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August 24, 2004
Sushi Nabe
Saturday evening, I went to Sushi Nabe [sushiamerica.com] with my girlfriend. She made a good dining partner here because she is a quater japanese, and knows some japanese culture from her (full-japanese) grandmother. I was excited about trying this place because on their website, it says the chef used to have a restaurant in Washington DC, and the Japanese Emperor himself liked it so much he ate there 5 nights in a row. Wow.
the waiting area and (drink) bar
Apparently he handled some of the local chefs very well in a local competition called "Cast Iron Chef" similar to what they have on the TV show "Iron Chef." I'd love to catch one of these local version of the competition.
We first told the matre'd that we'd take first available seating (sushi bar or table) but when were seated at an open table, I became disappointed that we did not wait for the sushi bar to open up. I informed the matre'd and he told us it wouldn't be a problem to wait at the table and change when the sushi bar opened up. Wonderful.
While we were waiting at the table, they brought both us a warm, damp and towel that smelled soapy (though it wasn't sudsy). I didn't know what to do with it and I was watching my girlfriend to see what she would do. Apparently yo just wipe your hands with it. Must be a traditional Japanese thing. It left my hands feeling...ah...refreshed.
I think this was nice
Soon the seats at the bar opened up and we moved. They had two sushi chefs (who happened to be both women (nothing wrong with that)).
this one seemed double-long compared to what I've seen before
They had a lot to choose from and we had a hard time deciding what we would have. They have a wonderful variety of Roll-style, nigiri and sashimi. They even have some cooked things for those who are accompaning their sushi loving friends but can't bring themselves to eat sushi (though I don't understand that). ;)
what to get?
The selection was made a bit easier by the help of the Miho. She was the sushi chef working infront of where we were sitting on the bar. She was very nice and explained any questions I had. She was even willing to let me take her picture. When she found out what it was for (this blog), she wanted the web address to see what I would do with it.
We stalled by ordering a gyoza appetizer. These are beef dumplings, but they were out of the beef so they made it with pork. It was still good.
we split five pieces
My girlfriend came up with her first order. She asked for the hot crunch roll. It's just a California roll that's been battered with tempura and fried. Miho informed us that this was more American-ized sushi.
the hot sauce on the side of the bowl was a good touch
I then made my first selection of the salmon skin roll. This was great, though my girlfriend refused to try it. ;) Miho told us that this was a more traditional japanese sushi.
this was really good
My girlfriend then decided to give the shittake roll a try. This was one of their vegetarian offerings that was just mushroom and "japanese mayonaise" (I wonder if that's real japanese or also just American-ized) in the rice & seaweed.
these are cut taller than some other rolls
I decided to finish with some shrimp nigiri.
there was more, I just ate it before I remember to take the picture
We were interested in desert, particularly red-bean or tempura ice-cream. They were previously on the menu, but they were crossed out now. Miho explained to us they couldn't afford to store ice cream because they needed the space for something else. She told us they had chocolate cake, cheese cake or the "chef's special." We decided to split the chef's special. They don't always have the chef's special and it isn't always the same thing, so don't go in and ask for it expecting to have what we had.
It consisted of ice cream cake (layered blueberry and vanilla), chocolate mousse sandwiched between white cake, and chocolate mousse sandwiched between brownies. It was garnished with strawberries, whipped cream, whipped cream, and green tea powder.
this was so good, thanks Miho
One of the most interesting things was a rack full of chopsticks. These were personal chopsticks that people used when they came in. You could buy a pair of chopsticks for ten dollars and they keep them there. You use them when you come in and you get a ten percent discount.
that's a lot of chopstick
The chef-owner is very nice and is constantly coming around to check on the customers. He's a nice man who will talk to you about almost anything. I didn't get a very good picture of him but here he is on the left in this photo of the waiting area I snapped as we were leaving.
maybe that's him? maybe not?
I recommed this place highly. Check out the link at the top of this entry to visit their website.
Posted in Restaurants By akijikan at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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