4.5 Stars

78 Salem St., Boston MA, 02113

(617)- 367-6500

I am very vocal about my love for food. I will eat almost anything under the sun from cuisines around the world. Although I was introduced to a lot of Italian/French and African dishes growing up my parents steered away from Japenese ones. But as I grew, I came to realize I love love love sushi! The first place I ate out at when I came to college was Basho which is right down the street from Simmons. I even had my boyfriend fall in love with sushi at Basho! But I was ready to experience a new place and I had been told about an “amazing” place in the North End called Crudo. 

 On September 8th, my boyfriend and I were heading into the city for a Red Sox and it was the perfect time to try out Crudo! We took the commuter rail to North Station and to the North End. Luckily we were able to use our phones to find Crudo because it was hidden on one of the windy cobbly streets of the North End. We were welcomed into the establishment by a young host who we later found out was the bartender and our server. Crudo has two floors and since we did not come at a busy time we stayed on the first floor which consisted of bar seating and a few smaller tables for groups of two to enjoy their meals. The decor gave the restaurant a more modern vibe with glossy wood table tops and silver buttons on the barstools and of course they had two tvs featuring the Patriots and Celtics, because it wouldn't be a true Boston restaurant with out one team on the big screens.

To put it simply: the food was amazing! First we ordered some calamari which is one of my favorite seafood dishes. I was very much surprised when they brought the dish to the table. It was presented in a big bowl with some cilantro and lemon on top and it was so much. My boyfriend and I were both hungry and we can both eat alot but we couldn’t finish it. The rings were big and delicious. Nice and crispy on the outside with tender meat on the inside. As we were half way through, our appetizer our sushi came out. The plating of our rolls was gorgeous, the chef had made the ginger into a flower and each roll was displayed in a different way. We bought three rolls in total, an Idaho roll, spicy tuna roll and the basic California roll. My favorite was the Spicy Tuna Roll, I love it when my food has a little kick to it and this roll definitely did. Instead of drizzling the spicy mayo on top like numerous other sushi places do they somehow put it inside the roll! The sauce was spread out more evenly for each piece and it really blended better that way with the fish and cucumber. My boyfriend's favorite roll was the Idaho roll which is made with sweet potato, tempura and an eel sauce on top! I personally do not prefer tempura in my sushi because the after texture just irks me and the after taste is not that great. Of Course, we both enjoyed the California roll. I mean if your a sushi place and you don’t have a good California roll are you really that good?

 My only critique would be that the service was kind of slow. I believe this was due to their being only one chef and one man on the floor who was the bartender,server and host rolled all into one since it was a “down time”. They probably should of had one more person helping in the front of house just so he didn't have to do it all by himself.

 Crudo is definitely a “special occasion”/ “treat yourself” type of restaurant. The pricing as with all sushi is moderately expensive. But with all the fresh fish and vegetables the price is worth it.

Overall I loved my experience at Crudo and I'm definitely planning on going back many more times in the future. If you love sushi and a good atmosphere definitely try it out!