Buzkashi

Okay so it is a good restaurant but the overall quality of the foods and experience do not worth the price. We have a sashimi deluxe, duck cold soba, one order of sea urchin nigiri, one lobster okonomiyaki, three skewers, one small warm sake and one bottle of asahi. 113 dollars excluding the tips. The best dishes would be the sashimi, the texture and taste just match the price, but the crab sticks in that sashimi deluxe is kind of ridiculous since you know, most of the crab sticks we can have are not made of crab meat… My friend and me both love their egg omelet, with dashi and perfect sweetness. Skewers are nice enough too, they’re definitely using the right soy sauce. Soba is just soba. But I have to mention that the urchins they used for the nigiri are terrible, though creamy, they tasted bitter. And the rice of the nigiri is too warm for a sushi, and the nori almost dominates the flavor of everything else in that sushi…it’s just unacceptable in such a Japanese cuisine. I guess the flour paste they use for the takoyaki and the lobster okonomiyaki is the same, which you can find all over the place at any restaurant that sells such things. They are using the lobster but it’s hard to taste it… I think people are supposed to have better dishes at such price. I expected Sugidama to be a more delicate restaurant but I’m wrong. I can’t feel much difference in their recipes or the design of dishes with other cheaper Japanese restaurant. Hopefully Sugidama will make some improvements. I’m considering to try their lunch menu since that seems more economical.

Yum oh yum! Love the fresh seafood, noodles, drink menu, and desserts! This time I ordered noodles with shredded vegetable and shrimp tempura. The broth was rich, noodles were tender, and tempura was absolutely delicious! Just the right amount of food to satisfy but not too much to make you feel stuffed. Look forward to going back again. The prices are very reasonable too.

I have missed going to this place even though I have been to Davis square a zillion times. Finally made it. We walked in at 6:30 pm on a Friday, thanks to our early timing that we were able to get seated even without reservation at the bar coz it filled up really fast with mostly people who had prior reservations. Our waitress took our order and right after that there was a small argument between the hostess and her that the hostess had promised the bar seat to another party, it was awkward coz we could hear all of it but thankfully ended in the next few minutes. So lesson learned is that make a reservation at this place. Food was freshly made and some of the items were excellent and others good. My favorite was the hot udon with tempura and even better the scallops hokkaiyaki. We ordered two skewers of chichek thigh and a pork belly , the sizes are pretty small but they were grilled to perfection so no complaints. Also had the torch toro maki which was pretty good but I have had better. Drinks were good too. I only have slight complaint that there were far few waiting staff as compared to the traffic in the izakaya , so felt a bit chaotic when trying to order. Otherwise it's a great place in Davis square for Japanese fare even though it is probably not run by Japanese people.

Me and my family have been here a few times and every was fine. I brought my parents and kids here again yesterday. The food and service is good as usual, but there is one thing I want to bring up. We were a group of 3 adults, a 6 years old and a 2 years old. We were charged with 18% gratuity without even noticing it, and no one told us about that, so we left more than 20% cash tip on the table. I didn't realize that until my dad told me after he looked at the receipt after we were home. I worked at many restaurants and understand that the restaurant has the right to charge gratuity for group of 5 adults and over. Usually managers don't consider a 2 yr old to the party count to make the charge, and the wait staff didn't even give him a napkin. We ordered 4 appetizers and 3 meals for a lunch, which is definitely over minimum charge. I just can't believe the restaurant is doing that. I will still eat here, but not giving any tips that's more than 18%.