Tonari Wafu Japanese Italian 707 6th St. NW DC

[Ericandblueboy]

https://www.tonaridc.com/

Tonari is the Japanese-Italian restaurant by the Daikaya group.  I've been wanting to go there for quite some time but it was closed during Covid.  We finally made it last night.  They have substantial outdoor seating as they built a wooden shed on the street.

From the specials, we ordered (i)  GRILLED BROCCOLINI infused with soy, basil, and mushroom served with agrodolce, kezuri bonito flakes, tama arare, chili threads, oregano, (ii) pork & beef MEATBALLS, tomato sauce, bread crumbs, Parmesan, and (iii) BRUSSELS CHIPS.  The brussels chips were $3 and were on the happy hour menu.  These were good but small.  Order more than 1 if you really like crispy brussels sprouts leaves.  The broccolini was tasty.  The meatballs were nothing special.

We also ordered 2 pizzas - (i) MUSHROOM shiitake, brick cheese, Parmesan, dandelion greens, yuzu kosho, mushroom besciamella, maple syrup, ichimi, and (II) GYUNIKO shaved prime rib marinated in soy & mirin, brick cheese, provolone, Cheese Whiz, red onion, ichimi.  These are Detroit style pizzas, with focaccia-like crust and toppings pushed to the edge of the pan.  Both taste pretty traditional - I didn't really taste much sweetness in the mushroom pizza notwithstanding the maple syrup.  I did prefer the prime rib over the mushroom but would order both again.

Finally we ordered 3 pastas - (i) MENTAIKO tagliolini, cod roe, butter, chili flakes, tsuyu, lemon, shiso, shredded nori, (ii) MISO ALLE VONGOLE bigoli, clams, miso, garlic, butter, oregano, lemon, olive oil, and (iii) UNI UNI UNICO tagliatelle, sea urchin beurre noisette, tsuyu, creme fraîche, butter, lemon, aonori, bread crumbs.  The Mentaiko was a bit sweet but I enjoyed the flavor the shredded nori added to an otherwise rather bland dish.  The clam pasta was the best, great texture to the pasta but don't bother eating the chunks of tough clam (could've been surf clam).  The uni pasta didn't taste sea urchiny enough.  Our dish didn't look bright yellow like the picture on the website.  

The service was a bit lackluster.  They forgot our wine, brought out wrong food and served things as they were ready.  We expected the food to come out in the order set forth above but that didn't quite happen.  Service charge is included (stated on the menu).  On the other hand, it wasn't particularly expensive and the food was enough for 4 people.