Itadaki

I am happy to have found another great sushi spot downtown! A friend brought a few of us here and we each had delicious options off their very large menu — even the vegetarians/​vegans did well. Sake selection was huge and staff was attentive and funny. Would definitely go back. Also, I left my glasses there and they held on to them for me and i (very thankfully) was able to grab them the next morning — so kind of them!

Decent atmosphere. Ramen was fine, soft shell crab tempura was kinda weird but not sure what to expect?

Popular (at least in my friend group) for their giant scorpion bowls. Please be advised scorpion bowls should be shared among, at minimum, a group of 4. I wouldn’t describe the drink as delicious but it’s fun to share it with friends. I usually opt for the red one (they have 4 different flavors), the blue seems to be the most popular but I hate blue curacao. All scorpion bowls come with fruits such as lychee, maraschino cherries, oranges, etc — it’s a nice touch compared to a regular scorpion bowl.
I could live without the food here. Most recently I got the Itadaki Spicy Fries, nothing to rave about. It’s consider a tapa so expect a small portion, and no spice to them at all. Then I had an uni-​avo roll (eel + avocado) and my avocado was not ripe. Let’s be honest who likes eating a hard avocado? Meh. My friends got the wings, ramen, and tofu. Ramen was decent — not super flavorful but not super salty either. I didn’t try the wings but they looked really saucy, so not for me. I didn’t try the tofu either, but my friend said it was his favorite thing to eat there.
Nice outdoor seating. Service is OK. I found our waitress to be a little timid, and a little awkward to talk to — but overall nice and attentive. When she asked for our IDs she walked away with them and didn’t come back for a couple minutes — not sure if she went inside to scan them or something but that was awkward.

Haven’t tried the food here but this review will be based on a short stay cause we only came for their Scorpion Bowls and Giant Beer.
Stopped by on a Saturday evening and went straight to the bar area located downstairs. Not a lot of people were down there so didn’t have to worry about noise or overcrowding or even wait time for seating.
Ordered a Full Red Scorpion Bowl ($ 55) which I thought would be sweeter rather than actually being able to taste the alcohol… boy was I wrong but in a good way. Their bowls def pack a punch. Their giant beer also doesn’t disappoint had a Giant Asahi in a 38oz. mug, such a great beer and served super cold. Wait staff was friendly and on point. Won’t be back for food but those bowls hold a special place in my heart… er liver.

I’ve only ever been to Itadaki for their giant scorpion bowls. The blue one is always the best! Forget the food and just come for the scorpion bowls!
This time we didn’t want to drink on an empty stomach so we decided to try the food too for dinner. I ordered one roll and their miso glazed salmon (small plates). Two small dishes that added up to almost $ 30. I would’ve expected larger portions for the price. Food is not terrible, but also nothing special. I was unsatisfied by the small, but expensive meal. The are way better restaurants for Japanese food.
Service wasn’t stellar either. Slow service and long waits for food. It took a long time even for fries to be served. My advice is don’t come hungry and if you decide to come at all just order the scorpion bowl. Nothing else seems to be worth spending on.

Do not come here for sushi. I was expecting bigger sized sushi, especially for the special rolls, but they were exactly the same as the other regular rolls. Prepare to order atleast two rolls.

Itadaki’s salmon sushi pizza is their only saving grace.
Pros:
+Itadaki is spacious. Downstairs there’s a bar, upstairs there’s plenty of seating for small or large parties– which is quite unheard of within the Newbury area
Recs:
+Salmon sushi pizza– fried rice cake topped with salmon sashimi. Certainly a unique dish, blends well with the spicy mayo sauce. No need for soy sauce.
Cons:
–It’s dark indoors
–Food comes out at a snail’s pace
–$$$ expensive. $ 19.50 for their Itadaki spicy chashu ramen.
Mind you this is even pricier than NY’s Ippudo ramen which is $ 15/​bowl. It should be a crime to be pricing what is essentially street/​comfort food in Japan this high. Chashu was dry. Their spicy miso paste tasted like gochujang, the sauce used in bibimbap which was bizarre.
–Omu rice was unremarkable. It had an odd pairing with dried potatoes. A salad would have been better.
Newbury pricing, unremarkable taste.

This review is only for the ramen bowls at this restaurant:
My roommate and I had ramen here recently on a cold, rainy day. It was a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and there was only one other table of people eating inside. Anyway, we really wanted ramen so nevertheless we went on inside. The ramen bowls we ordered were okay, tasted average compared to other ramen we’ve had in the greater Boston area (and in NYC. okay, maybe we’re a little spoiled when it comes to ramen). The service was also average, not terrible but nothing special either, especially given we were almost the only table in the entire restaurant. The reason I am rating this place 2 stars instead of 3, though, is what happened after my roommate and I got home from our ramen meal. I don’t want to go into too much detail — but let’s just say we both had immediate, negative bodily reactions to the ramen bowls we had that day.
Again, we didn’t try any of the other food here, so I can’t comment on what that is like. Overall, the food tasted average and the service was average, I suppose the ambiance was below average since the place was nearly empty, and then my post-​meal average was below average, so they get 2 stars from me.

I went into Itadaki wanting to love it… didn’t love it. Can’t even say I like it after the dining experience j had. I must say however I did like our waitress, who was very sweet and always kept a smile on her face.
The first thing that rubbed me the wrong way was that a table who sat down long after me and my friend had their food and drinks brought out to them before us even after waiting for what seemed to be forever. Ok… I guess I won’t think too much of it. And okay I guess the next thing is kinda my fault but… I had spilled my drink. Unfortunately after only taking two sips from it. I asked the waitress if it could be taken off the bill understanding it may not happen. She told me that she had already asked the manager before I even asked because she knows it was an unfortunate situation. She apologized and in her exact words, «The manager said its not our fault». Could you not have taken into consideration that a paying customer made an accident out of spilling a drink that was hardly touched? Well hey the 9 bucks you saved from charging me for the full drink must be worth never having me come back again.
Last but not least. After we had payed and my friend received the receipt for the portion payed on her card (I payed cash) it had an amount less that what was given in cash written on the receipt… what is up with this place? Really trying to fool us into paying extra on top of what was payed already?! I could not believe the disaster of an experience this place was.

I went here with a large group on the night of St. Patrick’s day, and although the food was good, the service was awful. The restaurant was just about empty, but somehow it took about a half hour for me to put in my order and the server rarely visited the table. For how much money we were spending, I expected better. Also, the scorpion bowls taste good but seem to have almost no alcohol, which is usually why you order a scorpion bowl. I won’t be coming back.

Want a quiet Friday lunch by myself… Wrong place to go to. It looks quiet from the outside since not much business, however, the waitress can’t stop bothering you… I mean seriously, 3 times in a row with 10 min– when I’m eating, texting, calling. Besides, stand behind and tried to check my phone when I was texting. This is beyond weird…
Food wise– you pay $ 18 for a bowl of Ramen. Pretty bad deal, the taste is average.

Really weird to admit, but I had the best salmon sashimi of my life here. It was so fresh and tasted absolutely perfect!
I also tried the salmon rice cake app and it was delicious. The tamago app was fantastic, the spicy miso soup was amaazing and even the side salad had great dressing.
Sadly, the vegetarian shoyu ramen was DISGUSTING. Something in there made the broth smell like feet and it was so gross we sent it back. Luckily, I got so much salmon I was too full for the ramen. :)
I can’t wait to go back to try more of their menu! Could turn into my new favorite Japanese restaurant, but we’ll see!

I’ve had the opportunity to visit this being close to work; it’s a small simple little place with an interesting flare for seasonable decorations and happy staff ready to seat you.
The sushi is fresh but nothing memorable, the presentation isn’t impressive as they don’t really garnish the plates, provide a design with the sauces and just toss everything in any order on your dish. That’s a bit disappointing simply because because sushi is almost entirely on presentation, especially when you aren’t already separating yourself with flavor.
The tea is always cold, I want hot tea, the hot tea is cold and poorly chosen in quality. It literally lacks flavor and feels like it’s been in a box for years. Maybe focus on perhaps having more traditional Sencha or Gyokuro teas to your library, even brewing it prior; some people actually want the genuine experience.

Oomph not a great spot. Food is not fresh and it’s expensive.
$ 19 for ramen when competitors are $ 11 – 13.
Lunch sushi box is not fresh. The tuna came and it was BROWN. I thought it was the lighting at first, but I used my iPhone flashlight. Yep it’s brown. (Not a dark-​ish red that fresh tuna is supposed to be).
My salmon roll came with orange slices (with the peel still on!!) on top of my roll. Am I supposed to peel the orange slices and then eat my sushi? Super weird.

I read about this place on Thrillist… One of the 10 best places in Boston for sushi… It wants to be a sort of Sushi Tapas fusion place which, in theory, is pretty cool. In reality, Itadaki isn’t really executing either very well.
The Sushi «Pizza» we ordered was a fried, but very oily, soggy patty of yesterday’s sushi rice. The toppings were lost to the heavy, greasy taste of old oil.
Service is, well, odd. The sushi chefs, there were two, spent most of the night literally sitting on the floor behind the bar. Aside from the health issues this might present, to see them pop up, prepare whatever order was needed in the moment and promptly disappear, seemed like something of a protest movement. No conversation with servers, guests at the bar or even one another. This wouldn’t have been so obvious to diners seated at tables, but to the three AT THE SUSHI BAR, it was just bizarre. I’ve eaten at many many sushi restaurants and have never seen this done.
I would suggest that anyone hoping for great sushi look to the other nine. Anyone hoping for an interesting evening of tapas should keep looking. This place will disappoint.

We were just here for a quick lunch.
Both of us had the shoyu ramen. We enjoyed and finished our bowls. The ramen was very well presented and tasty. Only criticisms were it was fairly salty, but then with a soy base this was always likely and that it wasn’t the biggest bowl of ramen ever, though still filling.
Service was friendly and quick.
2 ramen and 2 green teas came to $ 34.24 after tax but before tip.

Good ambience, nice waiter, mediocre food.
I would recommend going here for the experience but not for the food for foodies. The menu needs work, rice was too hard and katsu curry barely had curry in it, we asked for more and our kind waiter asked but the manager said no. Oh well. I wish better luck for other people.
The ramen was interesting… It still is not too bad for an american japanese restaurant, but it definitely was not worth the money. If it was cheaper I might have been okay with it though. So maybe happy hours is the way to go.
I think it really deserves a 2.5 star but the waiter rounded it up to a 3. Kind service and made sure we were feeling hydrated even though he couldnt get more curry sauce for us.

Came here for a quick lunch and was excited to try it. I choose to try their signature roll and a Philadelphia roll to compliment it. The Itadaki Spicy Roll had tempura flakes that tasted old but the flavor overall was good. The Philadelphia roll tasted like the cream cheese was old or something.
The staff was very friendly though and the place has a great look. I hope that they can step up their food quality though.

This is very mediocre, overpriced Japanese food, for such a good spot on Newbury St too, with an outdoor patio and cool bar space! Such a waste. The fare is fairly standard, and the experimental items I’ve tried have been pretty gross (like the sushi pizza — shudder). Don’t get the sushi pizza!!! I recently got lunch and this is what we tried:
— Omurice — my friend liked it, but I feel this is relatively hard to mess up. It was a bit greasy but generally tasted alright.
— Salmon teriyaki bento — so boring and blah! The salmon piece was very meager — about ¹⁄₃ of what a place would usually serve. Then it came with standard, blah, not-​quite-​Japanese items: very fried shumai, cold hard California pieces, seaweed salad. Overall bleh!
Anyways, don’t come here unless if you’re starving to death on Newbury street or want an outdoor patio. There are better options all around.
Note: I may be less strict and veer more towards 3 stars if this place weren’t sitting right on Newbury street, where we should be showcasing Bostonian and high quality Japanese food!

The only place in Boston that makes Japanese Doria! Doria is a western-​influenced Japanese comfort food. It’s a rice-​and-​meat baked casserole w béchamel sauce and cheese, and it’s amazing.
We went for dinner and it was perfect. The ambiance is nice w warm lighting and curtains that provide a cozier feeling at otherwise central tables. The food was great. Tempura was delicious and lightly breaded. The cream croquette was super creamy. Potstickers were nicely pan-​fried. Sushi was well-​done.
The menu has some harder-​to-​find dishes on it along with some crazypants things like sushi pizza (which I gladly did not try). Definitely worth visiting!