Douzo
Friday, May 25, 2007
Overall Rating: Sick Meals (89 out of 100)
131 Dartmouth Street
Boston, MA 02116
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Phone: 617-859-8886
Douzo is a modern Japanese restaurant and lounge located steps away from Back Bay Station on the Orange Line. Sensational sushi rolls, hard-hitting drinks, and chic decor make Douzo a truly sick meal.
Our Douzo History
Our first visit to Douzo was on a Saturday night at 8:00pm.
Appetizers
Over 20 cold and hot starters are available, ranging from $3.75 to $12.75. Cold starters include tuna, beef, and duck tataki, monkfish pate, squid sashimi, baby octopus, edamame, and seaweed salad. Hot starters include crispy filo shrimp, lobster tempura, crab cake, spare ribs, lobster miso soup, and soft-shelled crab tempura. We ordered edamame as our cold starter and soft-shelled crab tempura for a hot starter.
Edamame is a simple dish of soy beans with sea salt and lime. Douzo served several heaping spoonfuls of soy beans - more than enough for our party of three - for just $4.75. The edamame was a light, tasty way to get this sick meal started. Next up was the soft-shelled crab tempura for $10.75. Breaded, deep-fried, and served with tempura sauce, the soft-shelled crab was cooked to a perfect crisp and served without a drip of grease.
Rating: 9.2
Main Dishes
Choose from maki and hand rolls, cucumber hand rolls, salads, sushi and sashimi, and several combination platters and entrees. A selection of "special rolls" is also available. Special rolls range from $6.75 to $16.75. Maki, hand, and cucumber hand rolls range from $3.50 to $8.50. Entrees run from $17 to $32. We focused on Douzo's sashimi and special rolls.
For special rolls, we chose the Back Bay, Crazy, and Rainbow rolls. The Back Bay roll ($15.75) consisted of eight pieces of asparagus, cucumber, and avocado wrapped with seared tuna and a touch of wasabi sauce. The Crazy roll ($8.25) included four mammoth pieces of shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber, and spicy mayo. The bright Rainbow roll ($12.75) consisted of six pieces of shrimp, crab stick, tobiko, and spicy mayo wrapped with tuna, salmon, and white fish. Douzo presented the rolls like neatly-wrapped gifts on a shiny white plate. The rolls were creative, super fresh, and delicious.
Douzo's sushi gives you two pieces per order while the sashimi gives you three pieces. We delighted in the smoked salmon and albacore tuna sashimi ($7.25/each), enjoying three neatly-cut slices of tender cool sickness.
Entrees include sirloin steak, lobster, grilled salmon fillet or chicken breast, thinly sliced prime rib, and deep-fried pork or chicken cutlet. Rice and a variety of tempura - two pieces per order - are available as sides.
Rating: 9
Drinks
The bartender poured liquor with a vengeance, easily doubling the value of each mixed drink with her generosity. We recommend the Tokyo Cosmo ($10), a sick mix of vodka, sake, and triple sec with a splash of lime and cranberry juice. Wine starts at $27 for a bottle.
Rating: 9.3
Service
Two bartenders coolly handled an overflowing crowd with ease. On the other hand, table service was nothing special; our waitress acted as though she'd rather be spending her Saturday night elsewhere.
Rating: 7.9
Ambiance
Douzo is modern, striking, and crystal clean. You feel the pulse of the restaurant in lively conversation, constant motion, and contemporary background music. The bar scene bustles while the sushi chefs hustle.
Rating: 9
Et Cetera
Trivia: Douzo means "please come in" in Japanese.
Menu: Check out the menu on the Douzo web site
Reservations: Douzo accepts reservations for parties of six or more.
Parking: Valet is just $5 for up to three hours.
Dress: You may dress casually, but given the chic, urban environment, you might feel more at home if you dress for a night on the town.
Hours: Dinner is served seven days per week from 4:30pm until midnight.
Labels: Back-Bay, Douzo, Japanese, Sick-Meals
