One of the last places I would like to take Samuel these days is a sushi bar. SO I waited until Daddy left town for a couple of days and sported him off last night to dinner at KAZ SUSHI BISTRO downtown in DC (www.kazsushi.com). He was thrilled to have the option to sit at the sushi bar where there are only 6 stools, although after a minute he seemed totally uninterested in what Chef Kaz and his two sushi chefs were cooking up behind the counter. He was able to identify a couple of the raw fishes which impressed me a little.
As soon as he got his 7-up, we had the regular discussion about dining options; all he wanted was pizza, which was not going to happen. I gave him a fish or meat option with or without rice and he was adamant. I perused the menu and started to think about my options, and Samuel finally agreed to the SALMON TEMPURA ROLL appetizer which comes with a superb Ginger Sesame Sauce (I knew he would have none of that!). I ordered a flight of sake (Masumi-Junmai Ginjo, Yatsushika-Junmai and my favorite the Onikoroshi-Junmai Daiginjo---oh so smooth and yummy!), and Samuel's food arrived.
He tasted the crunchy nori-style "skin" wrap and loved it, but would not eat the salmon. I suggested he taste the salmon WITH the wrap and he adored it and begged to use the chopsticks. Our server brought over one of those kid-friendly chopstick thingys and he was in heaven and gobbled up all five pieces of the roll. He almost debated having a second order, but settled for three small scoops of MANGO Sorbet.
I, on the other hand, just kept on eating. I started with the WALU CEVICHE which had superbly tender pieces of the white fish with jicama and soy beans in a spicy citrus sauce. Second came one of Chef Kaz's signature dishes, which even Sam liked LOOKING at--The BIRD NEST, made up of thinly sliced baby calamari on a bed of uni with Truffle Soy Sauce. Atop this sat green nest like shavings (I forgot to ask what they were) and in that a small Quail Egg...it is a beautiful delicate sight, at least until you mix it all up and get to eat this delectable treat.
Next came my favorite, a half order of TEMPURA JUMBO SOFT SHELL CRAB with ponzu dipping sauce. It was the biggest soft shell I had had in ages and tastiest as well.
At this point my sake glasses were empty so I ordered a small pitcher of CHIYO-MUSUBI (Tokobetsu Junmai-Tottori) which I had never had before and fell in love with. It is described as elegant and sharp, but I really felt little sharpness and more wonderful taste filling my mouth for quite a while.
I tried two more small dishes that were both new to me: JAPANESE TAI SNAPPER with Yuzu Zest which is a superb sushi option if you are looking for something new and then the HOUSE SMOKED DANSABA (Norwegian Fatty Mackerel) with HERB MISO which looks a lot like crab sushi since it is almost shredded, but this is one dish you will want to enjoy the smoked fish and the dapple of sauce on top and skip the soy-wasabi mix!
We headed home and I could not help complimenting Samuel all night on this great dining venture, of which I can only hope there will be more in the near future.
He even wants to go back to KAZ, as we all do!
