Douzo

Auditors tend to be nomadic creatures, as many client service organizations tend to be. Currently, my client portfolio ranges geographically from from the Route 1 Automile all the way to New Hampshire. Admittedly so, I probably work out of the home Boston office for a cumulative 2 weeks out of the year.

The stars aligned somehow and I was able to work from the Boston office all of last week, which just so happened to be spring break for my sister, the teacher. She met me for lunch one beautiful day at Douzo, a trendy Japanese/sushi restaurant in Back Bay only a few steps from my office.

Break apart chopsticks ready to go!

Crispy duck with sauteed shiitake mushrooms

My college fallback – good old tempura udon

Douzo’s owner is Jack Huang, who I’ve unknowingly been a fan of since my college days.  Jack, a former partner of Fugakyu, set his sights on opening Douzo, a more modern sushi restaurant.  Not long after Douzo’s success, he opened Basho in neighboring Fenway, an even swankier sushi restaurant offering hot dishes such as robata (yum!).  In that chronological order, I’ve been following him around with my chopsticks snapping.  Pardon my ignorance hitherto, Mr. Huang.  I’d like to thank you for feeding me for the past 8 years.

I’ve only been to Douzo for lunch and 9 times out of 10, I’ll just grab one of their prepackaged rolls to go.  This is extremely convenient when you’re in the mood for something fancier than a sandwich, but have a growing laundry list eagerly awaiting your return.  Fortunately, for this lunch that was not the case.

When we sat down, Krissie immediately spotted duck on the menu.  I’m not much of a duck person, but Krissie tends to order it when she sees it.  We split the duck with sauteed shitaake mushrooms.  I don’t recall whether this was “crispy” or “grilled” on the menu, but the Douzo website advertises it both ways.  The duck skin though not crispy was not unpleasant.  The sauce added a very deep flavor to the duck and shitaake mushrooms are always a home run for me.  They are definitely my favorite mushroom.

Krissie ordered the chicken katsu lunch special, which was served with the typical bento lunch sides.  Included was a small salad and a roll of your choice limited to the standard California, salmon and avocado, or tuna.  It looked pretty good and was a nice portion size considering the special lunch price.

I ordered the tempura udon.  Yes, I can hear all of you authentic Japanese cuisine enthusiasts moaning.  The soup was nothing to write home about, but it certainly hit the spot after I’d been craving a big bowl of noodles.  Would I order it again?  Maybe.  I wasn’t terribly impressed by the tempura options – the three string beans all fried in one cluster being the fall from grace for me.

Overall, I think Douzo accomplishes what it sets out to do.  It is without a doubt a more trendy atmosphere and serves a pretty solid lunch product for busy lunch goers and tourists alike.  It’s a nice change to sit down and enjoy the dining room, but for me, I think I’ll stick with my takeout.

Douzo (be prepared for a long drawn out flash intro with no skip option)
131 Dartmouth St
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 859-8886