Boston Winter Restaurant Week

Just when I thought Restaurant Week was a little bleh, thanks to Sibling Rivalry. Oiishi saves the day. Sibling Rivalry is a fine dining establishment that serves American-ish cuisine in the heart of South End. I've heard many a good reviews about it and so when restaurant week came, why not give it a go? For the uninitiated, restaurant week happens twice a year - once in winter and once in summer. To my knowledge, the east coast states - Boston, D.C, Chicago, NYC, not sure about Philly, all have restaurant week at about the same time. During this time, participating restaurants offer a prix-fixe 2- or 3-course set lunch or dinner. Its a win-win situation - we get to enjoy the food without the exorbitant prices and restaurants still get their customers, who would otherwise not visit if not for restaurant week. So, of course this would all be nice if Sibling Rivalry got their act together. But after all the fan-fare, it was a disappointment for many reasons - poor service from the hostess which resulted in a long waiting time (half an hour even though a reservation was made), no bread whilst perusing the menu for another 20 minutes, wrong order twice! and at one point, the food was taken away after some 5 minutes (and served to another table!!!!) and boderline good but not fantastic food quality. Bad bad bad. Now Japanese cuisine is not stellar or commonplace in Boston, so after reading rave reviews on Oiishi - an upscale, chi-chi establishment also in the South End, we had great expectations for its food. It didn't disappoint. Staff was attentive, knowledgeable and never too far whenever service is required. Plus the sushi was fresh and the portions healthy. Overall, well worth the money. And seeing its just a 2 minute walk away, looks like we could be back again.. :)