Ai sushi — Restaurant in Somerville

Once upon a time, Ai Sushi was known as Shumi. It's one of those places where we come to celebrate a milestone whether it be anniversary, job or birthday. We always come for omakase, which means Chef's choice. We come on these rare occasions because we live quite far from this restaurant. While it is a bit of a long journey, it is so worth it when it was Shumi and Ike owned it.

As we went back to see our beloved Ike, we were surprised when we made reservations and they answered it as Ai Sushi. After clarifying, it turns out John Junichi is now the Chef and Joy (a long time Shumi employee under Chef Ike) along with David Grodman are now co-owners. We were nervous but we decided to go forward and boy are we glad we did.

The first thing we noticed is they added modern pictures and did small increments of sprucing up the place. Ike is from Japan and the traditional Japanese restaurant's emphasis is always on the food and not so much on the decor. The omakase styles are different between the two chefs Ike and Junichi. Ike is more traditional using little marinated sushi as possible as well as imported fish from all around the world. Junichi's omakase has more of an instagrammable flare. Ike's monkfish liver is softer than Junichi's but Junichi is offering two different prices for omakase: $60 and $80. The $60 omakase is only sushi and it comes with 10 pieces of nigiri sushi and ends with a hand roll. The $80 omakase is the same amount of sushi but it comes with a plate of sashimi which has 5 types of fish 2 pieces each. Both are great at the creations and executions of their offerings.

I do wish they would improve on their ginger salad dressing. It is still bitter and I often forfeit it. Another issue I have is, I wish they would get together with the other business owners within their shared building and overhaul their bathrooms. It is outdated and in dire need of cleaning.

I wish Ai Sushi much...

Summary: Service was pretty bad and although the fish was decent, it was pricier than even NYC (look up Sugarfish). Not great value (they charged $2 for a bottle of warm Poland spring water) and not likely to return due to service.

Walked in and from across the room the waitress gestured to an open table without coming over to seat us. Weird but ok no problem. Menu was very limited compared to what was advertised on their website with essentially no kitchen items (except for nebayaki udon) and only some special rolls. Again no problem because I came for the nigiri. Only after I returned from the bathroom (more on that later) did the waiter mention they did not have an item I ordered. She walked past me without saying anything else so I had to chase her down and ask her to put in another order of an alternate item. Weird and dismissive but whatever. After getting the food (which was decent), we saw other patrons get salads along with their food. When we asked, the waitress said salad only came with non sushi orders and she assumed that our udon order was going to be eaten by our child so she didn't give us the salad. Why would getting a salad hinge on who the food is going to? If it's paid for, it should be included period. Waitress came by and took our soy sauce without saying anything or asking if we were done.

Other issues: one of the bowls we got was pretty dirty and there's almost no air circulation inside with interior temperature being quite warm even though it was already very warm out. Chipped glass tabletops, missing ceiling tiles...just overall a little more shabby than I expected.

Overall, pretty disappointing experience. Good chu toro but that's honestly the only positive thing about the...

The best sushi you will ever taste, period. I have been consuming vast amounts of sushi and sashimi since 1973, and have eaten in some of the most fabled sushi restaurants in New York, Tokyo, San Francisco, and Vancouver, and Ai beats them all hands down. The chef here is a true master, the fish is beautifully prepared, and the variety of sushi and sashimi is nothing short of extraordinary. The servers are gracious, efficient and helpful. Perhaps the most amazing thing about Ai is that fish that we have come to regard as commonplace is so well-prepared that it opens up a whole new level of appreciation. I was so astonished at the taste of "ordinary" fish like mackerel, eel, and octopus that I found myself thinking, "Wow, so that's what that's supposed to taste like!" On top of that, the rice here is also masterfully prepared, the nori is fresh and crisp, and the O-toro is out of this world. The restaurant itself is a casual neighborhood place with a laid-back vibe in the back of a small office building, completing the sense that you have found an undiscovered gem. This is absolutely as...