-- Boston's Hidden Restaurants --

Toraya Restaurant

890 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA 02476
(781) 641-7477 Find location!

Photo of Toraya Restaurant, Arlington, MA While many diners tend to agree that Oishii in Chestnut Hill may be the best place in the Boston area for sushi, there are other excellent places that should not be overlooked. And one of these restaurants, Toraya in Arlington, may just be the place that comes closest to Oishii for sushi. Haven't heard of this tiny dining spot across from Arlington High School? Read on, then...

As noted, Toraya is a small restaurant with a handful of tables and a few seats by the sushi bar. The decor is calm and soothing, with blonde wood and traditional Japanese lamps giving the place a nice feel. Toraya has only two or three people working there at any given time, including someone behind the sushi bar, who makes his incredible concoctions while people sit and watch. Some of the more familiar items here include tekka maki (tuna), salmon caviar, red snapper, and mackerel. If you want to try all of these, plus other items including sea urchin, you can get them all by ordering the sushi deluxe dish. Other, more exotic items on the menu include flying fish roe, raw quail egg, and tile fish.

For those of you who are not sushi lovers, there is no need to fret, as Toraya has a number of entrees for diners who like steak, chicken, pork, tofu, or noodles. Specific items on the menu include chicken teriyaki, deep fried pork loin, and veggie tempura. One dish that really stands out is the mouthwatering sukiyaki, which is thinly sliced beef (very lean) with tofu and vegetables, cooked in a sweet, delicious soy-based sauce. If you like lean beef, this version of Japanese comfort food may be worth looking at.

Toraya isn't well known, and its location makes it easy to overlook, but the restaurant does seem to be doing pretty well; on any given night, the place is crowded enough to warrant a short wait. But it seems that mainly locals and serious sushi lovers are the ones who are going to Toraya. That may change, however, as the food here is too good to be kept a secret for very much longer.