Luckily, I'm not one of those girls who is afraid to do things solo. If I was, I'd miss out on amazing trips (San Francisco, Boston, New York, etc,), interesting museum exhibits, plays and great meals. Last week I decided to treat myself to lunch at Kushi and see what all the buzz is about.
First, the decor is gorgeous. Stainless steel, dark wood and beautiful pottery. Unfortunately, I could not sit at the main bar, because it is only open for dinner, so I sat at the smaller one instead and got to see the dishes being made right in front of my eyes.
The seafood looked fresh and vibrant: look at the colors of the shrimp, salmon, tuna, etc. I was like a kid in the candy store.
These men were magical with their fingers. Maybe I should have taken a small video to show you the things they did with rice, seafood and a few other ingredients. They worked meticulously, while chatting with their customers.
The menu ranges from nigiri, sashimi, maki, and many kushiyaki dishes (from the charcoal grill). It was rather hard making my selections because so many options looked good. I decided to get a few rolls of sushi and then try something new!
Warning: this was a really big lunch. So stop reading if you are hungry ;)
The miso soup was salty (in a good way) with silken tofu and was served with a side of pickled vegetables. I was off to a good start.
{the photo below is of someone else's food}
Next up, I had tuna & avocado and salmon & cucumber maki. Both the salmon and tuna were fresh, buttery and shiny. And in my opinion you can't go wrong with either avocado or cucumbers as the pairing. I forced myself to eat only half of each roll: there was plenty of food yet to come. {The leftovers were great for dinner!}
While I waited for my next course, I snapped photos of Kushi's beautiful pottery and boxes. I'd love to add some of these to my home collection.
Next up were some skewers: scallions, okra, chicken liver and duck breast with scallions. These were really good: I felt healthy by eating the scallion and okra skewers, and then everything turned upside down by the rich chicken liver and very filling duck skewer. I really need to stop saying that I don't like duck: turns out when duck is prepared correctly, it has an incredible flavor.
{the two photos below are again not my food :) Just wanted to show you other options to get at Kushi.}
One of my favorite dishes at Kushi was braised pork belly, but it did not photograph well at all. The meat melted in my mouth and was served in a savory broth with a few vegetables and a side of rice. I would definitely recommend it.
As I waited for my dessert, a woman sitting next to me ordered a hand roll with tuna and scallions. I talked her into getting some pickled daikon to go inside to have a contrast of texture, color and flavor. She said I was right: shocking :)
For dessert I ordered tangerine sorbet. It was slightly bitter, but a good way to finish a lunch full of strong flavors.
6 comments:
Everything looks amazing. The one thing I miss about living in DC is the variety and quality of restaurants.
As for sushi, I normally try to stay away from salmon because I just don't care for farm-raised salmon (other farm raised fish are OK). There's something about the bright orange color (as opposed to the red color of a wild-caught salmon) that turns me off.
I love Kushi, too! And, here's to being a solo traveler/diner. Sometimes enjoying those experiences on your own leaves you open to pleasant surprises and meeting new people, too. Nice pix.
Great pictures! Now I am craving sushi...
I miss DC...
The ingredients look so fresh. Beautiful pictures.....the food looks amazing.
That looks seriously good Olga! I love Japanese food and since I am going to experience the real thing in april... this is a very good teaser!
wow, definitely sounds like a gourmet experience. i totally want to try that tangerine sorbet!
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