Shino Express

The Saturday of Boston Pride, a largish group of us had gathered on Newbury Street and were debating food first or movie first. Deciding on food first, we followed bloodstones to Shino Express, her favorite sushi place in the neighborhood.

Shino Express
145 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116-2904
tel: (617) 262-4530
http://www.shinoexpress.com
email: shinoexpress@yahoo.com
M-Sa: 1200-2100
Su: 1300-2100
T: Copley

Shino Express is a small place, down in a basement near the corner of Dartmouth St. Ambience is not a major draw. But the sushi is good and relatively cheap.

We both got the sashimi combo, which claimed to be 12 pieces for $9.50. When it arrived in its little boat, however, it was certainly more than that. Three pieces each of tuna and salmon, a couple of pieces of crab stick, two half-pieces of egg, and a piece each of squid, octopus, shrimp, yellowtail, mackerel, and red snapper. Maybe they count them differently. The squid was remarkable, the rest of the fish were quite good, except for the mackerel, which looked a bit old, but tasted okay. The boat was filled with shaved carrot, which was a nice change from the usual daikon.

Each of us also picked out one of the five-piece "fancy sushi rolls": crispy eel (eel, avocado, cucumber, lettuce & tobikko, tempura bits w/mayonnaise, $5.95), and spicy crisp scallop roll (scallop, avocado, cucumber, lettuce & tobikko w/ spicy mayonnaise & eel sauce, $6.50). The crispy eel got a lot of its crispiness from the bits sprinkled on top. I preferred it to the scallop roll, which didn't taste very much like scallops. I liked the taste of the spicy mayonnaise and eel sauce drizzled on top, though.

We split an order of edamame ($2.50). Not bad, not spectacular.

One of these days I want to show up with some of my sushi-head friends and order one of their sushi courses. A is 32 pieces for $25; B, 25 for $20; and C, 18 for $15. (Rolls are counted as six pieces each, and the "fancy sushi rolls" aren't included.)

Oasis

We kept driving past this Brazilian place on the way to and from the Valley of Things (1). I love Brazilian food, and I decided I had to visit it.

Oasis Restaurant
373 Main Street
Medford, MA
tel: +1.781.396.8337
fax: +1.781.396.1643
daily: 1100-2300 (buffet 1130-1800)
(free delivery in Medford, Somerville, Everett, and some areas of Malden)

Oasis is notable because it doesn't have an all-you-can-eat option, which seems to be the way the first wave of Brazilian places in Boston distinguished themselves. This is not a problem. Portions at Oasis are enormous, delicious, and quite cheap.

Let's start with the house specialties, all of which are grilled meats. There's both steak, and a mixed grill, in two sizes. The larger options are $14.99 for steak, $15.99 for Brazilian BBQ (actually more a mixed grill, as its Portuguese name "Churrasco Misto", implies), and $15.99 for the pork, beef, and chicken option. These larger options are intended for two people. The smaller options are the mini skew, a smaller mixed grill where you choose two of either pork, sausage, beef steak, or chicken ($9.99), or the carne assada (also $9.99) steak only. The smaller options are meant for one.

Side dishes are included, multiple, and large. You get four of the following: salad, rice, beans, fries, farofa (toasted manioc meal), or fried yucca. (There's a standard set of what comes with which meal, but they let us switch anyway.) It's a lot of food. I usually take more than half of my food home.

The menu has lots of Brazilian favorites, and we haven't yet worked our way through the menu. We have tried the lemon chicken over linguine ($8.99) which was exceptionally lemony, with large deep-fried pieces of chicken breast, and the beef fajita ($8.95), which wasn't much like its Mexican namesake, as it was grilled strips and chunks of beef over a bed of vegetables. Last time E got the bife a cavalho ($8.49) a generous steak topped with two fried eggs. There are daily specials, which look great but we haven't yet tried, either.

We almost never have room left for dessert, all of whom are variations on the flan/custard/mousse idea. They're on display in a refrigerated case. The one time we did manage to order them we were not disappointed. For $1.99, you can choose from caramel flan, pineapple custard, bombom custard, passion fruit mousse, chocolate mosse, or rice pudding. The pineapple custard we had was essentially flan shot through with pineapple chunks. Yum.

Oasis has a liquor license, and there are signs saying they serve caipirinha (lime, sugar, and cachaça, the Brazilian sugar-based firewater). Haven't had it yet, always been designated driver. They also have guaraná, the Brazilian national soft drink, bottled locally in New Jersey.

During the day, they also have a comida por kilo (food by the pound) buffet and salad bar, at $3.99 a pound. It's a quick way to get a pile of food. Walk up, grab a plate, fill it with steam-table beef, pork, chicken, fish, various side dishes, and salad items. The regular menu is also available, if you prefer.

Service is friendly and efficient. The Brazilian atmosphere is greatly enhanced by the fact that they have Brazilian TV on constantly, on a wide-screen and a smaller TV facing it. Somehow this isn't nearly as annoying as it would be if it were American TV. Probably because I can't understand enough Brazilian Portuguese to figure out what they're saying.

(1) Sam's name for the cluster of stores, including Target and Costco, in Everett.