When we got the bill it was $52 for the two of us. We complained and they waived the surcharge for us. Now, I totally get the 'order all you want, eat all you order' philosophy but the problem with it is that it assumes that what they serve is actually good. The waitress told us they would charge us $5 MORE because we didn't eat it all. The arrogance of Sushi Palace was evident when we did not finish our sushi, due to the low quality of the food. We eat sushi every week, and I assure you that we know the difference.) Salmon did not have anything disagreeable about it, mainly because it had no flavor at all. Tuna (which we ordered) did not show up at all (no, it wasn't the red stuff. The white tuna was a mass of unchewable, fibrous tissue. Anyone who knows sushi would know either that they served us something else or that this yellowtail was seriously substandard.

We ordered yellowtail, and what arrived was some fish that was bright red. We arrived timely for our reservation and still had to wait about 10 minutes before we were seated. We felt that the management had jammed more tables in than the space could reasonably hold, which contributed to both the din and the congestion.

It was difficult to hold a conversation and the arms-race noise levels kind of force everyone to talk even louder just to attempt to be heard. A number of reviewers describe the crowding and noise, and we concur. The cooked items tasted tolerably good but were heavy with grease and oil, enough so to trouble our sleep later that evening.

We also tried cooked appetizers (shumai and gyoza) and found that the shumai was breaded and fried, not steamed as is customary with this dish. Worst was the food - sushi of much lower quality than several options in nearby towns. Alas, we must once again confirm the overall poor experience. So when we came across recent, very positive reviews and ratings from the last couple of years, we thought they must have made some improvements, and decided to give it another try. Two to three years ago we tried Sushi Palace and found it devastatingly bad. My wife and I often dine out in Somerville and nearby towns.

Sushi palace somerville