The area's most exquisite omakase takes place in Dupont Circle, at the six-stool oak counter on the second floor of Sushi Taro, home to artist Nobu Yamazaki. The chef's sublime tasting menu starts at $140. Can't afford the splurge? Reserve a seat for the nine-course, $90 counter show at Sushiko in Chevy Chase, curated by brothers and co-chefs Handry and Piter Tjan and an offshoot of the original Sushiko in Glover Park, which closed in 2013.
While not as epic as the competition's, the parade of plates comes with plenty of dramatic moments. Monkfish liver draped in mackerel and finished with truffles and caviar tastes like something Patrick O'Connell would dream up if the Inn at Little Washington were in Tokyo. Grilled eel on a salad of seaweed, radishes and pickled cucumbers evokes a banh mi, hold the bread. I thought I was tired of seeing eggs in other than egg dishes. But that was before I encountered the brothers' bright orange organic Japanese egg in the center of a nest of julienned squid and thin fried leeks. The pièce de résistance? Pink ocean trout tartare marbled with goat cheese, a combination made haunting when the chef inverts a bowl over the little tower and pipes in cherry wood smoke.
Not every dish is a winner; chopped surf clam heaped in a lemon half is cloying with mirin. But by dinner's end, you're likely to give the performance at least a mental ovation. Dessert has you seeing double: foie gras nigiri alongside foie gras ice cream garnished with gold leaf. Way to go, bros!→
Follow this authorTom Sietsema→5455 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase, Md. 301-961-1644. www.sushikorestaurants.com.
Open: Lunch and dinner daily.
Prices: Lunch and dinner entrees $18 to $27, tasting menus starting at $60 and $90.
Sound check: 72 decibels /Must speak with raised voice.
This review appears in The Washington Post’s 2015 Spring Dining Guide.
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