Sushi? No, Sushi Sushi!
This post is by DCist Food contributor Mike Roscoe
Sushi restaurants are everywhere. When you feel the need to indulge your appetite for fresh, clean, simple food, chances are there’s a sushi bar not too far away. So how to distinguish between them? Some feature pan-Asian fare where you can mix Chinese, Japanese and Thai cuisines to suit your mood, while others go high-class and offer extravagantly priced omakase tasting menus and expense-account-level sakes. But none of that for us. DCist went searching for a quiet, out-of-the-way, mom and pop sushi joint that serves traditional Japanese fare and wouldn’t look out of place on the back streets of Tokyo.
We found it at Sushi Sushi on Macomb Street, NW, directly across the street from another mom and pop spot, Two Amys. A soft, golden glow from rice paper lanterns drew us in from the street and we shook off the winter chill with a carafe of warm sake.
Everyone orders edamame for starters these days, so much so that they ought be offered gratis the way Chinese restaurants serve bowls of fried noodles. But, we paid for ours and got a nice, simple bowl of warm beans dusted with sea salt. Miso soup—big chunks of bean curd with slivers of soft nori swimming in a satiny broth—followed. Then, a delicate seaweed salad sprinkled with sesame seeds and tossed with robust and nutty oil prepared us for our entree.
Sufficiently warmed, we proceeded to the main attraction. The chef’s choice sashimi platter arrived as a glistening rainbow of fish served on a blond wooden block. The fish is flavorful but overwhelmingly so; we recommend you eat your slices of yellowtail and salmon sans soy or garnish to better appreciate the distinct flavorings—tuna, sweet, firm and meaty, and salmon subtly saline. Another suggestion: eat these first before moving to the rare and highly-sought after o-toro and shiro maguro.
O-toro, the fatty belly of the tuna, is extraordinarily delicate and has such a high fat content that it can melt at room temperature. It’s also the most highly-prized cut of tuna with fishmongers routinely paying hundreds of dollars per pound in the frenetic Japanese fish markets. Our two pieces were soft pink and streaked through with white, fatty marbling. Very little chewing is needed here: just roll the fish around your mouth and let it melt like butter on your tongue. The shiro maguro or “white tuna” is also a rare treat; snowy slices that, like o-toro, come apart magically in your mouth.
Sated on the forehead-slappingly good sashimi, we moved on to the rolls. A giant, five-piece Volcano Roll with tangy barbecued eel, avocado and salmon was cool and soothing, contrasting with a warm and fiery Sunny Delight roll: eight pieces of California Roll draped with raw salmon and then drizzled with a sweet yet considerably spicy sauce. At $6.50 each, the oversized rolls are cheap meals in themselves, but we weren't done yet – indeed, the most interesting dishes were yet to come.
When we saw monkfish liver on the menu we knew without a shadow of a doubt that we'd order it. Exotic, scary even, we had absolutely no idea what to expect when it came to our table. When it arrived, the thick pink medallions of creamy liver were swimming in a broth of soy and sliced scallion. We wolfed it down, surprised by the mild flavor and cool silky texture.
We were stuffed to the gills, as it were, but our server suggested one more dish, the specialty of the house–the Smoky Bowl. Picture half an avocado crammed with crabmeat and shrimp, slathered in rich Japanese sweet and sour sauce and then baked until soft. Unique, decadent and oh-so-smooth, it was a perfect end to the meal.
As amazing as the dinner was, the total bill was even more so. Considering the feast we had just consumed, along with copious amounts of warm sake and Japanese beer, the total for two came to just a tick over $100. If that’s still more than you’d like to spend for a night out, try Sushi Sushi at lunchtime when you can net two six-piece rolls, a vegetable salad and miso soup for a mere $6.50. Or better yet, show up for happy hour when you can sample $1 nigiri sushi with the full bar.
Macomb Street has become quite a target-rich environment for the serious food follower, but if you don’t want to fight the crowds at the pizzeria across the street, retire to the warmth and serenity of pure, unadulterated Japanese cooking at this cozy, family-run affair. Your date and your wallet will thank you.
Sushi Sushi
3714 Macomb St., NW
Washington, DC 20016
202-686-2015