Eat Great Cheap 2015“You don’t have a reservation?” the hostess asked, looking around the room. “Hmmm. There’s one table left outside.” It was a 50-degree night, but we considered ourselves lucky. Because what looks like an ordinary neighborhood sushi joint is actually one of the most consistent Japanese kitchens in Washington. We like to order broadly, grazing among the interesting sushi roster (featuring esoteric selections like live scallop) and the inventive small plates and rolls, then finishing with that izakaya standard, katsu—a massive, thinly pounded pork cutlet dredged in panko, deep-fried, and swiped in tangy, dark sauce—otherwise known as beer-drinking food of the highest order.
Cuisine: Japanese
Where you can get it: 101 Church St., NW, Vienna; 703-242-1350
Also good: Chirashi, a selection of raw fish over rice; salmon-belly and red-snapper sushi; shrimp shu mai; caterpillar roll, with eel and avocado; Costa Rica roll, with yellowtail and mango.
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.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
