Sei - Penn Quarter, DC

Hey Everyone! It's been hot (and rainy) recently, but on nice days I love going into DC for Happy Hour. The bf and I hit up trendy SEI for their Modern Asian tapas.

Of course there is street and public garage parking, but take the metro. It's only a block away from Gallery Place-Chinatown on the red/green/yellow line.

The interior is white, sparkling and glam. The regular menu consists of small plates, large plates and sushi, but the best deal is Cocktail/Happy Hour (Mon-Thurs 5pm to close, Fri 5pm-8pm) at the bar area only. They have drink and food specials from $3-$7 each.

Happy Hour = Booze! The bf ordered a Sapporo ($5), and I had a Mango Sake shot ($3) and an Asian Pear Sangria ($7). Fruity drinks are so refreshing in the heat....mmmm.

Onto the food! The Wasabi Guacamole ($6) was a nice twist to classic guacamole. They added just the right amount of wasabi for the flavor and heat.

You can't go wrong with juicy Kobe Sliders ($6) or flavorful Kalbe Tacos ($6). The sliders were my choice of the night and the tacos were the bf's favorite.

We also decided to get sushi. The Eel and Avocado Roll ($6) and Spicy Salmon Roll ($6) were ok, so compared to the other items, I wouldn't use precious stomach space for it.

Overall, SEI was delicious. The bar staff was quick, it's a fun environment, and the food is made well. We will probably only stick to their Cocktail/Happy Hour only because their regular menu is pricey for the amount of food.

444 7th Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
(202) 783-7007
seirestaurant.com

Sticky Rice - H Street Corridor

Walking around H Street Corridor for the first time made me feel like I was in another city. The cool, hipster vibe and unfamiliar establishments was the change I needed from the typical NW outings. My amazing cousin AKA twin recently treated me to dinner at Sticky Rice.
Street parking was a breeze (meter machines) but I'm sure it gets worse when the bar crowd starts rolling in. Closest metro (not really walking distance) is New York Ave-Florida Ave-Gallaudet U on the red line.

There are 3 levels with the bar at the front entrance. The exposed brick, red walls and Asian inspired paintings make me feel like I'm eating in a tattoo parlor. Love it.

We tossed back a few after a tiring work week. The Salon Cosmo Sake Lychee (left) was a perfect balance of sweet, fruity and earthy, and the White Gummy Bear (right) tasted just like one but with a kick! Both around $8.

"Napoleon, give me some of your tots." These are the best tater tots I've ever had! Perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They come with a side of their world-famous, secret tater tot sauce, which reminded me of a spicy mayo. Pictured is their side ($3), but you can walk around with a huge tin bucket for $8.

I ordered off of their Monster Roll list (10 pieces) because I was starving! What arrived was huge - Chili Roll (tuna, cilantro, cucumber, jalapeno, grilled pineapple, tempura crunchies and tobiko) for $12.50. I expected more heat but it had a unique flavor because of the pineapple. Pretty good.

My cousin ordered off of their specials menu - Eel Bow (eel, cream cheese and cucumber topped with tuna, salmon, yellow tail and rock fish) for $12. Sometimes cream cheese can be an over powering flavor, but it worked well with the other ingredients.

Everyone on Yelp was recommending these Sticky Balls (tuna, crab, siracha in an inari pocket deep fried topped with scallions, wasabi dressing and eel sauce) for $10.75. They are AMAZING! It's a special dish that is delicious hot out of the fryer. The sweet and spiciness melt in your mouth. I want now.

The atmosphere was fun and chill. I found the unique items appealing, however the sushi wasn't memorable. The service was slow, but nice. Overall, I'm excited to go back and try other signature creations.

1224 H St NE
Washington, MD 20002
(202) 397-7655
stickyricedc.com

California Roll

Hi Everyone! One of my many New Year's Resolutions (I have like 15...) is to cook twice a week. It's a great way to save money, eat healthier and keep the bf happy. I decided to try something new and make California Rolls! I am obsessed with sushi and figured I should learn to make my own. Using raw fish at home still makes me nervous, so I'm going to stick to imitation crab for a while.

Making the rolls is very easy. The prep work is what takes the most time. I used Just One Cookbook's tutorial as my guide and switched it up a little. It's an amazingly helpful post!

Ingredients:
9 cups prepared Sushi Rice (3 cups uncooked Japanese rice)
1 pack of Imitation Crab (around 15 sticks)
2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
1 sliced (length-wise) English Cucumber
2 sliced Avocados
9 Nori (seaweed) sheets
Toasted Sesame Seeds

Sushi Rice:
1/3 cup rice vinegar
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt

Tools:
Bamboo Mat
Plastic Wrap

Don't forget Tobiko (flying fish roe), Pickled Sushi Ginger and Wasabi for garnish.

I never knew you had to season the rice, but it makes it taste awesome!

1. Mix together rice vinegar, sugar and salt.

2. Pour the rice vinegar mixture onto freshly cooked rice and mix well. Let it cool.

3. Mix mayonnaise with the imitation crab. I could have used more to get a creamier consistency, but I wanted to keep it healthier. I think I'll omit it completely next time because it wasn't that noticeable.

4. Wrap bamboo mat with plastic wrap.
5. Place nori sheet shiny side down and spread a thin layer of sushi rice.

6. Add rows of cucumber, avocados and crab on the bottom of the nori.
7. Lightly sprinkle toasted sesame seeds all over the rice and ingredients.

7. Roll slowly but firmly starting from the end with the ingredients. Stop every third of the way to compress the roll to ensure it's packed tightly.

8. Run your knife under water and slice into thin pieces. 

California rolls are easy to make and can feed a lot of people for little money. With this being my first attempt, I learned a lot! I cut the pieces too big, bought too much imitation crab, didn't add enough sugar, etc. So don't worry if your rolls don't look like something from a restaurant. Still tastes delicious! I was able to find everything at my local Korean store (H Mart). Enjoy!

Yuraku - Germantown, MD

The bf and I were in Germantown to pick up my younger cousin, so we stopped by this popular sushi joint - Yuraku. Sorry I forgot to take a pic of the sign, but envision a plain, red sign in an old shopping center...the interior is much nicer. There is plenty of parking in the front lot. The closest metro is Shady Grove on the red line.

I've been a few times before for their famous lunch buffet. It's around $13 a person, and offer a wide selection of special rolls and other buffet items.

It's a small place that gets packed very easily. When I used to work in Gaithersburg, my coworkers and I used to leave the office at 10:30am to get a table. The bf and I even came with a reservation on a weekend evening and ended up leaving because it was taking forever.

I like sushi places that give you free miso soup, yummy.

They also gave us japchae (Korean noodles), caesar salad, and apple salad.

So the menu has a HUGEEEEE selection of special rolls (close to 80). They cheaper than I've seen anywhere else, which contributes to their popularity. Other than their sushi, they offer noodles, tempura, grilled meats, and other typical Japanese items.

2 large boys and myself split only 4 rolls because they were MASSIVE. The photo doesn't show how much food you're getting for the price. Each of those pieces were two bites full.

Double Spicy Tuna Roll (Spicy tuna, tempura flake rolled and topped with more spicy tuna) for $7.95 - I'm not a pro when it comes to spicy foods, so this packed more of a punch than I wanted. It was also too mushy.

Crazy Horse (Chopped tuna, salmon, white tuna, yellow tail, red snapper, crabmeat, mayo, cucumber, avocado, masago, scallion) for $8.95 - I've realized that I'm not a fan of the chopped fish all blended together. You couldn't taste any of the ingredients.

Dr. Zhivago (Salmon, avocado, cucumber, crab, masago) for $5.75 - This was my favorite because salmon and avocado is an amazing combination.

Soft Rock & Roll (Fresh water eel, avocado, cucumber) for $6.50 - Unfortunately there was almost no eel in the roll.

I have many friends that are die hard fans of this place (and are going to think I'm insane). I think it's a great "bang for your buck", however I'm not impressed by the creations or the quality. The roll flavors are one-noted even with a good amount of ingredients. The pieces are made too big and don't feel delicate when eaten. I felt the same way when I tried their buffet but thought it would be different ordering off the menu...it wasn't.

19773 Frederick Rd
Germantown, MD 20876
(301) 515-7448
www.yuraku.com

Sushiko - Chevy Chase, MD

A lazy night with the bf meant using our Groupon at Sushiko in Chevy Chase, MD. It has been on Washingtonian Magazine's Top 100 Best Restaurants list in the past, and this was our first time eating there. Located in a very posh shopping center, there is an hourly parking lot right out front. Closest metro stop is Friendship Heights on the red line.

It was smaller than I thought it would be. Simple design with the sushi bar in the back. The front of the restaurant has the bar and windows. I wish there were some visible windows in the dining room to make it appear more open.

The menu consists of mostly sushi, small plates, and a few entrees.

We love duck, so we started out with a non-sushi item of Honey soy roasted duck breast (mustard miso) for  $10.50. It wasn't a lot of food, but I thought it was yummy because of the sauce and they were sliced thinly.

The Softshell crab roll (fried crab with avocado and sesame dressing) for $10 was good and once again the sauce helped to make it taste better.


Left to right:
Rainbow roll (cucumber, avocado, salmon, tuna, shrimp, white fish) for $12.50.
Toro roll (minced fatty tuna with cucumber and avocado) for $9.50.
Dragon roll (cucumber, avocado, eel) for $12.50.

The dragon roll was our favorite because it was very tender and melted in your mouth. The toro roll's fatty tuna didn't seem particularly different than regular tuna. The rainbow roll also had very good quality ingredients.

Pretty simple night with a few shared dishes. I've heard so much about this place, and I thought it was good but perhaps I had higher expectations? The atmosphere was pretty normal and the rolls weren't as creative as other places I have been, however you can definitely taste the quality in the rice and fish. I thought our server was fine. Don't forget to ask them to validate your parking ticket as you pay your check.

5455 Wisconsin Ave
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
(301) 961-1644
www.sushikorestaurants.com

Matuba - Bethesda, MD

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit, but life has been busy and I've been injured... let's get to it! I get sushi cravings fairly often, but I don't usually act upon them because it can get expensive. This time the bf and I decided to satisfy our raw fish craving with an All-You-Can-Eat revolving sushi buffet at Matuba. There is metered street parking and a metered garage on the same block. The closest metro stop is Bethesda on the red line.

The restaurant is split up into different sections. The 1st thing you see if the sushi bar, then you walk a bit and see the main dining area. Walk up a loft and you see these tables which fit larger groups.

Walk down some more stairs, and there is the revolving sushi bar! I think it sits around 16 people. $17.95 per person for dinner.

I think it's fun to interact with your food and pick which ones look good as they swivel along by. Like a predator stalking its prey...lol.

They had a lot of non-sushi items on the belt like fried dumplings, salad, chicken teriyaki, tempura, etc. I thought there were more of these on the belt than sushi, which I wasn't a fan of.

As far as the sushi selection, it was very limited to about the ones I photographed, along with a few hand rolls or variations of those below. The quality was sadly very poor. One of the salmon pieces had something hard in it, the seaweed for the handrolls were tough, the fish didn't have a clean flavor, and I saw a few flies land on the plates.

I wanted to take a picture of all of our plates but they kept taking them away! This was about 1/3 of our plates. We wanted to get our money's worth despite the fact I was already stuffed.

This review is only about their sushi buffet. I don't know how their normal menu is. I really wanted to like their buffet because its a cool and fun concept, but the quality was not worth it. The selection of fish was disappointing too. The staff and sushi chef were super nice and friendly though. If you're not picky about quality, then this buffet could be something you'd like. It's cheaper during lunch hours too.

4918 Cordell Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 652-7449
http://www.matuba-sushi.com/matuba/Home_.html

Hanaro - Bethesda, MD

After getting to Caddie's (best fries/cheese fries) at 9:30am to watch the World Cup (sad loss for the US and Korea), the bf and I went with our boy Diz to Hanaro because he was craving sushi and we have never been there before. There is metered garage (free on weekends) and metered street parking (free on Sunday). The closest metro stop is Bethesda on the red line.

I love outdoor seating but it's been too hot! No more humidity please.

They have a nice bar area with bar tables and regular seating along the window. I'm sure this place looks awesome when they have a DJ on Friday nights.

We sat in the side dining room that has the sushi bar and booths. Lots of dark wood everywhere and trendy decor. They have a 2nd floor that we did not check out.

The bf and I weren't starving since we had eaten at Caddie's, so we each ordered one roll to try. He ordered the 'Green Tree Roll (shredded crab meat, unagi, cucumber, avocado, tempura bits, eel sauce)' for $12. It came with 8 pieces and was good and crunchy because of the tempura bits. I've never seen green tobiko caviar before!

I ordered the 'Redskins Roll (spicy tuna, red snapper, tobiko, eel sauce)' for $9. I love eel sauce because it's sweet. My roll also came with 8 pieces and was good and fresh. Do they dye the tobiko? So pretty.

Diz wasn't kidding when he said he was hungry for sushi!
He ordered (L-R):
'Crunchy Roll (crab, shrimp, masago, cucumber, tempura bits, and eel sauce) for $8'
'Crazy Tuna Roll (its not on their website menu, but around $10)'
'Firecracker Roll (spicy tuna, salmon, tempura bits, spicy chili sauce) for $15'

We also had Sake Bombs! It was my first time, and it tasted better than I thought it would. A shot of sake over a glass of Sapporo beer, hit the table until the shot glass falls in, and chug!

"When I say sake, you say bomb!" lol

Overall the food was fine. They offer a pan-asian selection of entrees and a large list of special rolls, which are a bit pricey. Comparing special rolls, I still find the quality of Sushi Damo to be a bit higher in my opinion. The service was slow. It took between 20-30 minutes to get our 5 rolls and we were the only party downstairs.

7820 Norfolk Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 654-7851
www.hanarobethesda.com