Oasis: The Listening Bar. 2940 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington
Vinyl bars are so in right now. The latest? Oasis: The Listening Bar, a Japanese-inspired record bar serving over-the-top sushi and sake flights in Clarendon from the owners of Sisters Thai and Floré Cafe.
Owners Sumontita “Tammie” Disayawathana and Jaturon Srirote used vinyl to decorate their Thai restaurant when they opened in Mosaic District a decade ago. But at Oasis, they’re actually putting it to use. A small stage will host both live artists and vinyl DJs, who will begin spinning Friday evening sets on July 25. Expect jazz, but also a range of genres: “We’re going to bring in the DJs and try to see what suits our ambience, but be open for a lot of different kinds of music,” Disayawathana says.
The all-day Japanese menu focuses on sushi, including nigiri and decadent specialty rolls with no shortage of luxe ingredients piled on. The “Pearl of the Sea,” for example, is stuffed with spicy scallop and shiso, then topped with butter-seared scallops, uni, ikura, and caviar. The sushi bar also serves up raw fish plates such as seared bluefin tuna sashimi topped with black truffle, caviar, and yuzu-ponzu sauce. Other izakaya-style dishes include uni croquettes, pork gyoza, kushiyaki, and eel rice bowls.
A tasting menu, details of which are still being finalized, will launch on August 21. Also still to come: more daytime cafe offerings, including coffee and tea drinks plus housemade sweets.
The cocktail menu incorporates plenty of Japanese spirits and ingredients, such as yuzu foam, plum bitters, and matcha. There’s also a selection of Japanese whiskeys and sakes available by single pours or in flights with suggested food pairings.
The design is an eclectic mish-mash of influences. A concert venue-style marquee hangs atop the wrap-around bar, while a separate sushi counter is adorned with the names of dishes in Japanese characters. Although Srirote isn’t a surfer, he has collected surf boards in Hawaii which now hang in the bar. And then there are cacti along the wall, a nod to the idea of an oasis.
“Just as an oasis provides a liberating and joyful respite amidst a desert, we envision our restaurant as a sanctuary,” Srirote says.
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
