Asahi, Courthouse Plaza at Courthouse Metro

[DanCole42]

Asahi in Courthouse. Not to be confused with the giant Asahi in Ballston. This one's tucked away next to Sawatdee in Courthouse Plaza (the same area as the AMC).

It's always low key and never crowded, but the staff is amazingly friendly and all Japanese. The sushi is fresh and delicious. I've even been told that I had to change my order because the chef decided that the uni he was using was not up to his standards. That's quality control you can count on.

Don't just limit yourself to the cold stuff, though. Their gyoza is perfectly cooked, and if you've never tried tepanyaki before, theirs is a good place to start.

Oh, and my favorite part (though by no means unique) - order enough sushi and they'll bring it to you on a big wooden BOAT! Score!

[starfish]

I've even been told that I had to change my order because the chef decided that the uni he was using was not up to his standards. That's quality control you can count on.

not questioning the truth of this matter, but at some restaurants, this is often code language for someone screwed up the ordering, or the prep, or any number of things.

[DanCole42]

not questioning the truth of this matter, but at some restaurants, this is often code language for someone screwed up the ordering, or the prep, or any number of things.

I doubt it - it's not "that" kind of place. If it were prep, I think the waitress would have known. If it were ordering, I doubt she would have come back to me a mere five minutes after I placed the order to see if I'd like something else. I'm certainly not in the biz, so you'd know better than I, but that would be highly unlikely. This is a decent place where they sincerely care about the quality of their food. That sincere caring is what makes these sorts of mom and pop places successful in the first place.

[Nadya]

I work across the street from that place, and wanted to make a break from the Sawatdee routine more times than I care to enumerate. But every time I got put off by the emptiness of the place, and by the service that's equal parts glacial and clueless.

[DanCole42]

I work across the street from that place, and wanted to make a break from the Sawatdee routine more times than I care to enumerate. But every time I got put off by the emptiness of the place, and by the service that's equal parts glacial and clueless.

There can definetely be a language barrier. But I'm willing to forgive that in exchange for the authentic food it implies. As for the emptiness, one of my favorite DC restaurants, Palette, is frequently empty. I like that - it means no reservations or waiting required.

Imagine if Ray's were you own private dining room?

[Nadya]

I'm sorry, I just don't buy that. Dealing with a waitron who can't communicate with you effectively is frustrating. If that contributes to the impression of authenticity, well, let me try a highly scientific field test tonight. I will trill at people at the door in a particularly heavy accent and frown at every question from under a jauntily perched beret. On the way back, I'll ask them if that made their veal blanquette taste more intense. Results will be shared tomorrow morning.

Secondly, you may enjoy no waiting time and no hassle with reservations. But from the restaurant side, being empty is just bad. Bad. Bad. There is no second opinion. Empty is bad. Do you think the chef keeps ringing in fresh orders of two pieces of mackerel every morning, on an off chance that a sole customer will show up? Do you think good waiters will stay at a place that doesn't fetch enough money to keep them well-fed and well-lubricated and the car away from repossessing? Good cooks? Hell, even good cleaners? Empty means no money. No money means no credit with suppliers, no competent staff, no good cooks.

Ask anyone who works at a restaurant how much they like empty. It sucks. And if it continues, everyone with half a brain cell hauls bottom. Which leaves, as you may guess, people with quarter brain cell and less. Which may explain my original point about the glacial+clueless characters.

[mdt]

Not to mention if it is always empty, how fresh can the fish be?

[DanCole42]

Not to mention if it is always empty, how fresh can the fish be?

Okay, it's not THAT empty. It's just never booming.

Forget taking my word for it... try it out for yourself

[Jason]

It's always low key and never crowded, but the staff is amazingly friendly and all Japanese.

I'm pretty sure that it's owned & operated by Koreans, at least that's what I was told when I was taken there by a Korean friend who was friendly with the staff. I enjoyed my lunch there, but my friend got an upset stomach that afternoon & questioned the freshness of the sashimi.

[joncephine]

Again, hate commenting after one visit but we hated this place. My friend lives right behind courthouse and since we eat at sawatdee about once a week we decided to try this place. We ordered a pile of sushi plus the pork katsu...i'm grasping for names here. The little cream cheese dumplings they gave us were weird, but not a big deal. The cutlet didn't have enough sauce and the wooden boat was the best part of the sushi. And when we say this place is empty we mean...empty. I haven't seen more than a table or two in here at a time, and when we went, we were the ONLY patrons in the restaurant at 8:30 on a weekday. The bill was comprable to what we would pay at an expensive sushi restaurant but the food did not live up to the bill.

[DonRocks]

I'm generally amazed by how many typos are on menus around town, particularly in ethnic restaurants trying to convert to English. Why can't restaurants pay an English major $10 to spend ten minutes proofreading their menu for spelling mistakes? I just don't get it.

The other night at Friends Kabob, they had major typos on the huge wall menu above the counter. No big deal, but you'd think if they were going to the expense of a large, elaborate display menu with pictures, they could at least spell things correctly.

Often, the mistakes are just plain funny. On the cover of Et Voila's menu, there's a plug for their catering operation, A Modo Mio. In one short sentence, they throw in that they'll happily cater your "weeding." So! Next time you're having a tough day working in the garden and don't feel like cooking, A Modo Mio will come to your backyard and feed you.

But it's beyond me how a Japanese restaurant can misspell an easy Japanese word such as Yakimono.

I had a request for sushi last night, and as desperately as I wanted to go to Sushi-Ko, where I knew very well I'd get good rolls, I went exploring as usual, and ended up at Asahi in Courthouse Plaza.

We sat at the sushi bar, and were actually brought an amuse-bouche! Two little deep-fried wontons that may, or may not, have been stuffed with microscopic shards of something; I really couldn't tell, but it was a nice gesture.

I'm happy to say that the sushi rice here is a pretty good version, and that for the nigiri, the fish-to-rice ratio is reasonable. Unfortunately, that's about the best thing I can say for the food - Tamago ($3.50 for 2 pieces) and Sake ($4.50) were both mediocre, but the Siro [sic?] Maguro ($4.50) was better, retaining more watery moisture which Maguro often does. Best of all was a Chef's Special Maki - the Caterpillar Roll (expensive at $9.50), with eel, avocado, and egg. Taken as a whole, it was a mixed bag: good rice, decent presentation, mediocre fish, and fairly high prices.

Under the Yakimano [sic] section, I ordered a Kabayaki (obscenely priced at $18.95), a hot plate of about eight pieces of broiled eel, marinated in a soy-based eel sauce, flanking a small portion of stir-fry vegetables. Served with miso soup, a small salad, and a miniscule bowl of steamed rice, it was too-much-money for not-enough-food, and I have to recommend bypassing this dish, which you could find at any number of restaurants in town for less money.

As the check arrived, we got another nice surprise, compliments of the sushi chef - a wooden plate holding two little mounds of a mayonnaise-based shredded cucumber and kani kama salad. This was an inexpensive, thoughtful gesture that left us with an overall favorable impression of the evening, despite the food being overpriced and unmemorable. In general, service was friendly and thoughtful during this short meal.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[cibo matto]

I'm generally amazed by how many typos are on menus around town, particularly in ethnic restaurants trying to convert to English. Why can't restaurants pay an English major $10 to spend ten minutes proofreading their menu for spelling mistakes? I just don't get it.

this one always slays me, but do you blame the establishment or the sign-maker (or both)? it's on the 1900 block of L street (north side): Authentic Asian Cousin [sic]

[SeanMike]

If you haven't been there, it's right next to Sawatdee Thai, and no, it's not the same place that used to be at Ballston mall.

It was recommended to me by a friend of mine when I lamented a lack of good sushi. It's not that I was looking for spectacular sushi - I just wanted a solid place I could go, have a good meal, and not spend a gazillion dollars or end up with slimy crap like I did the last time I went to Whole Foods.

I get the same thing every time when I go so far. A 22 ounce Kirin Ichiban, Sapporo, or Asahi is $7.25. The sushi dinner special is $19.99 and comes with maki rolls and 10 pieces of nigiri sushi, plus salad and miso soup - and usually a little kind of fried wonton piece as an appetizer. For me, it's the perfect amount of food.

One other cool thing is every piece of sushi is different - not like in some places I've gone where you'd get two tuna, two salmon, etc. Every time has tuna, salmon, shrimp, unagi (yay!), a sort of roll with two types of roe on top, and a variety of other fishies I can't recognize without a chart but all of which are tasty and perfectly-sized - plus six pieces of roll, which seem to be crab, avocado, with some roe on the outside (a California roll, I guess).

No, it's not exciting - but it's solid, it's good priced in my opinion, and I've never walked out less than sated or less than happy. So far, for me, they're batting a thousand.