Uni, A Sushi Place - Chef James Tan's Japanese Small Plates on P Street in West Dupont - Closed

[New Foodie]

First of all, apologies if there is already a thread on this. The search function wouldn't let me search for something with only three letters, and I looked through all the threads and didn't see anything.

So has anyone ever been to Uni? What did you think? I'd never heard of it but am going with a couple of co-workers for dinner on Friday night.

The Wash Post entry on it is interesting.

"James Tan's neo-wave take on Japanese otsumami (small dishes) is a mix of tradition, innovation, trend and theater. He manages to keep all these plates in the air, although the juggling act gets a little uneven every once in a while."

[cjsadler]

Was there for lunch last week... I'm not sure there's anything to really recommend the place, but it's not bad either. A few interesting items were the pickled vegetables small plate (refreshing and good, with some interesting veggies in it) and the tea smoked tuna sushi (unpleasantly smokey). The discounted 'happy hour' sushi (a special that runs during lunch too) should be avoided-- they really chintz you on the fish.

[New Foodie]

Any recommendations for folks that aren't big sushi lovers?

[shogun]

The discounted 'happy hour' sushi (a special that runs during lunch too) should be avoided-- they really chintz you on the fish.

That, and generally 'discount sushi' is something to be feared and avoided. There are good sushi happy hours out there (Panda Cafe pleasently surprised me the night I went), but approach with a skeptical heart!

[JLK]

Skip it. I ordered some of Uni's landlubber specials and found everything to be really unpleasant. A chicken appetizer that was raw in the middle, etc. I would avoid Uni.

Any recommendations for folks that aren't big sushi lovers?

[tastedc]

Uni Sushi Class Photos from Sept 17th, 2005

I hold Sushi classes there all the time - here are photos of James Tan who is the owner/chef, making various sushi presentations. The menu of items is below. Most interesting tidbit I learned from him is that fresher fish is NOT necessarily better for sushi, that fish, like beef, gets better with a little aging, especially tuna. On the other hand, he mentioned that supermarket fish can be rather old, so buyer beware at stores. But if you want really fresh fish, Black Salt's market on MacArthur - very nice!

Basic California Roll Preparation:

-Extreme Picante Escolar Roll

-Classic California Roll

-Spicy Tuna Roll

-Spicy, Crunchy Crawfish Roll

Assortment of Sushi Including:

Tuna (Maguro)

Salmon (Sake)

Tilapia (Izumidai)

Shrimp (Ebu)

[shogun]

Most interesting tidbit I learned from him is that fresher fish is NOT necessarily better for sushi, that fish, like beef, gets better with a little aging, especially tuna. 

O RLY...?

Sushi class would be cool, though. Have any coming up?

[tastedc]

That's a direct quote from James Tan - he explained it well - if you caught a fish, and ate the flesh right-away, it would have absolutely no flavor - it would be too bland. Also, the history of sushi comes from fishermen trying to preserve their catch in salt and vinegared rice. I read somewhere that there's a place in Japan where they store fish in barrels, add salt and vinegared rice and keep it like this for months until it gets an "interesting" aroma, and then they serve it - it's almost like cheese some have said!!!

Yep, next class is Saturday, May 13th at Uni, buy tickets at www.tastedc.com - I'll probably get hell for the plug, but what can I do??

[Antonio Burrell]

i've eaten at Uni several times, each time swearing not to return and having only the memory of Sushi Ko and Kaz to console me, but yet I return....I can only say that the sushi is okay and I've never been tempted to eat anything else. It's definately not first rate but it IS convenient and it's not bad...it's just okay and if that's something you can live with....There are definetly better sushi restaurants around, just none on that part of P St. If you go stick with the sushi.

[mtpleasanteater]

My girlfriend and I get delivery from here when we are craving sushi and lazy, probably about once every two months or so. Its always just OK & we swear not to waste our money again, but it just seems to happen every so often. I usually get the nigiri niners & the extreme picante escolar roll. There is nothing really wrong with it, its expensive for what it is.

[DonRocks]

I cherish the ever-dwindling evenings like the one I had tonight - an evening when I was completely free, and had a fully staffed, but completely dead, city full of restaurants at my disposal. This reminds me of a random Tuesday evening five years ago, before traffic got so bad, and before I got so busy doing so many other things.

After dinner at Olives, I stopped on the way home for a quick dessert at Uni. An Extreme Picante Roll ($6.95) is made with escolar, jalapeno, cilantro, and crispy garlic chips. And the real reason I ordered it was the last sentence of the description: "Chili powder on rice and burn with fire." I assumed they'd sprinkle chili powder on the finished roll for spicing, but what they did was squirt a little Sriracha on the plate (which also had a drizzle of cilantro oil), and blowtorch the roll, toasting the sesame seeds on the outside.

This was a good roll, IF you can accept that the sushi rice had the texture of Thai sticky rice (which I like, and works decently within this spicy, busy genre of maki; I'm certain I wouldn't want it with o-toro).

A quiet moment of personal triumph came when I ordered a single-serving of Namahage ($8.50), a sake with which I was unfamiliar, served in a white-wine glass in about a four-ounce pour. The nose reminded me of Cocoa Puffs, and then I began to remember the bouquet in a boxed sake I tasted for a Washingtonian article I wrote a few years ago - the Kuromatsu-Hakushika Junmai Pack. Sure enough, when the check arrived, it said "Namahage (box)." It was like solving the Sunday puzzle in the New York Times, or finishing a particularly challenging Sudoku: It doesn't amount to anything, but it sure feels good at the moment.

But I came home and did a little research, and now realize that I was wrong: The "box" on the check referred to the single-sized serving, which is supposed to come in a little wooden box like it does at Makoto. This sake isn't boxed at all, and my moment of triumph has just fizzled and gone away like a rice puff.

Cheers,

Rocks."

[DonRocks]

With the closing of Cafe Japonè, it makes sense to close the loop and add that Uni has also closed sometime within the past year (does anyone know when?)

I cherish the ever-dwindling evenings like the one I had tonight - an evening when I was completely free, and had a fully staffed, but completely dead, city full of restaurants at my disposal. This reminds me of a random Tuesday evening five years ago, before traffic got so bad, and before I got so busy doing so many other things.

In April, I had an ever-dwindling day where I just pointed my car in a random direction, and ended up going where I could find parking, only to go exploring.

I hate doing this. So lame.

About ten years ago, my friend Sasha talked about an "ever-dwindling opportunity to taste Pomerols from the late 40s," I picked up on the phrase, and it stuck; now, I can never use it again.

[DonRocks]

With the closing of Cafe Japonè, it makes sense to close the loop and add that Uni has also closed sometime within the past year (does anyone know when?)

Uni is now Asia 54 (no thread yet).