Himitsu

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When your waiter tells you that the menu is essentially designed so that a table of four can eat the whole thing, you oblige. 

Last Saturday night, three friends and I finally made it to Himitsu. The lack of reservations kept me away for the first few years, but I am happy to report it is worth the wait and will keep me away no longer. Similar to Rose's Luxury, you need to be in line at Himitsu when it opens, but you don't need to eat at 5pm. I arrived at 5:30pm and was offered an immediate seat, but instead I put my name in for approximately 9pm. Suspecting that it wouldn't actually be that late, I met my friends for a drink at Petworth Citizen at 7:30pm, and we were seated around 8pm.

Since we decided to order the entire menu, we spent little time studying the options. This made the experience into a Japanese-inspired tasting menu - we had to consult the menu to learn what was in each dish! Personally, I loved the surprise and anticipation with which we waited for each dish.   

As soon as our first dish arrived, I knew this was going to be awesome. The first of several crudos was hamachi (aka yellowtail), seasoned with a perfect balance of orange segments, fish sauce vinaigrette, and citrus-y yuzu sauce. Although Himitsu isn't traditional or even straight-up Japanese, this glistening gem of sashimi took me right back to my Sushi Ya experience in Tokyo last year. 

Although it didn't hit me as hard as the hamachi, this second crudo dish was also perfectly balanced. Big eyed tuna toped with a perfect blend of spicy and sweet honeydew, serrano chiles, and cilantro. 

After the sashimi, we moved onto the cooked dishes. One of my favorites of the night was a panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) fried oyster topped with smoked and pickled onions and trout roe (caviar) and served in a Gruyere cheese sauce.  

Cheese you say? I was shocked to find so much cheese in Japan on my trip last year. As odd as it sounds, the creamy, melty Gruyere was a perfect accompaniment to the briny oyster and acidic onions. Balanced AF. 



One of my least favorite Japanese items is bonito flakes - cured, dried fish shavings. Gross, amirite? So needless to say, I was shocked at how much I liked this shrimp toast which is LOADED with bonito flakes on top. Unlike the bonito I had in Japan, these flakes were super mild in flavor, and added just a little punch of umami to the crunchy shrimp toast. Bonito FTW. 

Veering to the very non-traditional side of the menu were these roasted carrots served "elote" style - aka like Mexican street corn with mayonnaise and cheese. I love me some Mexican street corn, so I am not going to complain, but I honestly did not understand how these fit in with the rest of the menu. Then again, no one promised the meal would be conventional. In any event, they were quite tasty.

My least favorite dish of the night was agadashi tofu, which is breaded and fried and floating in a dashi broth. If you are not familiar with dashi, it's effectively the sourdough starter of all Japanese food. That said, it is usually made into a ramen or other dish, not served on its own. I really don't love tofu in any form, so this dish did not do much for me. 

Continuing down the vegetable trail, next up we had grilled eggplant served in a chili-lime vinaigrette and topped with pumpkin seeds and scallions. I am a huge fan of eggplant and find it particularly hard to cook well myself, so I am always excited to eat it at restaurants. These were both sweet and bitter - once again achieving a perfect balance of flavor profiles. 

One of the lesser memorable dishes were the seared scallops. I am having trouble remembering whether I liked these, so I guess that pretty much sums it up. They were served with scallions, pea shoots, and bok choy. 

Can't.Touch.This. No really, can you top a perfectly grilled octopus? I think not. This beauty was topped with peanuts, pickled onions, garlic, and herbs, served over a fermented black bean mole. Although the mole sounds strange, Asian food frequently contains fermented beans, so I thought it really worked here and kept up with the theme. One of these days I am going to work up the nerve to cook octopus myself - until then, this will do just fine. 

As you can tell by this picture, behind the kitchen is a legit grill master. It's not that easy to nail a perfect medium-rare all night long, so color me impressed. Oh yea, and it was waygu, and it was topped with a "scallion confit" and nestled on a perfect bed of sticky sushi rice. It was the bomb.com.

While not always advisable to save the heaviest item for last, we did not complain when our waiter brought out this perfect karaage - aka Japanese fried chicken. I am not one to wax poetic about any type of fried food, but something about karaage always gets me. Thankfully, I've found a number of places in DC that serve it and do it really well (recall our reviews of Donburi and Chaplin both included karaage)! Himitsu's karaage was similarly on point -- possibly better. It was topped with pickled onions - the brininess of which perfectly cut through the richness of the chicken, and the dish overall was brightened up by a charred gem lettuce salad.  

Overall, I was most impressed by the balance of each plate at Himitsu. Each was perfectly composed, but not in a pretentious 3-star kind of way. Rather their focus remained on flavor. I cannot wait for the seasons to change again so I can justify a trip back. 

Chaplin: Den of Ramen

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Chaplin popped up on the food scene several months ago, taking over the space formerly held by Burma on 9th & P NW. Like the name suggests, Chaplin is designed in celebration of the silent film star Charlie Chaplin. The restaurant reminded me of a trendy French space with tons of red and black and huge murals on the walls. They also had Charlie Chaplin films projected on the wall, silently of course.

 I arrived late and by the time I joined my friends had all ordered drinks. The drink menu has an extensive array of cocktails, ranging from classics like mules and old fashioneds to more creative and unique offerings. I sampled a few of my friends' choices and settled on a ginger-inspired cocktail. We all found the drinks tasty, but a bit heavy on the ice.

We started with a broad sampling of the appetizers, including edamame, steamed buns- both chashu pork and tofu, tori karagae- Japanese fried chicken, and the beef gyoza. Edamame is pretty hard to mess up and it did not disappoint.

 

The steamed buns were served with a sweet barbecue sauce and crunchy slaw. They were delicious, but coming with only one large bun per order, they were difficult to share.

 

 

The dumplings seemed to be a highlight of the menu, but they seemed a little generic to me. There was a whole list of dumpling options, including "dumpling shooters" to chase a shot of whiskey. I personally would love to see more creative dumpling flavors or sauces. My fellow diners seemed to enjoy them more than me. 

 

 

The star of the night, and what Chaplin is quickly becoming known for, was the ramen. The menu has 9 ramen options, including 3 vegetarian options. This is, by far, the widest ramen selection I have ever seen. While there is something to be said for specializing in a particular style of ramen broth or noodle, I have to say we all loved the broths we tried. Between the group we tried three different ramen options. 

 

 

I was immediately enticed by the Thai inspired ramen, the Chaplin A.S.S. I don't know exactly what that stands for, but I do know this ramen was delicious. It featured a coconut milk broth and chicken as the meat. It was less like a traditional ramen, and more like drinking the delicious broth of a Thai curry. My only gripe: it was missing the classic egg. How can you have ramen without egg? I was slightly annoyed that I had to pay extra for this add-on, but it was worth it. 

 

 

One of my friends opted for the Miso. As the name suggests this broth was miso based and had pork belly as the star meat. She described it as light, flavorful, and not too salty. Liz has since returned and has become a huge fan of this broth. She recommends adding butter corn and an egg. 

 

 

The last ramen we sampled was the Tan Tan Men. This was closest to a tokotsu-style ramen - a rich milky broth with complex depth of flavor and a comfortable level of heat for those who can't handle a ton of spice. The richness comes from the two types of pork- ground and pork belly- making this one a meat lovers dream. 

 

Overall, we loved Chaplin and have each returned many times since our first meal here. Another added plus, they are one of the few ramen spots that takes reservations in the area!

 

 

Donburi and the AdMo Revival

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For those of you who spent your youth and/or your college days in DC, I hope you will share in my excitement in what is looking to be a serious revival for the once-diminishing Adams Morgan neighborhood.

 

In college, Adams Morgan was THE place to go out. But in those days it was all Tom Toms, the Reef, and Adams Mill - none of which have existed for quite some time now. Probably for good reasons. When I graduated from GW, Adams Morgan was the natural place to move for budding young (but underpaid) professionals. Over the course of that year (2007-08), and in the years since then, AdMo started to slip. I moved to New York and then back to DC in 2011 to find a flourishing restaurant scene in Shaw and Logan Circle, but a mostly undesirable Adams Morgan.

I admit that over the last 3 years I had pretty much given up on AdMo. But recently, with the opening of Sakuramen, Pop's Sea Bar, Johnny Pistola's and now Donburi, my faith in Adam's Morgan has been restored.

 

Donburi is literally a hole in the wall, but it has the most unbelievable rice bowls topped with goodies like sashimi salmon, fried chicken or pork, or eel. A friend of mine described these as "Japanese comfort food", and I totally get why.

The set up is simple. You wait for a seat at the counter. When one opens up, you place your order with the hostess and then wait for the chefs to assemble your bowl.

 



 

Amanda and I decided to first share the Sakedon, which comes topped with sashimi-style raw salmon and the Karaegedon, with fried chicken.  We sat down and were mesmerized by the orderliness of this tiny kitchen. The cooks move at lightening pace making bowls for in-house diners and take-out orders at the same time.  Amidst what should be chaos, there is a jovial atmosphere. The chefs joke with one another as they cook and assemble the ingredients, and seem genuine about sharing their creations with the diners. 

 

If you are like me, and crave really good (affordable) sushi but have yet to find that place in DC, then you are going to be excited to know that the Sakedon is the best sashimi I have had in DC. Hands down. My jaw literally dropped when I saw the size of the pieces of salmon the chef used to top my bowl. Not to mention the quality of the fish, which was super fresh and tasty.

Next we tried the Karageadon. This was a generous serving of crisp and super juicy fried chicken marinated in mirin and soy for jam-packed flavor, then topped with pickled daikon radishes, jalepeno peppers, shredded nori, and a partially-cooked egg. If you've been reading this blog, you'll know that I think everything is better with an egg on top. For the true experience, stir all of these ingredients together -- it is the ultimate umami bomb.  

 

 

 

 

The food was amazing at Donburi, and I would have happily paid top dollar for the amazing sashimi and other rice bowls. But the best part is, you don't have to. On average the bowls cost $10-12, making it a budget-friendly option. I can't wait to go back and try the Katsudon (fried pork) and the Ebidon (shrimp).

Welcome back, Adams Morgan!

Izakaya Seki: A Japanese Gem

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Well DC, you have arrived. You have finally arrived. It has taken me 9 years of living in the District, but I have FINALLY found a great Japanese restaurant. Izakaya Seki is easily one of the most delicious Japanese meals I've had anywhere.

Let's set the record straight. Izakaya Seki is not a sushi restaurant. They serve some raw fish, but they also serve a large variety of grilled and fried meats, fish, and vegetables. I highly recommend you sample something from each of the different categories.

I met my friend at Izakaya Seki on a Monday night. The ground floor has a dining counter, which was entirely full, that overlooks the kitchen. There is also an upstairs dining room, but I didn't make it up there this time. We waited about 15 minutes for a seat at the counter, which I highly recommend, because watching the chefs is mesmerizing. I am also told - although did not witness - that the sushi chef sometimes passes samples to diners at the counter!

The menu, if you don't speak Japanese, can be a little intimidating. Many of the listed items were unfamiliar, but the patient waitress was happy to answer all of our questions and made great recommendations. We ordered a number of different small plates, but since the menu changes quite frequently, I'll just share the highlights!

First we ordered an octopus salad. The octopus was sliced very thin and marinated in a sauce that I can only compare to pesto. It was fresh, delicious, and not chewy at all. I'm honestly not always the biggest fan of octopus, but this was one of my favorite dishes.

Next, apologies to my cardiologist father, we ordered the deep-fried pork belly. It came out as a shish kabob - heavily breaded with panko breadcrumbs and served with a tangy sweet sauce to dip. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of breaded and fried items, and I wouldn't order this for myself again. But my friend really enjoyed it.

A moment ago I said I didn't like breaded and fried things. There's an exception - anything served in croquette form. Studying abroad in Spain got me hooked on "croquetas," so now I'll eat any creamy little nugget put in front of me. I was really surprised to see a corn croquette on a Japanese menu, and I had to try it. Crunchy fried outside and creamy corn inside- still not sure how authentic this is, but it was unreal!

To counter all this deep fried goodness, we ordered a trio of different vegetables. None were particularly notable, so I won't waste your time.

What was notable however, were the rice balls. Each rice ball is about the size of a baseball, loosely wrapped in a piece of nori, and stuffed with your choice of fish. I got the salmon rice ball - stuffed with with cooked salmon. Because it was wrapped in sticky rice, it was difficult to determine how the salmon was prepared, but it was delicious and very filling. My friend got the salted cod roe rice ball and found the rice balanced the saltiness of the roe. I liked this item because it was reminiscent of sushi, but I've never seen anything like it before!

Lastly we ordered a sashimi salmon plate, that although delicious, was probably a bit overboard after all the food we had already eaten! Neither one of us could bring ourselves to finish the last few pieces. Next time I'll try to control my eager appetite and pick a few select dishes. Needless to say, it won't be long before I'm back at the counter trying to snag free bites from the sushi chef!

Thanks so much for joining us on our culinary adventure through the District. As of today, fooDCrave is officially on vacation until January 3rd! We can't wait to share more recipes, dinner parties, and restaurant reviews with you in 2013!

Happy Holidays!