Douzō

Named "Boston's Best Sushi" by the Improper Bostonian in its very first year, Douzo has been a Back Bay hot spot for sushi lovers ever since. The kitchen puts an inventive twist on the classics — alongside familiar favorites like tuna tartar, raw oysters and Kobe beef carpaccio you'll find surprises such as monkfish pâté, torched-style yellowtail and the eel avocado roll.

For the adventurous, the Omakase special hands the evening to the chef. Entrées range from lightly battered shrimp tempura and sirloin with black pepper sauce to thinly sliced prime rib in sukiyaki sauce, black cod misoyaki and grilled duck with cranberry teriyaki.

True to its name — Douzo means "please, come in" — the restaurant serves modern Japanese cuisine in a sleek, contemporary room, paired with a varied wine list, red, white and sake flights, and cocktails like the Lychee Martini and the Tokyo Cosmo.

Basho — sister restaurant to Douzo in the Back Bay — is a huge, cleverly divided space that walks a wise line between the ballpark crowd and the omakase devotees who first embraced Douzo. The menu spans sushi, maki and sashimi plus tempura and robata-grilled dishes, and given its size, the food is impressively good.

A safe bet is the "flavored sushi," single pieces that are finely tuned and more delicate than the flashier specialty rolls. Don't miss the seared scallops with shiitake risotto and pine-nut brown-butter sauce — smartly fusion-y, just like the restaurant itself.

There's a real distinction between "not expensive" and "cheap," and Douzo lands happily on the right side of it — ultra-fresh fish at prices that stay weeknight-friendly. The daily catch turns up in everything from spicy tuna maki for the mainstream crowd to more adventurous plates like the seared-yellowtail Torch Roll with yuzu and black tobiko.

Drawn in by its "Best Affordable Sushi" honors, we found exactly what we wanted: really good sushi at a reasonable price in a sleek, contemporary room. The service was warm and the fish was terrific.

Everything arrived beautifully presented. We started with edamame, seaweed salad and soft-shell crab tempura, then worked through the Back Bay Roll, the Torch Roll and the Red Spider Roll — all delicious and fresh. The central location beside Back Bay Station and Copley Plaza is a bonus. Give it a try if you love Japanese food.