About Uni
In 2015, Ken Oringer made a decision that defined a decade of Boston dining. He shuttered Clio — his legendary Back Bay destination that had run for nineteen years and shaped a generation of Boston chefs — and transformed it into an expanded version of the intimate sashimi bar that had occupied a corner of the room. The resulting Uni is larger, louder, and more ambitious than most of what passes for Japanese-inspired dining on the East Coast.
The restaurant now seats one hundred guests across its Eliot Hotel space at 370 Commonwealth Avenue, a Beaux-Arts address on the quieter stretch of Back Bay facing the Fens. The room hums with the particular energy of a kitchen that is producing creatively at pace: small plates arrive continuously, the sake list evolves each season, and the late-night weekend ramen program remains in place for those who arrive after ten. Uni operates as an izakaya in the Japanese sense — a place where food and drink are inseparable, where the evening progresses through accumulation rather than formal coursing.
The menu is built around what Oringer and Executive Chef David Bazirgan find compelling on any given week. Certain preparations recur because they have achieved the status of signatures: the smoked uni spoon — very lightly smoked sea urchin with raw quail egg and osetra caviar — is the one dish that must be ordered. The A5 wagyu sirloin nigiri is among the finest single bites in Boston. The lobster BLT roll and the spicy tuna with foie gras occupy a register of cooking that is too technically fluent to be called fusion and too irreverent to be called classical Japanese. The omakase tasting menu, at $125, provides structured access to the kitchen's range without requiring you to assemble it yourself.
The Dining Experience
Uni is arranged around a long bar that dominates the room, with tables along the walls and a cluster of intimate two-tops near the window. Bar seating is the correct choice here: you can see the kitchen's production, discuss what you're eating with the staff, and move through the sake list with guidance. The sake program — which includes unfiltered and unpasteurized nama varietals — is one of the more serious in New England, with a team that can steer you from the familiar Dassai to producers you will not find elsewhere in Boston.
The room operates with the looseness of a well-managed izakaya: there is no strict order of service, no expectation that the table will pace at the same rate, no separation between food and drink as categories to be navigated independently. Come with an appetite for experimentation. The kitchen handles dietary restrictions well but rewards the guest who says simply, "Feed us. We trust you."
Why Uni for First Dates
The izakaya format does exceptional work on a first date. Shared small plates create an immediate collaborative dynamic — you are making decisions together, trying things neither of you has ordered before, experiencing something simultaneously. Uni's menu is sufficiently surprising to generate genuine conversation: the smoked uni spoon prompts discussion of where and when you've had good seafood; the A5 wagyu nigiri invites commentary on the absurd pleasure of a truly marbled beef. The room's energy is high enough to absorb silences without anyone noticing them. Ken Oringer's address in a beautiful Back Bay hotel signals genuine effort. It is the first date that makes a second date inevitable.
Why Uni for Solo Dining
The bar counter at Uni is one of the best solo dining positions in Boston. You have the kitchen's production visible before you, a staff that engages without intrusion, and a sake list that rewards slow exploration. The solo diner who arrives at the bar at 6:30pm with no agenda will leave three hours later having eaten as well as anywhere in the city — and having had a more interesting evening than at any table. The omakase option provides structure for those who prefer not to build their own meal; the full menu rewards those who do.
Reservation Strategy
Uni takes reservations via OpenTable, with prime slots going two to three weeks out on weekends. The bar accommodates walk-ins, and given that bar dining here is the preferred mode, this is genuinely useful: arrive before 6:30pm on a weekday and a bar seat is usually available. The late-night ramen program on weekends is accessible after 10pm without a reservation, and represents some of the best-value serious eating in Back Bay.