Izziban Sushi

Vacations mean good eating and happy times, hurray!  I took a trip to Orlando, FL to attend the Star Wars Celebration convention.  I had some free time on Friday night, because all my friends were attending a party that there were no more tickets too.  I looked at my Hilton Honors dining options, nothing like earning extra points.  There was this place called Izziban in Orlando, Fl.  It was a $20 cab ride from the convention center.

                Meh.

                This place had a weird theme going on.  Not sure what sort of decoration theme they were going for.  The music was clubby and kind of annoying.  They had a large assortment of sushi options.  I really just wanted some nigiri and maybe a roll or two.  I opted for the sushi deluxe, 9 pieces of nigiri, spicy tuna roll, and the yummy yummy roll. 

                The yummy yummy roll was delicious.  Shrimp tempura with eel sauce and masago.  Really good a good start to the evening.  The sushi took a bit while longer to come out.  It was okay.  Really the quality wasn’t stellar, it wasn’t bad either.  It was honestly average sushi.  The sushi was a little warm too, which was a little odd.  Spicy tuna roll was fine, but it had sirachi mixed with the tuna, and I’m not a huge fan of sirachi spicy rolls. 

                Sushi was expensive and for average sushi not worth it.  Service was good. 

Grade: C-

Sushi Naru, Alexandria, VA

Sushi Naru is a charming little place near the United States Patent & Trademark Office near Olde Town Alexandria. I was there opening day, it was mass chaos and during lunch they only offer a buffet of sushi and warm foods. I never judge a place by its opening day, but I have been back for their buffet. But I didn't want to review this place on the buffet foods. I actually heard they were so busy on their opening day, that they had to close for two days, because they ran out of fish. whew. I'd say that was a good start for them.

One of my best friends who lives in Maryland and I wanted to eat sushi and go watch Snow White and the Huntsman. Alexandria was a good middle point for us and there are plenty of sushi places I haven't reviewed yet. So Sushi Naru it was!

The staff here has always been fantastic even in the chaotic opening. And they kind of operate on a whoever is near by takes care you. So we pretty much had two servers that looked after us that evening. While waiting for my friend I ordered their ice green tea which was really tasty and their miso soup. I also went ahead and put an order for an appetizer.

I ordered Memory of Geisha, salmon nigiri, salmon roll, and jalapeno salmon takaki nigiri. My friend ordered a spicy salmon hand roll, saba (mackerel), and the Golden Dragon Roll. While we waited for our sushi our appetizer came in. I have been craving calamari for a bit. And the calamari itself was good, but it wasn't awe inspiring. The sauce was a spicy mayo type which was very good.

Finally it was showtime. No matter how many times I eat sushi I love that feeling you get when the server puts the plates down in front and you get to see all the yumminess. Especially new places, you are always curious about how the chef presents his work. Sushi Naru definitely didn't disappoint.

oooo aaaaaa!!! The fish quality here was great. No complaints there! Actually I have no complaints anywhere about this place. The jalapeno salmon takaki, is I have to say my newest addiction. Oh my goodness was it damn tasty. I think me being in a takaki mood probably helped. But it was too good! Salmon roll was good. They definitely don't skimp out on the meat in the roll. So you're definitely getting your moneys worth.

My friend got the Golden Dragon Roll. I don't like unagi. It's a very long story, maybe I'll share it sometime. But one of the pieces of eel fell off the roll and I ate that piece. It was basically a shrimp tempura inside, and unagi on top with tempura bites. If I was a fan of unagi like my friend was I'd probably love it. Another thing I don't do is saba. I hate saba. I think I've already written about that.

Now the last roll we shared was Memory of Geisha. This also makes the top 10 of awesome rolls I've tried. It's spicy salmon, avacado, cucumber with tobiko and tuna on top. Sounds basic, but it has this sauce. I've tasted this sauce before, but I can't place it right now. It's sweetish. That sauce is what made this roll. It was a nice mix of sweet and spicy.

I have to say I think this place will definitely be in the future rotation. The buffet is nice, but this place really brings it together in the evenings. The cost and value is great. I guess being a little sticker shy from Kushi when we got our bill it was $43.

Side Note: They have the coolest bathroom ever. Their faucet has this bamboo looking thing, I want that in my house.

Grade: A+

Kushi, Washington, DC

My friend and I were heading to the DC United game about two weeks ago. Soccer is not my thing, but I figure I be a good friend and be social. I bought this Livingsocial deal back in the fall. GPS told us it was only a few miles away, so off we went.

I think honestly it was 4 miles away from RFK and it took us 35minutes. And don't park in the apartment area, my car got a will be towed sticker on it. Luckily we got back to my car in time.

Kushi is one of these hip trendy sushi places. I'm not a hipster, and while it was a good place, I didn't like the atmosphere. I honestly like those smaller sushi places that make you feel more at home.

Kushi is also a Izakaya restaurant. So if you have a friend who isn't fond of raw fish, they have a large menu of other goodies. Some of these menu choices look fantastic. We sat at the bar where they cooked and it was neat seeing one of the chefs pull out this fish put it on a skewer, season it and place it on the grill.

Time for the food!

I ordered a miso soup and a small salad. I have to say the carrot dressing was flipping amazing. I wish they sold it, I would have bought some. The miso was way too salty. Working in a steakhouse I know the miso was leftover from lunch and not fresh. Miso soup that dark has been sitting on the burner for a bit.

My friend ordered some shichimi blue shrimp. They weren't very flavorful and I'm not fan of peeling my own shrimp. I don't want to work for my food!

We ordered shrimp katsu with spicy mayo, salmon roll, salmon, California roll with jumbo lump crap, and seared fatty salmon belly nigiri.

Everything tasted fresh. The food quality was good, considering the price it should be. And for a DC restaurant the prices were fair. But this is definitely not a place you go to on a budget.

But honestly this place isn't memorable about the sushi. I really liked the grill and if I come back I definitely want to eat some of those skewers they were making.

Grade: B-

Osaka: Annandale, VA

I first went to Osaka in Annandale several months ago. I picked it because it was a Hilton Diner’s dinner member and they were listed. So it’s off of Little River Turnpike. It’s a small building with a charming little feeling. I’ve never been there a peek time, but the more I go the more I like it.

In my first visit with my friend we ordered a variety of rolls. Reggie, Bay, spicy tuna roll which was fried, salmon, etc. They have a minimum purchase order to get soup and salad. Their salad dressing is on the vingerette side, which I’m not fond of, but it’s still tasty. The quality of the fish is superb. The salmon nigiri melted in my mouth.

I was very intrigued by the Reggie roll it was shrimp tempura inside, then salmon and avocado on the top, drizzled with eel sauce, and a spicy mayo sauce. This roll was awesome. Their spicy rolls were also very good. I really liked the spicy tuna roll that was deep fried. This roll is a little heavy so if you don’t like all the sauce and crunchy bites you may want to stay away. But I have to say you’d regret it.

The bay roll is a California roll with a mayo type sauce baked on top. It’s not very good. I think I was expecting more of a roll like Sakura’s Lasanga roll with kani on top. So it was just like mayo on a Cali roll.

Osaka definitely marked itself as a place that I would love to come back too. My friend also agreed. And I have. I’ve made it a little tradition to go to my appointment which is every two weeks in Annandale and go to Osakas.

Osaka in Annandale is no relation to the Osaka in Springfield. I actually went to the Springfield location recently and asked them that. I think there was some sort of relationship previously because they had a lot of the same rolls and such.
Grade : A

I'll post pics soon!

Otanis Fredericksburg, VA

My friend was craving hibachi food. So we went to Otani’s Steakhouse in Fredericksburg, Va. When I use to work at Sakura in Fredericksburg, Otani was our biggest competition. They would host sushi happy hours and so our Wed nights would always be light. But I always felt that our hibachi food was far superior to theirs. After Friday night my opinion still stands. Their hibachi wasn’t all that great.

But you’re here for sushi reviews. They had a huge sushi menu with a great assortment of sushi rolls. They had a lot of special rolls that I was intrigued to test, but I wanted to eat a little hibachi so I decided on sake, a tuna roll, and a roll called the Superlady Roll.

The sushi is fresh and tasty. The tuna roll was a little big. I know an odd complaint. But it was kind of hard to eat. I’m use to the seaweed being on the outside and tuna inside. Superlady Roll had shrimp tempura inside and salmon on the outside and special sauce drizzled on top. That roll was absolutely awesome.
I’d like to come back to Otanis. They had a lot of interesting rolls that I would definitely want to go back to try.