o ya — Restaurant in Boston

I prefer my sushi to be a little-less inventive, but it seems like it'd be cheating to give O-Ya anything less than 5 stars. We did the Grand Omakase and sat at the chef's counter - is there any other way to do it? The menu was massive, and I mean literally massive. Here's the list of dishes that we had (in the Omakase):

Kumamoto oyster: not a huge oyster person but easily the best oyster I've ever had, probably because it didn't taste like sea-water and was balanced out by all the other stuff that was added inside; also funny that we came all the way from Washington just to eat Washington oysters Cobia: with banana peppers, tasty and inventive... kind of an unusual flavor but I enjoyed it Santa barbara sea urchin and osetra caviar: personally not a huge fan, this was my first time having caviar and wasn't sure what to think about it; uni is funky to me... kind of a strange texture and not a super huge fan of the flavor Kin medai: to be honest, I don't really remember this one, but it had Japanese plum vinaigrette which was interesting Japanese aji Toro caviar: love toro, still unsure about caviar Kyoto style matsutake mushrooms - mushrooms with truffle?! delicious Foie gras: eh, not a huge fan of foie gras, it was okay Cape cod scallop: also not a huge fan of raw scallops... but at least it had truffle Kona kampachi: jalapeno gave it a cilantro flavor for some reason (thank god I love cilantro) Shima aji penang: tasty and easily one of the most creative pieces I've had... obvious Thai flavor with Thai basil and penang curry (and lime) Ora king salmon: she said this was flown in from NZ, easily one of the best dishes of the entire course; usually not a huge salmon fan but it melted in your mouth... Bluefin chutoro Alaska king crab sunomono: eh, just kind of tasted like crab to me... Cape cod scallop and pressed caviar: the softest scallop I've ever had... still unsure about the caviar on the top Faberge onsen egg: soft poached and created with absolute perfection, was decorated in gold flakes and the caviar actually worked wonderfully with this dish... the texture... the flavor.... WOW Kagoshima A5 waygu seared petit strip loin: I've had my fair share of fancy beef... and this is easily the best I've had and probably the best I ever will have; it also featured crispy potato slices underneath the beef that weren't fried... but had a PERFECT crispy texture to them, amazing Foie gras nigiri - featuring a chocolate flavor, since this one was cooked it had a different flavor than the first one, it was okay Something sweet: some kind of marshmallow concoction, a wonderful texture

We also ordered another piece of sashimi and some crispy pork belly - which was almost 100% fat but wonderful, the sides of it were a little sticky. The service was fantastic, it was the fastest omakase I've ever had. The dishes kept disappearing and reappearing. The waitress introduced every single dish and was very knowledgable with all the questions we had. She said the head chef brought back a lot of the pieces (like some of the dishes) from trips he'd taken to Japan. The fish was obviously amazing, only the ones that are in-season are used, so the menu rotates according to what's in-supply and actually good at that time of the year. O-Ya was much more inventive than I usually like my sushi. Every bite was a surprise of flavors, carefully and thoughtfully chosen to mix together. Some dishes (like the shima aji penang) I'm sure you won't be able to find anywhere else. I'm used to eating sashimi/nigiri with just the fish and a tad bit of wasabi. A few of the pieces were a little too advanced (in terms of ingredients) for me but that's one of the things that makes this...

Drink 1:  champagne

Kumamoto Oyster Refreshing. Very light. With the oyster sitting upon a mound of ice, it gets your slightly worried about the contents spilling over since they stuff the oyster quite full.

Hamachi Small hints of Wasabi. An enticing  combination of savory and smoky flavor.

Hokkaido sea urchin & white sturgeon caviar So rich and buttery. It melts almost as soon as you put it into your mouth. This dish also has slight hints of wasabi.

Drink 2. Arnott roberts

4: Kohada Baby Mackeral The salsa verde here is unexpected and is very flavor additive. The salsa adds a hint of "green" to the overall palate experience. Refreshing. Very smooth. Not a flavor that fills your mouth but stays on your tongue.

White spot prawn I could smell the smoky flavor even before I picked it up. Heavy savory flavors - almost spicy.

Ora King Salmon Melts in your mouth. Strong flavors of ginger and scallion that work well together and sort of clean your palate as we move into a different phase of the meal.

Drink 3: Dry rose

Housemate fingerling potato chip Good crunch with the potato chip The truffle made it very rich and decadent.

Fried Kumamoto Oyster This was definitely one of my favorites. I was happy it was lightly fried instead of deep fried. Foamy squid ink is a unique experience. A bit of kick with the kosho pepper.

Chanterelle Mushrooms A slightly smoky garlic flavor that is very rich. Very tasty. Mushrooms are soaked in sake. Very soft

Sip of Summer Tastes like earth and green tomato. Refreshes the palate for the sashimi course.

Drink 4: Full bodied Chardonnay

Branzino The crunch from the tiny cucumbers is nice. Subtle flavors aside from a bit of kick from the spice included.

12:  Shima Aji & Hokkaido Sea urchin Fills your mouth with the tastes of the ocean but in a good way. Strong savory flavor reflecting the rich flavors and textures of uni.

Hamachi The fish is soaked is soaked in a spicy and savory but light sauce. Its also coated in fried shallot bits which adds a welcome crunch You can taste the spice from the red chill powder fairly clearly but it's not overpowering.

Drink 5: Pinot noir

Ora king salmon This is a more traditional sashimi with a soy sauce base with a tiny bit of spice. And cucumbers complement the high quality salmon texture.

Bluefin Toro We get the flavor of Wasabi but no so much the spice component. Big piece of fish. Careful with chopstick

Grilles maitake, shiitake and Kong oyster mushroom The fragrance kf the garlic fills tour nostrils even before you take a bite. And the sesame and sesame foam juxtapose a tiny bit of sweetness with a strong garlic flavor and savory sauce.

Drink 6:  a more full bodied wine. Saladin

Sea scallop Creamy sauce with fish that melts in your mouth and is accentuated by truffles. Very light on flavor overall but a treat in the mouth. A pause between dishes with a heavier flavor

18.Wagyu kushiyaki The beef is cooked to perfection falling apart in your mouth without any effort complemented by hints of sweet and glaze

19.Foie Gras This course is served with a complementary drink called tokai that the server recommended that we sip after the we eat the course. The duck fat just melts in your mouth and the dark chocolate leaves an essence of smoking after an initial sweetness

20.Yuzu sorbet Quite tart but still good. A perfect closer to...

I've been to O Ya twice, in May 2011 and in July 2013.

The food is very, very good. Unique. Exquisite. Reliably delightful sushi that melts in your mouth, with innovative twists that are not done, or not done as well, anywhere else. (Examples: basil sauce with maguro sashimi, oysters with watermelon, aged sake with foie gras sushi.) The sommelier also makes exceptional drink pairings, drawing on both wines and sake.

But the price is very high for what it is. We had the standard omakase meal for two with a wine pairing, which ran about $750. You can eat there for less, but will probably end up spending more than $200 a person. When you charge as much as they do, you simply can't have an item on the omakase menu that reminds you of a Philadelphia roll (the cream sauce overpowered the salmon) or make a highly questionable wine pairing (sweet eel with a very dry riesling), and both of those things happened on our second and most recent visit. To their credit, the sommelier was receptive to our criticisms and substituted the questionable wine free of charge; the second pairing was much better. We also noticed a few items that were slightly too salty, which to me absolutely should not happen in a Japanese restaurant. Note that this was over 17 dishes; about half or slightly more than half were fantastic, a handful left us unimpressed, and the rest were enjoyable or very good.

You can have phenomenal culinary experiences at restaurants like Morimoto in Philadelphia, Kyo-ya in New York, Koy Shunka in Barcelona (we've been to all of the places named above), not to mention most starred Michelin restaurants, for about 1/2 to 2/3 the price. If you simply want great sushi, you can have that throughout the USA on a budget of $100 a person.

Don't get me wrong. Kyo-ya is an absolute delight, and it's a unique sushi restaurant, especially when you limit your comparisons to within the Boston area. It's just that while the extra amount you spend at Koy Shunka will get you a very unique experience, it will not necessarily get you a better meal. It's like spending $800 for the best seats at a concert or for a great pair of headphones. You will have an excellent, excellent time, but you may also end up wondering whether you would have been happier spending "only" $400 eating at another great restaurant—especially if you notice slight flaws in execution as we did.

Lastly: don't let the price tag fool you into thinking the place is formal; just the opposite. I wore jeans, and there were several patrons in shorts and baseball caps. The servers are also...