Kushi Izakaya & Sushi
Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 02:31AM Figures. The moment I leave a neightborhood, it starts to blow up, restaurant-wise. It happened with Columbia Heights, where I used to live right after law school (now the home of Pete's New Have Style Apizza, Pho 14, Red Rocks Pizza, and a number of other new eateries). And it definitely happened with the general Gallery Place/Chinatown area, which touts Taylor Gourmet, a branch of Busboys and Poets, PS 7's, Zengo, and now DC's first Japanese gastropub, Kushi, at 4th and K. I was super excited about this addition to the DC culinary world, and after trying it out with Mark and new friend of IFFF Andy, I was not disappointed. Kushi offers a huge, delicious menu, and while there were a couple of misses, dish-wise, on the whole, the food is impeccably prepared, the seafood is fantastically fresh, the service was friendly and efficient, and the atmosphere is a lot of fun - it's definitely an option I'd like to hit up again in the future.
I really loved the sleek, modern design of the HUGE restaurant. You have a number of seating options - you can sit at the robata, or charcoal grill bar, the sushi bar, or general dining room seating (which is what we chose). Our server was ready to answer any question, and put up with us as we tried to narrow down our selections from the massive menu.
A complimentary amuse-bouche of marinated beets with beet greens was a refreshing beginning to the parade of dishes to come.
We got a couple of the Kobachi, or small plates, beginning with the tako su, octopus with vinegar. The thick slices of octopus were so fresh - not a trace of fishiness..
I got an order of chawanmushi, a dashi-based custard. Chawanmushi is one of my favorite Japanese dishes, and this was a pretty great specimen - silky and subtly flavored, with little nuggets of savory goodness (shrimp, chicken, etc.) hidden in its depths.
From the Gohan (rice) section of the menu, we got the yakionigiri, or daily grilled rice ball, which had flakes of salmon distributed throughout. We were intrigued by the concept of this dish, but it had a weird aftertaste that made it one of the few dishes that we didn't love.
We also ordered a number of dishes from the robata (charcoal grill). First up, Andy ordered the oyster, which he really enjoyed - he noted that it was the freshest of the fresh.
Mark and I split three types of kushiyaki (skewered meat): the Heritage breed chicken breast with plum sauce and shiso (left), the Berkshire pork belly (middle), and the kalbi, or Wagyu beef short rib (right). All three meats were perfectly cooked and tender. I loved the combination of the juicy chicken with the plum and shiso, but it was Mark's least favorite of the three. On the other hand, he loved the pork belly and the short rib - both were incredibly succulent, and the simple seasoning let the meat really shine.
We also split an order of the mahogany quail stuffed with duck sausage. I don't often get quail, but I loved this - it had a great crispiness on the outside, but the meat was so moist and tender. And the duck sausage really complemented the taste of the quail very well.
Andy got an order of lobster tail from the robata, and again, the freshness of the seafood was very apparent. He noted how well it was prepared (on the heat just enough to cook it all the way through, but not so much that the meat got tough).
We also ordered a number of items off the sushi and special menu. The boys ordered 2 types of maki, a sundried tomato, aparagus, and Asian pear roll, and the spicy tuna roll. Mark wasn't blown away but always appreciates unique flavor combinations, and again, the fresh velvety-ness of the seafood impressed me.
Andy and I each ordered some nigiri - I got the yellowtail special, and I loved the buttery texture and ocean taste. Andy got the chilled tofu, which he seemed to enjoy.
Finally, Andy ordered the firefly squid nigiri off the specials menu. I'm not sure exactly what the problem was, but he didn't like the taste as much as he would have liked, leaving one lone piece for the servers to clear.
For dessert, we collectively got a number of scoops of sorbet/ice cream. Andy got scoops of incredibly rich and thick Valrhona chocolate and green tea ice cream. Andy raved about the green tea ice cream, and I had no choice but to try some - it was absolutely phenomenal, creamy, and slightly sweet and nutty. Mark also got the Valrhona chocolate, but paired it with a scoop of tart blood orange sorbet (pictured below). I got a scoop of black sesame ice cream, which surprisingly (to me and with great happiness, to Mark), tasted almost exactly like peanut butter ice cream.
We all really, really, really enjoyed our dining experience at Kushi, and it's somewhere I could return any number of times and have a different (but tasty) experience each time - as many dishes as we tried, there were so many that we wanted to order but were forced to bypass. Next time you have dinner plans with difficult to please (or allergy-challenged) friends, give Kushi a try!
D.C., Japanese, Sushi in Reviews: On The Town
Reader Comments (6)
Great review! I also had some ups and downs at the restaurant, but overall I did enjoy my time there. Sounds like they've managed to get their act together in terms of their service, which is good. They must've still been working out a few kinks in the beginning.
I'm rather intrigued by this "Asian pear" roll. :)
I really love black sesame ice cream! It does taste like peanut butter, but a little less sweet.
Black Sesame Ice Cream is probably my new favorite thing.
Asian Pear/Sun-Dried Tomato sounded a little more exciting than it was.
I think it's a tough menu for the waitstaff to be able to streamline the service process around. Our server was sort of awkwardly hovering as we took 20 minutes to figure out the huge menu and write it out on the little provided sheet... I can't even imagine what it could've been like had there been more than 3 of us.
Gasp!! OMG, what a great review and photographs. Kushi is definitely now on my list along w/Rasika.Mahagony quail stuffed w/duck sausage?! Jonathan and I would have totally gone for that!! The beet salad looks like a nice jumpstart to a great dining experience and sesame ice cream and anything green tea would be such a grand finale!! Love you guys!! Shulie
The quail was probably one of my favorites! Really great, rich little dish. And I LOVE green tea ice cream (Mark hates it, but that means more for me!).
Great writeup/photos! It was interesting to see so many different items than what I got on my visit- goes to show that you can get so many combinations of food there!
I think that's my favorite thing about it - we went with a pescatarian, and he was happy, and I think a vegetarian (or even vegan!) could find enough to satisfy him/her.