DC is blessed with a gastroculture that can accommodate nearly all varietal tastes. Finding a niche cuisine that hasn’t already been overdone or given the title of “The best **** in DC.” is a challenge in itself, so it’s nice to find a place that attempts to do things a little differently.

Kushi Izakaya & Sushi Bar requires a little bit of background history and explanation to fully appreciate it’s contribution to the food scene. I’d assume that most people know what a sushi bar is, but the mentioning of izakaya conjures up visualizations of quirky anime comic strips and a giant fire-breathing lizard that stomps out the buildings of Tokyo.

Or maybe right now you’re thinking of a dance off with said Godzilla against and equally gigantic personality.

An izakaya refers to a Japanese establishment that focuses primarily on drinks, especially after work, but still serves food. Think of it as a place that falls somewhere in between a full on restaurant and a full on bar, or even as a Japanese tapas house. While the concept is a fairly popular one in Japan, it’s not necessarily one that might stand up on its own here in the states, so the inclusion of a sushi bar is a pretty smart plan.

The izakaya portion of Kushi seems to center around bite-sized skewers of meat, which vary between chicken, pork, duck, and beef.  Each skewer comes out on with a pinch of sea salt and seasoning, so you can adjust the flavor our your meat accordingly.

Unfortunately for me, I came in on the last day of a local promotion, and a number of dishes I chose with the served seemed to be popular, and therefore, completely sold out.

Me: I’d like to order the wagyu beef skewer.

Waitress: We’re out of that.

Me: Okay, I’ll take the pork belly, the pork rib, and a chicken with scallions skewer.

What came out were two pork bellies and a chicken skewer, which was pretty close to what I ordered. Y’know, except my pork rib. C’mon, where my pork rib? I mean how much for just one rib? Eight dollars? GOOD LAWD.

The same story went for my salad.

Me: I’d also like to order the seaweed salad.

Waitress: Oh, we’re out of that too.

Me: Okay, well I guess that leaves me to the house salad  instead.

At least the house salad wasn’t a giant bowl of iceberg lettuce with some shredded carrots. The bowl of mixed greens comprised of spinach, arugula, and cherry tomatoes with a ginger dressing was a nice substitution, although clearly an issue for people like Jen if the only other available vegetarian options are the pickled vegetables on the menu.

Me: I’ll have the wagyu hot plate as my main course, please.

Waitress: We’re…out of that, too.

Sweet merciful crap, does this restaurant keep anything in the fridge?

Thankfully, the fish here are flown in daily, and the expertly cut slices exude freshness, most notably in the saba (mackerel), my favorite of them all. Saba tastes amazing when it’s fresh, but it gets a distinctively fishier taste the longer it’s been sitting on the shelf. The addition of sea scallops and sea urchin were a nice, unique surprise, as these rarely make their way onto a sashimi plate.

And just to make sure I got everything out of this lunch, I put in for an order of the eel, too.

Kushi still has a couple of wrinkles to smooth out with handling large promotions, but it’s not something I really fault them for, as almost no small business knows just how much they’ll get slammed on the last day before a coupon expires without having experienced it firsthand. The service is average- friendly, but not 100% on point in communicating with the customer or the kitchen. The restaurant has opted for a fairly minimal decorative theme, with enormous paper lanterns that dangle from rafters, a few odds and ends placed up on the walls, but nothing substantial. In retrospect, it would seem that the build out is much better suited for turning the place into a giant bar at night, which is very likely the case, given the name.

If you haven’t had izakaya before, this is certainly a nice introduction to a part of Japanese gastronomic culture, but it’s far from inexpensive here. The izakaya averages out to be about $3/bite, which is high for even urban pricing standards. A lunch will easily run you upwards to $50 with tip, and that’s without the inclusion of drinks. The quality of food is absolutely superb, but I’d be hard pressed to find a reason to go back again, given the prices.

See Kushi on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Paleoheads
• Sakebomb Sallys
• Business Jerk Powerlunches

Not Recommended For:

• Vegetarians
• Frugal First Dates
• Agoraphobic Amys

Café Asia could almost be considered a DC institution of restaurants, with a location in Arlington (Rosslyn) and one in DC, of which this writeup focuses on the latter of the two. I’ve been to the restaurant on a couple of occasions, and while it didn’t break any new ground in dining experiences, it was modern, exuded a sleek, club like persona, and had been a reasonable pleasure to dine at both during lunch and dinner.

Jen and I headed over on a Friday night, and immediately upon entering the front doors, it was evident that something was quite different. The dimly lit ambiance was replaced with the lighting scheme of something that’d be more appropriately found in a study hall or a library. I ordered a selection of rolls from the sushi bar for the two of us, an appetizer for myself, and an entree for the each of us. To the credit of the restaurant, our sushi rolls came out to our table within 10 minutes of our order. To our dismay, the rest of our dishes arrive not more than five minutes later. It was quite possibly the first time I really gave thought to the fact that a good server will pay attention to when you dishes come out and control the cadence of delivery, an absolute shit server will let everything come to your table at once.

As for the food, the fried calamari is a good value and the various sushi rolls are slightly above average. The noodle bowls here display a decent array of noodles, but these tend to be disproportionately light on ingredients aside from the noodles and very heavy on the sugary sauce. Jen’s Pad Thai arrived with minced chicken, and despite the menu clearly stating this fact, we had overlooked it in hunger. Jen asked him for a vegetarian version, to which he blankly stated was impossible with the Pad Thai due to the sauce being pre-made, likely stewing in a giant vat from the start of the day. We asked the server to take it back, and did so begrudgingly.

While I wouldn’t call Café Asia the best of restaurants, I can’t say I’ve had a complete disaster of a meal like this before, so bad that I’m willing to say I’ll never eat here again. As it turns out, both restaurants have changed ownership in the past year, a change that is clearly not for the better. The restaurant has all the personality of an ironing board, the service of a half star Parisienne restaurant, and the much needed updating of an appropriately descriptive name, like Cafeteria Asia. Hey guys, don’t forget to bring your algebra books, we’re gonna cram before midterms over here before we go streaking across the quad.

Map? Your money could possibly be better spent buying $40 of scratch-off lottery tickets and huffing a plastic tub filled with gasoline for an hour while you engage in a political debate against a half dressed mannequin on the merits of electing a white-faced saki monkey in a tie and a diaper to Congress.

DC is full of neighborhood gem type sushi restaurants, but none stand out in the Dupont Circle area quite like Sushi Taro.

Well, not in the physical sense, at least. The restaurant can barely be seen by pedestrians on the street, its sign dwarfed by the CVS pharmacy that makes up the majority of the building it shares. With a short walk up a flight of stairs, however, and you’re transported to a landing of dark wood floors, dim lighting, and a sense of the extraordinary, leaving the world DC below.

Sushi Taro is unique in more than a few ways, including their Kaiseki tasting menu and the ability to personalize your a la carte menu.  The Kaiseki tasting menu gives you an opportunity to meet the chef, who will be your sea sherpa through a multi course meal prepared through traditional Japanese techniques.  It’s an excellent opportunity to really explore textures and tastes at the hands of a stranger, but definitely an option for only those who can go into a meal with an open mind and an open-er-er palette.

The ability to readily add or change your a la carte sushi is also a bit of a novelty, with options including adding raw quail egg yolks, tempura batter bits, spicy mayo, or having your roll turned inside out.  It’s the little touches that make a restaurant unique and the willingness to appease patrons does not go unnoticed.

To start, I ordered the seaweed salad, which didn’t arrive at my table quite like I had expected, which is not to be taken as a bad thing.  If you’ve ordered a seaweed salad before, you probably have a small bowl of green seaweed in mind, served in a mildly sweet dressing with sesame seeds.  Not quite the case here.  A large bowl of two fresh seaweeds arrived, served with sliced radish and lettuce, and easily enough for two.  It’s a very simple dish, but utterly refreshing on a hot summer day.  I’m sure you could ask your waitress for the Nemo special and have some clownfish sushi scattered throughout, but let’s save ruining your children’s childhood for another day.

The urchin* sea snail umami was by and large my favorite order here.  Served rather unexpectedly still in the shell, the preparation and freshness of the urchin made for soft rather than chewy morsels.  This isn’t going to be a big hit with everybody, but if you’re doing yourself a disservice by passing on this dish.

For my main course, I asked for the chef’s choice sashimi  dish- a wide assortment of raw sealife, from octopus, tuna, scallop, and shrimp, to some more unidentifiable but equally delicious meats on my plate.  The presentation is top notch, and once again, I was floored by the freshness of the fish.

Sushi Taro may not win the people’s choice of the best sushi restaurant in DC, but it certainly deserves a distinction of being one of the better establishments in the District.  The service was excellent, with rarely a moment passing that I did not have my drink refilled, or another dish arriving at the table.  The recent renovations have taken Sushi Taro much more upscale, and you can always pick up a movie at the Blockbuster downstairs after your meal (which is still somehow in business at the time of writing).  Best of all?  The entire meal is 100% paleo.

Recommended For:

• Fishicianados
• Paleoheads
• Pescatarians
• First Dates

Not Recommended For:

• PETA Monthly Meetings
• Pounding Sakebombs
• Committing Seppuku
• Texture phobes

* I could have sworn it was urchin on the menu, but a reader informed me that these were actually sea snails.

The pure novelty of automated sushi cuisine fascinates me. Machines that cut perfect sheets of rice, conveyor belts that serve as a moving feed trough, and Japanese animatronic robots that creepily sing and dance for you like in your childhood nightmares, all of these listed can be found at Genki Sushi. Well, maybe I went a little bit overboard there. No robots.

The setup at Genki is simple.  You have your option of sitting at a booth and ordering from a menu, or you can sit at the rectangular bar, where a large conveyor belt snakes around with plates of various plates of sushi.  Each plate has a specific color, which corresponds to its price.  The prices vary, but remain much lower than any place I can think of having eaten on the mainland.

Every sushi dish here isn’t going to be the most amazing roll you’ve ever had, or something that completely blows you away…but the rolls they do serve here are definitely palatable for anybody that loves their sushi in copious quantity.

And I do mean copious.

There aren’t too many options here for vegetarians, unfortunately.  From what I saw on the menu, there were only two rolls, the avocado roll and the inside out vegetarian roll, that someone Jen could eat.  Luckily for her, she wasn’t terribly hungry that day…and luckily for me, I was.

The best part of Genki?  It’s GOT to be their logo.

I mean really. WTF is that?  Other than completely awesome. I want my own angry face logo.

The service here is friendly and accommodating, and we didn’t have to fight for a table for lunch.  It turns out that Genki, with over 150 restaurants in Japan, is one of the largest sushi chains in the land of the rising sun.  The chain has nine restaurants spread out over the Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and the Big Isand, as well as a restaurant open in Seattle on the mainland.  With steep prices for restaurants being the norm at most places you’d find yourself eating at in Hawaii, this is one place you simply cannot miss out on.

See Genki Sushi in Kapolei on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Frugalistas
• >:(
• Sushiwhores
• Pescado Aficionados

Not Recommended For:

• Vegetarians
• Paleoheads
• Zone Dieters
• Carbaphobes

SEI is a one of DC’s haute coutre sushi fusion restaurants.  The first thing you’ll notice about the restaurant is the immaculate appearance of the interior.  Ecru walls, slippery white tables, menus and chairs that look like they were stitched out of albino alligators, and bench seating that looks like the owners were able to take down the largest albino ostrich in the world and make it into one comfy piece of seating.

In other words, white.  White, white, white.  Lots of white.  However, there’s plenty of decor to give the monochromatic theme some color.  Deep red branches serve as a see through wall that separate the sushi bar from the alcohol bar, with seating dispersed throughout.  Several infinity mirrors with etched scenes adorn the walls, which had Jen and I trying (unsuccessfully) to figure out how the hell they got that to work.  And somehow, all of this works as a cohesive theme, transporting you to another world entirely.

The creativity of the chefs equally match the decor.  I started up with the Fish & Chips sushi roll, made with raw flounder, french fries, malt vinegar, and wasabi tartar.  Definitely a winner, albeit pricey.

Fish and Chips Roll

Jen and I shared a plate of the Wasabi Guacamole with Wonton Chips. Enormous chips.  The guac was pretty good, too, but not nearly spicy enough for me.  I ended up taking large dabs of wasabi and topping my guac with me, which did the trick.  Another great appetizer, but in the end there were a lot more chips than there was of the good green stuff to put on it.

Wasabi Guacamole with Wonton Chips

Jen had a small dish of the Roasted Curry Vegetables, which were decent, but didn’t really win me over.  She liked them well enough though, and that’s good enough for me to give a recommendation to any vegetarians out there.

Roasted Curry Vegetables

We also split an order of Polenta cakes, which came out in a set of three.  The photo didn’t make it in the low light setting though.  Not bad, but a little bit bland and nothing more than filler.  I’d suggest opting for something else, even if you’re a big polenta fan like me.

For my main course, I had the Seared Duck in a Cherry Teriyaki Glaze and served with Roasted Grapes and a Chili Polenta cake.  I was hoping that the polenta cake would be a bit more different than the order we had put in for appetizers, but the variation was limited to the shreds of chili that were placed on top rather than the preparation of the polenta cake itself.  My polenta-excited pants were frowning about this.  The duck was perfectly cooked, although with as much fat as duck has, it’s pretty hard to screw the pooch in making it.  The duck breast was a tad bit small, and still attached to a thick skin of fat, which isn’t necessarily disappointing, but not exactly something worth raving over, either.

The service is very good, with the waiter stepping in right as we were seated and situated, inquiring about our order of water.  Noise is a bit on the high end though, which makes conversation a bit more difficult.

In the end, it seemed like the big winners here are the sushi rolls and a majority of the appetizers.  The vegetarian dishes are limited to what’s on the appetizer list, but there’s a decent enough selection if you’ve given up the meat.  Given the opportunity to go back, I’d probably try a fish based entree to see if that would be better than what I ordered on this particular visit.  I’d definitely go back, but likely for a big occasion or possibly treating some visitors to a special treat of what the city has to offer.

Recommended for:

• Wannabe scenesters
• Gregarious parties
• People who wear all white to funerals
• Fish fanatics

Not recommended for:

• Anniversary dinners
• Diehard romantics
• Low talkers
• Trashy hobos with muddy butt

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