The Shops at Porter

This is like a small (chibi) version of the Japantown in San Francisco. They have a Japanese bakery, with plenty of Japanese restaurants, and one cute Japanese paper/​stationary/​pottery store inside. For those dying for a clean bathroom they’ve got public bathrooms tucked away from the restaurants in the corner.
The parking lot is in the back of the stores and if you buy anything from the shops inside you can get your parking validated and that’s a huge plus!!!

Writing a one star for the restaurant ChoChos, which is the single WORST RESTAURANT I HAVE EVER BEEN TO AT THE SHOPS AT PORTER IN 14 YEARS of living in the area. I ordered a cold noodle dish, found a huge black hair, sent it back and halfway through eating found another long black hair. I am never eating there again and am so disgusted by the total lack of hygiene at ChoChos. DISGUSTING!!!

So this place is like a little Japan Town mall in Cambridge. Great selection of Japanese restaurants. Had some good sushi and ramen there.

This may be the most unique shopping center in Cambridge. It has its own parking lot (I came via T so I’m not sure about rates) and many levels which is home to a Bally Fitness, classes for Lesley and a good number of Japanese restaurants.
I really like the café style, hidden pathway-​ness of the small «restaurants» (which are mostly cash only FYI). It reminds me of little teeny tiny restaurant in Japan where patrons wait for an available table outside.
I was looking for karepan (curry bread/​curry doughnut) and NO ONE HAD IT. NOT EVEN THE JAPANESE BAKERY! Why? The cashier informed me that the factory that makes the curry bread went out of business so Japonaise Bakery no longer offered it. WHAT?! Needless to say, I was wicked disappointed.
The bubble tea place, Taipachà (correct me! I know it’s not called that, but I can’t remember!!) serves a variety of boba with different takes. I ordered the Taiwanese Green Tea with tapioca– it was subpar. :(
Oh, it’s located in an incredibly beautiful art-​deco building!

This place just has a nice feel to it. Good bubble tea, good sushi… But I come here for the ramen! I haven’t been there in quite sometime but I’ve never stopped thinking about it! If you crave asian food, this is your place.

This is one of my favorite spots in the area. I mainly stop here to eat, and the Japanese and Korean food stalls are all pretty much great. Café Mami is my favorite, and I also like Chocho’s for Bulgogi if the wait is too crazy at the other places. It’s similar in feel to the Super 88 food court, but much cozier.
There’s also a coffee shop (Bourbon) with free wifi and a nice Dark Mocha beverage. They have nice restrooms, too. The bathrooms in the mall are a bit out of the way and not as clean.
There’s a City Sports if you’re into exercising, and a Bank of America ATM, which is handy since a lot of the restaurants are cash only.
The place is easily accessed by the red line, and if you’re driving, they have an attached paid parking lot. Bring your ticket inside, and get it validated at any of the shops or restaurants in the building. I usually pay one or two bucks.

You get to choose from about 7 – 8 restaurants, all with delicious, quick, and inexpensive Japanese food. Excellent sushi. And stop by the Japanese gift store while you’re waiting for a table!

All of the restaurants on this little mall are decent, solid places that serve decent, solid food for a reasonable price with reasonable service.
Nothing fancy, but then fancy is not always necessary.

This is a cute, little place with food galore. Do yourself a favor and try the bubble tea from the vendor in the middle of the first floor. You can have both boba and coconut jelly and that, my friends, is what dreams are made of.

Cute little shops with small little gems like Japonais Bakery and Sapporro. I also like that they have parking in the back for cheap if you get it validated.

Really like Ittyo’s udon soup. Very light and not as heavy as the Sapporo’s ramen.

Being cash for sushi, all others I believe take cards.
The shops at Porter are convenient as all Japanese, Tai, and related foods are in the same area with even a little bakery. Ive always visited during the dinner rush or later and there is always seating at one spot or another. Overall I’ve dined at almost all of the establishments including the coffee shop which is great for meeting with groups compared to Starbucks as its less noisy. ChoCho’s (next to suchi place) or something like that is GREAT they have a variety of specials, accommodate well with food allergies, and have great waitstaff which are prompt yet polite.

Very sad that Japanese food store was made to quit by Lesley College. The pretentious Lesley College sucks.
There are a couple of great restaurants. The Ramen with a long line. Keep going down to the conrer, that is my favorite Japanese restarurant right there. Healthy, great value and just great. I like the fact that they have fresh seaweed it you want it.

The tokai gallery has some pretty authentic and beautiful Japanese art/​trinkets. Picked up great sake glasses that hit the spot. VERY nice staff. The whole atmosphere of the mini-​mall is pretty special with the row of japanese restaurants, blue fin being the best. And parking is cheap! Score.

The Shops at Porter is definitely a hidden Gem in Boston if there was one. This place has some of the best Japanese food in Boston and most people in the area wouldn’t even know it!
Tucked in a little corner are a few Japanese restaurants offering sushi, ramen, donbori, curry, moshi etc. Each restaurant may only have 7 – 10 seats so you’ll generally see the long lines during the peak times. I would recommend getting there early to avoid the crowds or get food To Go.
ALSO, there’s a parking lot right out front so there’s no need to fight over parking spots on the main streets.
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I really REALLY enjoy sushi, fish in general whether raw, cooked, smoked, or whatevered. If I can only have one kind of food to eat for dinner for the rest of my life, it would be, undoubtedly and without hesitation, SEAFOOD! I went to this little sushi bar because I was absolutely CRAVING sushi, I mean, hadn’t-had-it-in-a-month-style, you know? I also needed to eat cheap! (going back to grad school an’ all…)
As a lot of other Unilocalers have mentioned, the portions are very small. In the spicy tuna and spicy yellowtail rolls, I couldn’t actually taste the fish. The nigiri pieces were pretty small too (I had eel, salmon, tuna, and Ikura). I should mention, in all fairness, that my eyes are always bigger than my stomach and I did end up being reasonably satisfied after waiting 15 minutes (though my bf had to walk two steps next door after our meal to order some yummy Japanese comfort food which was inhaled 45 seconds later; he’s also 6’5).
I didn’t get sick, the food tasted fine enough to satisfy my craving (at least for the moment), and service was quick and respectful. The fish itself was relatively fresh, when judging by color, texture, taste, and general appearance.
Overall, not fantastic, but considering the whole kaboodle, it shouldn’t get less than a 3. So, I give it a 3.5! I just realized this instant that you can’t give 0.5’s sooooooo I’ll rate it a 3, but again state that it should be more accurately a 3.5!

Absolutely love this place. The small cluster of Japanese restaurants and shops makes this a worthy visit. The area is cozy, clean and modern inside of the Lesley University building. The Sapporo Ramen place is very popular, there is always a long line, but the turnaround time is relatively fast. The Blue Fin sushi restaurant next to it has quality sushi, they offer sashimi/​sushi combinations of your choice for an reasonable and fixed price. There is also a bubble tea stand serving both hot and cold bubble tea. The little Japanese shop next to it sells elegant and lovely decoration and utility pieces. There is a little shop that sells homemade mochi (Japanese Ice Cream wrapped in sticky rice cake), this is a MUST TRY (the Chocolate Mint is great), best mochi I have tasted in the US.
Ample parking in the private lot right in front of the building, be sure to ask the restaurant/​shops you visit for parking validation. It’s very cheap (I think $ 1 for 2 hours with validated parking). Easy access via Route 3.

This place is so quiet. Hiding with some good Japanese food… After eating at Sapporo. (which you can find it on my reviews). we decided to share a sushi.
we ordered it from I love sushi… the sushi was simple and yet tasted really good. My friend and I sat at the side of the table to watch them making the sushi.
Slicing the avocado into thin slices… really require some techniques… rapping the sushi rice outside of the seaweed is not that easy either… looking and admiring at him… our sushi was served in 5 minutes… Mmm… avocado and eel… simple right? but yet it tasted really good. and well designed. there are so many restaurant that once you grab the sushi. the rice just fall apart… but here at I love sushi… they made it so well…
I wouldn’t fall for this place. but it’s a pretty good place to get cheap food if you are in Cambridge/​Boston…

While at the Shops at Porter, I went to Soporro Ramen and Japonaise Bakery
At Soporro, we had the pork bun, sweet and sour ramen and the vegetarian ramen. The pork was delicious, and both ramen, although very different, were tasty. I loved the vegetarian ramen as it had smoky cabbage, bok choy and tofu in it with a great brown broth. I left very, very full…
But in need of caffeine! So we stopped at Japonaise for a coffee and an adzuki pastry… both delicious, and a little bit messy.
Overall, a great place to wander and get some yummy Japanese food.

I used to come here every Saturday after going to The Japanese Language School of Greater Boston, usually to get some groceries at Kotobukiya.
I used to love eating here, especially at Sapporo Ramen, but I feel that the quality of the food at the small Japanese resteraunts has been declining, which is sad, I think it may be because management or people who work there have changed.
Also they’ve lost a significant number of customers due to the fact that Kotobukiya has closed. Now I have to go to Ebisuya (Medford) or H Mart for my Japanese groceries. The only good store/​eatery is Japonese, the bakery, other than that it’s a disappointment.