Shiki

I went here for lunch with my husband. I ordered the Kaiseki lunch and my husband ordered the hokkai don along with some nigiri and maki. I guess we set our expectation too high that we got really disappointed with the food quality. I can’t say the food was bad, but it was just okay. I just didn’t think they worth $ 23 each though… I’m sorry but I really expected more from an authentic Japanese restaurant.

Shiki is a small, high end Japanese dining establishment in Coolidge Corner.
On the pricier end for Japanese food, $ 15+ for lunch entrees.
Their specialty include kaiseki lunches which are lunch sets that consist of many small dishes/​offerings. Kaiseki’s are very rare in Boston. It’s a great option for people who want to try a little bit of everything. It’s not the elaborate kaiseki’s at traditional Japanese hot springs, but it’s good enough.
Recs:
+Matsu kaiseki lunch $ 23– If you want to go «all out», this is their priciest option given there’s sashimi included. Other notable offerings include: chawamushi (steamed egg), eel & uni on top of price, assorted tempura, and a bowl of udon.
Nothing too outstanding since you can order each individual piece in any Japanese resto IMO, but the presentation is fantastic.
++++Hokkai Donburi $ 24 — an overload of minced crab, uni, salmon eggs, and scallop on a bed of rice. The color combo of this donburi is an eye gasm. The uni and scallop were particularly very fresh; no hint of bitterness from the uni which was awesome and the scallop were 2 large eyeball-​sized chunks. Includes salad + miso soup. Hands down, must get for raw seafood lovers.

We felt very lonely and ignored, hard to do in a small restaurant. Hint: if you want the children (and parents) in your restaurant to remain calm and happy, try taking orders in less than 30 minutes and actually bringing the appetizers ordered. We eat in Coolidge Corner multiple times a week but will avoid this place from now on.

I ordered the Hokkai donburi and the seafood pieces were all very fresh. It came with a miso soup and a small platter of salad. I had to come back again and try their other dishes.
This is a really nice and authentic Japanese place.

I will give 4 star to the food. The service is only 2.5 star, It is very small restaurant. Only two servers so it is very slow. We ordered one tanpen and one lunch set. It took almost 30 min to get the food. The most thing I felt offended was that they didn’t allow us to sit on the table because we had two people. Two tables were available. But they only allowed us to sit on the bar. The table were only open for 4 people. The bar was narrow and busy. I think it was unfair.

The food here is authentic and fresh but the server never smiled. The young girl was nice and checked on us couple times but the older woman seems annoyed when asked questions. Five star food, 2−3star service. They served us green tea after dinner which was a nice touch. Green tea tiramisu is very good.

Wonderful. Now service is just perfect. The food is fantastic. The sashimi is of humble size, but worth every penny.
The food was always great, but service wasn’t always. Now that has changed again. Our service was hands down perfect.
And of course getting some daiginjo from Niigata for a reasonable price makes me happy.

Having been a long term loyal customer of this place, I ought to do a review.
This is one of the few authentic Japanese establishments in Boston. Many Japanese places are opened by non-​native people. I guess it is easy to learn to make quasi sushi. As a result, I have my rule of thumb to filter out a big majority of these imposter restaurants. The secret is in the names! If a Japanese restaurant is named after a very well known city, place or phrase, there is a 90% chance that is not a Japanese owned restaurants. I stay away from places calling themselves Tokyo, Kyoto, Sushi, etc. that leaves the rest mostly native Japanese owned place such as Toraya, Shiki. There are few exceptions of course, such as Fugaku and Oishii. But these tend to have decent food too. I figured if they can’t even come up with an authentic name to represent the restaurant, they may not do well with the food too. After all Japanese people are extremely detail oriented. This would be a good telltale sign.
Some of the authentic examples of Shiki are: the owner makes cute simple Ikebana styled flower arrangement for every table daily; the center wall art piece is seasonal which corresponds to the name of this place — Shiki means the four seasons; the Izakaya style was the first of its kind opened years ago in Boston; they offer a New Years special meal just as the way it would have been done in Japan.
As a true Japanese establishment, Shiki’s service is always attentive and polite. Some times they can be a little slow if short staffed, but they are always extremely pleasant.
The food is decent. I have eaten at great places in NYC, San Francisco and Asia. Shiki’s food is not that spectacular in comparison. But then again I have yet to find a super authentic and tasty Japanese place in Boston. O Ya and Uni are a bit fusion to me.
So I am giving it a solid 4 stars for the great overall experience and a close to Japan feel one can have in Boston.

Went here for lunch today. Service was friendly, and the place is cute. The food had a great presentation. If I had to say something negative, I would say that the food wasn’t as tasty as other japanese restaurants that i’ve been too. This is just me being picky. and also having had sushi on the west coast. Overall, it’s a great place to meet up with friends and have a great lunch.

We ordered the eggplant and octopus hot appetizers, sashimi/​sushi, and the sake flight. All were really delicious, authentic, and, at least for us, the portion-​sizes were fine.
The slow service is what brings the rating down. When my friend and I arrived, there were only a few tables that were occupied and service was slow. And then when more people arrived, it was worse. The check took 10 minutes. The staff were pleasant though.

I will rate 10on the food, and 1on the service. Food is very good! Definitely try their Saba sashimi, very tasty. There was 2 waitress on a Wednesday night, the younger age waitress, passed by our table, she hit the corner of our table by accidentally, and the water spilled on the table and menu. she turn around and look back at it right away, but she didn’t say anything, didn’t give us back a napkin, didn’t have any face emotion on her face, it’s kinda funny that she really don’t care about it at all! It’s not a big deal at all, like it doesn’t even bothers me at all… Just a funny experience to share with now.

Excellent authentic Japanese cuisine. I’m enjoy dining in this restaurant. Natto is wonderful.

My friend took me to this small, underground Japanese resturant enthusiastically saying how authentically Japanese it is.
Well, Japanese restaurants must have very overpriced, tiny portions of admittedly good fish and horrendous service.
I had an avocado salad, which was about what i expected size-​wise, and delicious. Then i got the 11-​piece sashimi platter. Make that small plate. Make that coaster. You probably know what a piece of sashimi looks like, it’s a pretty common size all around, in every sushi place I have ever been, These pieces were about half-​inch long. MAYBE 1 oz of fish overall.
VERY tasty fresh fish.
But tiny.
My friend had a soup with no flavor and lots of rice. Another tiny portion.
Her sushi roll (avocado and eel?) was mushy and unpleasant tasting, though of normal size.
We waited for everything. To sit. To order. For requested water refils. For the check. For them to come take out credit cards. For them to fun our credit cards. Terrible service.
I’m not going back. Ever. if you paid ME.

The food was great, in all honesty the Hokka Donburi was amazing. I was sad that they ran out of uni today, though. The substitute of salmon or sweet shrimp was ok. The hotote was amazing, super fresh! On the other hand, the ikura was also very fresh and they gave plenty! The rice was cooked to perfection with the right amount of sweetness.
The karaage chicken was not my favorite though. It did not stand out and tasted like normal fried chicken.
The reason I gave 3 stars to this restaurant is because of its service. The server never smiled and acted very annoyed when we asked questions. She was in a rush. C’mon, we’re still your customers right? She treated those who she knows well much better. There was a huge difference on the attention she gives her regulars than us.
However the old lady who looked like the manager was really nice.
The food is really slow, so be patient.

Shiki is the stereotypical Brookline restaurant — overpriced and vastly underwhelming. I’m not going to waste my time writing a detailed review, because this place doesn’t deserve it. During my visit, the service was extremely slow and inefficient from beginning to end. We waited 5 – 10 minutes to be seated even though we were the only ones in line (with several tables being available), and getting the check took an inordinate amount of time.
My wife and I ordered $ 40 worth of food that basically qualified as an appetizer course. We had to eat elsewhere afterward because we still felt hungry! Don’t get the avocado and cucumber maki because there is literally one sliver of avocado and a few slices of cucumber in a thin roll of mostly rice. Complete rip off. If you want better Japanese food I’d recommend trying Ittoku in Allston, as they also serve tapas style Japanese dishes but with better portions. I will not be coming back to Shiki.

Shiki is one of those hidden gems in Coolidge Corner. While there are certainly good Japanese options in the area, if you want a truly authentic experience, Shiki is the place to go. It’s located away from the busyness of Harvard Ave on Babcock. First time I went, it was a bit hard to find because the sign isn’t exactly obvious and then you have to go down the steps to get into the restaurant.
If your idea of Japanese is sushi, udon and donburi dishes, this place won’t disappoint. Everything is fresh and made to order. However, that isn’t what sets this place apart is their traditional Japanese meals. Here you can get things like broiled fish, squid stuffed with sticky rice, little cups of steamed egg, etc. It’s a refreshing change from the usual Japanese fare. For the dinner menu, it’s more of an a la carte ordering, where you get little dishes here and there to share. For lunch, they have set kaiseki lunch boxes which are an excellent value.
The most important thing for me, however, is how much my son absolutely loves the food at this place. His all-​time favorites are the agedashi tofu, the chicken karage, and the broiled black cod. He could eat these all day because of their soft texture and delicious flavor. And no wonder — the chicken karage, for example, has gotta be the most tender and juiciest I’ve had in Boston.

It’s a good sign while you walk in a Japanese restaurant and notice there are many Japanese dining there. Everything there is very authetic, very Japanese, even the wait staff is Japanese too. Did I mention that this restaurant run by Japanese?
I guess Shiki is the most authentic Japanese restaurant in the area. If you are looking for some fancy, crazy American maki rolls or teriyaki chicken, this is not your place. This place only serves traditional authentic Japanese food that could barely find on other Japanese restaurants’ menus. Yes, they do have a couple of maki rolls, like rainbow maki and caterpillar maki, but what really standing out is everything else.
I love their Hokkai Donburi the most. It’s available only during lunchtime. A little bit on the expensive side, compared to other food, but definitely worth your money. You would find fresh hotate, kani, uni, and ikura all in your bowl. Amazing and Yumi. The food here is excellent! I have never been disappointed by anything yet, and I don’t think I’m going to be. The food presentation is simple but quite beautiful and somehow very appetizing. Their rice is very tasty too, one of the best sushi rice I have had in the Greater Boston area.

I have been going to this place regularly for the past 3 years. I have probably visited this place more than 20 times. The reason I go back is that the authentic quality of the food. This is one of the very few places that is actually run by japanese people, and the waiters/​waitresses are also japanese. And all of my japanese friends really like this place which is rare for japanese restaurants in boston.
I love all of their lunch and dinner menus. I usually go to eat lunch here on days I am working from home. It’s a very nice experience, the restaurant has a very neat and cute traditional atmosphere. My favorite these days is the take kaiseki lunch. Love their lunch menus since it tends to be a lot cheaper than their dinner menu. And I get to try all sorts of small japanese vegetables and delicacies I don’t even know the name of.
People who are complaining about food portions, this is how food portions are usually in japan and if you want to go visit an authentic restaurant you have to get rid of your american expectations of 1000 calorie dishes. The food portions and the price is very reasonable if I consider the food quality.

Pros
The atmosphere is nice and the store itself is very clean and fancy looking
–chicken karage was the only thing remotely tasteful. Not a lot of flour and the chicken was all white meat and very fresh, nicely seasoned. However they really should get on page and serve this appetizer with a side of dipping sauce like other place (be it spicy mayo or a signature house dip)
Cons
For being #1 on Boston magazines Japanese restaurant, the food was disappointing, portions were too small and overpriced.
–Tuna Carpaccio was horrendous, the citrus sauce was too powerful and it tasted like someone poured jasmine perfume on it and served it as a dish that costs $ 15
–Steak sirloin cubes were not worth $ 13 because I hardly think anyone thinks 6 – 7 cubes of steak is filling. The steak itself did not taste fancy to the mouth, kinda just cheap steak
–Red miso soup was mediocre
–salmon avocado tartar also small portion and mediocre to the mouth
Ended up spending too much $$ for a terribly tasting meal that left me still starving. If you’re gonna overprice your dishes, the taste should justify it not leaving me feeling robbed of my money. Did I mention it took a good 30 – 40 minutes for me to receive my appetizers???
Definitely not returning as I have been to plenty of better establishments with better pricing and better quality food

In order to appreciate Shiki, I had to first appreciate the fact that it is more of an izakaya. The service is consistently on the slower side, the food is on the smaller and more expensive side, but I enjoy the quality of their lunch menu.
I would definitely recommend dining here during lunch rather than dinner. My first experience at Shiki was with their dinner menu and I found it to be disappointing – not necessarily bad, just nothing good enough to make me embrace the highly-​priced small portions. Furthermore, the food came out not only remarkably slowly, but also unevenly, which paired with the small serving sizes made for awkward waiting time as some people finished before others even got their food.
Lunch on the other hand, offers more affordable groupings of food and one dish in particular that I keep coming back for: the Hokkai Donburi. Loaded with uni, ikura, raw scallop, and crab on a bed of rice, there’s no doubt it’s on the more extravagant and indulgent side. For $ 24, it’s only a little more expensive than other lunch offerings, but much more filling and worth the price to me.
So despite my mixed feelings, I’ll be here treating myself to a Hokkai Donburi every once in a while.