Cuisine: The menu at this Palisades walkup is as stark and streamlined as the roster of Beatles tunes that plays on chef/owner Hisao Abe’s loop—a small selection of sushi and sashimi, a smaller allotment of the rice casseroles known as kamameshi, and a couple of specials. No tempura, no noodles, no entrées. It’s this laserlike focus that allows Abe to turn out food of such consistency and quality.
Mood: In a space the size of an efficiency, the only decoration is a painting of a Japanese character on one wall—translation: “meeting”—and an air of calm prevails. Only the sounds of the Fab Four and the pleasing simplicity of the cooking engage you.
Best for: A low-key, low-calorie afternoon lunch, alone or with friends.
Best dishes: Eel kamameshi, tiny black-iron pots of steamed rice, glazed fish, and vegetables accompanied by an assortment of antipastolike snacks; well-carved sashimi and classically portioned nigiri (look for yellowtail, eel, scallop, and white tuna); oshizushi, a long log of mackerel-topped rice at once salty, sweet, and rich; chewy green-tea mochi.
Insider tips: Ask your server what’s come in that day. Abe procures unusually fine uni—fresh, clean, and custardy—and better-than-average ankimo, a monkfish liver sometimes called the foie gras of the sea.
Service: ••
Open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. Inexpensive.
See all of 2009's 100 Best Restaurant
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.
