with sushi. But overall I'd not recommend the pairing based on my experience. While I think the choices were thoughtful, I think I'd have been happier ordering a bottle or two of sake a la carte.

All in all, a very nice sushi experience, walking the line quite adeptly between tradition and fusion. A great addition to Boston's rather limited selection of upscale sushi offerings, and one that I hope will stick around for...

I went here for my 26th birthday last December, for my second omakase experience ever. It was my boyfriend’s first time having omakase.

It’s been half a year since I was here so this review won’t be as thorough as mine normally are, but there’s been a negative lasting impression of my experience here.

We were enjoying the dinner, the food, the whole process up about until half way through. The chefs were speaking a little in Chinese and I mentioned it to them. I am half Chinese and speak fluently so I was excited to talk to them. Their behavior immediately changed when they knew I spoke Chinese. My boyfriend heard someone from the back kitchen say “don’t speak anymore Chinese, she knows it”. They all started telling me that they were from a country very close to China, not saying where exactly, although I can only guess Mongolia. It all felt extremely fake after that because they were pretending that they don’t speak Chinese, gaslighting me saying they weren’t speaking Chinese.

So that whole scene really made me feel odd and uncomfortable about the situation. I don’t care if Chinese people make Japanese sushi. I believe anyone can learn and be trained to do this and celebrate this culture.

I have not returned to No Relation due to this and do not recommend it to friends. I will continue my search for better omakase in Boston!

The food itself was good and fresh and presented nicely. But it felt repetitive that so much was being torched. It wasn’t as good as the little, newly opened, omakase shop I had in NYC that my friend found, which was the feeling I was searching to replicate for my birthday.

It felt like there was a lot of marketing during the dinner. They mentioned multiple times all of the extras on the menu, trying to get us to buy more. Just mention it once, tell an introductory hook about it, then let us decide and stop. It felt like we sat through multiple advertisements during our meal. We did get sake and uni which were extra. We were happy to spend, but this was so in our faces.

The price was also quite expensive for the quality of food and the negative experience, to be gaslit during dinner about a language I’ve spoken...

If you don't eat the uni or shellfish, they give you cheaper fish substitute. They charge tips beforehand at 22% so it's really not a value for money. I've been to multiple omakase all over the world and it's my first time seeing an omakase that is not well prepared despite putting the dietary restrictions weeks in advance. I've been to multiple omakase that had went above and beyond despite my partner telling them last minute about his dietary restriction. Good food, not the best I've had but not really worth the 200 bucks per person. Hygiene of head chef was also questionable, noticed he was touching his nose often with his bare hands then wiping them on a small towel. If I were to say at which price point it's worth at, I would say around 80-110 usd max (before tip). Their chawanmushi is watered down with a strong aftertaste of the sesame oil which means that they didn't use any dashi in the process of making the chawanmushi. When compared to Umami Sushi's 18- course omakase with their 14-course omakase, I would recommend Umami sushi in a heartbeat. Its main highlight is just their aesthetic and feeling of exclusiveness when they bring you to the room. But as a foodie, it's just ok if someone else is paying the meal for you. I didn't feel comfortable with the constant upsell of caviar for 80 bucks and truffle for 50 bucks(if i'm not wrong). The two chef speaking loudly in cantonese ruined the ambiance. For that pricepoint, I expected more professionalism from the chefs - the assistant chef was definitely more professional than the head chef. I would have preferred him to serve me than the head chef(mostly due him constantly wiping his nose without...