From January 2006 100 Very Best Restaurants
THE SCENE. This bustling, intimate sushi restaurant on Annapolis's Main Street taps into a broad cross-section of the city's society: burnished, sweater-wrapped sailors, lobbyists on break from the nearby statehouse, and razored, well-tailored Navy personnel, many of them regulars (check out their Polaroids on the walls) drawn by the consistently fresh fish and frequent specials.
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE. From the hearty cheer "Irasshai!" that greets you as you slip through the curtain in the doorway to the friendly, energetic service to the hum of excitement in the dining room at peak hours, the place radiates warmth and charm. The sushi is well-cut, prettily presented, and almost always firm, cool, and slippery.
WHAT YOU WON'T. If you're seated in the larger back room, you might wonder where the atmosphere went. And the same kitchen that can soar with complicated, exotic dishes can stumble on the simple stuff, like a salmon or tuna nigiri.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
