OTOTO SUSHI 7 Boston, 691-3838, www.ototosushi.com lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat.
“Eel” spelled backward is “Lee.” “Ototo” spelled backward is “Ototo.” I took my friend Lee to the brand-new Ototo Sushi up on Queen Anne for some eel. Lee very much liked the eel, and Lee is not a real sushi buff—he’d never had unagi, the delicious broiled eel with a sweetish teriyaki-type sauce, before. He kept saying, “This is really good,” as he scarfed it down in the form of a giant roll with avocado wrapped around the outside of the rice ($9).
Lee and eel aside, Ototo is itself really good: a boxlike room that’s black and white with red napery and one brushed red wall, it’s like eating sushi in a Mondrian painting, supermodern and somehow soothing. Ototo is the Bada Lounge of sushi, if smaller (and, annoyingly, noisier—sound bounces off the one black-lacquered wall and all around, but, as Lee observed, they’d have to do something uncool looking to dampen it). Service is black-clad and impeccable, offering a premium sake list and a smoothness that, along with the styley decor, might make you think you’ll be paying through the nose. But Ototo is moderately priced, with very fine raw fish (a wild yellowtail nigiri special, $3, was like the proverbial butter), great rolls (the lobster roll, $12.95 for 6 ounces of tempura lobster tail with avocado, cucumber, and roe—amazing), and nice entr饳 (good tempura, or various kinds of fish or chicken with creative, tasty marinades and sauces, $12.95-$16.95). The sushi combos are a great deal—letter A has 5 pieces of your favorite nigiri plus a tuna roll for $9.50—and the house special Ototo roll—with several fishes, cucumber, ginger, and mild Japanese mint, $7.95—is just great.
One menu oddity: Two options for the ubiquitous California roll, one with fake crab ($4.25) and one with real ($6), set one to thinking more about the whole fake-crab phenomenon than one might like. And food may be a bit slow to come from the kitchen, but the presentation is, like the room, spare and gorgeous. Ototo: the power of the palindrome. bclement@seattleweekly.com 
