Dave and I booked a sushi tasting dinner tonight at Sushi Taro restaurant located at DuPont Circle. I really like DuPont Circle. This is one of the best DC areas. It was crowded at night the day before Thanksgiving, even though weather wasn’t nice at all. It was windy and rainy. At some point of the day it was even snowing a little, but the snow melted as soon as it touched the ground. Despite the rain, it was nice walking the historic streets of DuPont Circle full of the bright leaves on the ground and a few left on the trees.
From the outside, the restaurant does not look like much. It is situated directly above a CVS drugstore, which could be a good land mark to tell people who are meeting you at the restaurant. However, inside the dining room it is warm and inviting. It’s an easy walk from the DuPont Street Metro station and there is a parking garage around the corner on P street (between 16th and 17th, cash only). Sushi Taro will validate your parking, so you can get the parking fee refunded when you pick up your car. Sushi Taro restaurant is a calm, sophisticated and welcoming place.
Sushi Taro serves upscale Japanese food with a varied menu featuring the freshest fish. Dave and I were here for the Sushi Tasting Dinner for 2, which consists of 10 courses (see a menu below). Sushi Tasting Dinner combines sushi with a variety of traditional Kaiseki dishes, creating a unique approach to the enjoyment of these different aspects of Japanese cuisine. Kaiseki refers to a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. Modern kaiseki, like the kind offered at Sushi Taro, combines the elegance of Japan’s ancient courtly cuisine with the simplicity of Buddhist temple fare. The goal of Kaiseki is to highlight the natural taste of ingredients at the peak of freshness and flavor.
Guests can have a private conversation in one of the comfortable booths or have a table along the isle. Windows all along the dining room provide a nice view of the vibrant DuPont Circle section of the city.
We had a table overlooking 17th Street.
We started our dinner with Zensai – small, attractive appetizers served in small fancy dishes before a traditional meal.
First Course – Zensai. Persimmon with dashi vinegar.
Second Course – Sashimi. Fine cuts of sashimi assortment. Sashimi – sliced raw fish served without rice. Sashimi should be eaten with chopsticks and can be eaten with wasabi mixed into the soy sauce.
All sushi courses at the dinner refer to Nigiri sushi. Nigiri – sliced raw fish with a molded ball of rice underneath. Most sushi chefs add a dab of wasabi in between the rice and fish, so no additional sauce is needed. Only the fish side of the nigiri should be dipped into soy sauce and it can be eaten with your hands. We were given the brushes for soy sauce and adviced to brush with the sauce only fish part of nagiri sushi.
I found some recommendations how to eat sushi. Not all sushi has to be eaten with chopsticks. It’s actually recommended to eat maki and nigiri with your fingers. But, it’s proper to always use chopsticks for sashimi. Maki – sushi rolled up using a bamboo mat. It’s normally wrapped in nori (dried seaweed), but it is sometimes served in soy paper or thinly sliced cucumber. The maki rolls are cut into six or eight pieces. This particular type of sushi is acceptable to eat with your fingers or chopsticks and can be dipped in soy sauce or topped with wasabi.
Whenever you’re eating sushi, a plate with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce is always presented. The ginger is used as a palate cleanser between bites while the wasabi can be used for additional spice on maki and sashimi (nigiri typically comes seasoned with it already). Wasabi should only be mixed into soy sauce when eating sashimi. Plain soy sauce can be used with nigiri, but only the fish part of the sushi should be dipped. These are just the traditional sushi eating techniques. Feel free to eat and season your sushi any way you please.
Third Course – 1st sushi (3 pcs).
Forth Course – 2nd sushi (3 pcs).
Fifth Course – Soup. “Oboro” egg soup with blue crab.
Sixth Course – Fry. Fish & chips and renkon dog.
Seventh Course – 3rd sushi (3 pcs).
Eighth Course – 4th sushi (3 pcs). We were so full by then, so we took courses 8 & 9 to go.
Ninth Course – Final sushi. At the end we were asked to select our final sushi course from the nagiri menu. Only the traditional kaiseki menu allows you to choose a roll, like the Best Thing on the Menu: spicy spider roll. We did have a dessert at the restaurant.
Tenth Course – Dessert. Green tea cream brulee with traditional hot green tea. Absolutely delicious!
