Peanut butter and jelly.  Macaroni and cheese.  Dark chocolate and port.  Anything and bacon.

There are some classic food combinations that just work.  Sushi and tater tots have not previously been on that list in my mind, but I'm ready to be convinced.  And now Sticky Rice is ready to do the convincing.  As reported by THE source for all things on and around H Street, FrozenTropics, the Washington outpost of the popular Richmond institution is just about ready to open its door.  Though they are waiting on a few final details, they fully anticipate being open for business next week.

I had the chance to talk with the guys who will be running the show up here in Washington, and they took the time to tell me a bit about what D.C. foodies can expect at this eclectic eatery.  For those who are unfamiliar with Sticky Rice, the concept can best be described as "Asian-fusion," but that's only the tip of the iceberg.  The menu at Sticky Rice includes a wide range of sashimi and sushi (nigiri and rolls) as well as several noodle-based dishes that can be ordered with beef, chicken, seafood or tofu.  But they are not limited to the typical fusion offerings - a half-dozen sandwiches are available, as are appetizers including the hyped "bucket of tots" that is ready and waiting for late-night crowds coming from the Rock n' Roll Hotel, the Red & the Black and even the Atlas Theater.

Check out their website for a better idea of their menu, and while you're there be sure to notice just how much of it is Vegetarian and Vegan-friendly.  Quite a few of their menu items are inherently suited to Vegetarian diets (and noted as such on the menu), and even more of them can be easily modified to accommodate.

Unlike quite a few Asian-focused restaurants, Sticky Rice intends to offer a wide selection of suitable beers and wines, in addition to a hand-selected range of sakes that reflects the various styles that are available.  And because they recognize that many people aren't as familiar with sake as they are with other beverages, they plan to offer bi-monthly or monthly sake dinners that will feature different styles of sake paired with complementary dishes.

And just to whet your appetites a little bit further, here are some of the other things we can expect when Sticky Rice opens next week: 

• NO IMITATION CRABMEAT - Though this is almost an unheard of practice among sushi purveyors in Washington, Sticky Rice will use 100% genuine crab in all of its sushi.  Although this results in a $5 California Roll, it definitely sets them apart from the competition.
• Weekly specials will cover all courses - In other words, look for a sushi special, an appetizer special, an entree special, a sandwich special, etc. each week.
• A Late Night 'Fry' Menu - Although the full menu will not be available, Sticky Rice will remain open until 2 AM Sunday through Thursday and 3 AM Friday and Saturday.   Once the main kitchen closes, a fry menu will feature tater tots, sticky balls, garden balls and other fried goodness.
• Experienced chefs from the start - Four of the chefs from the Richmond Sticky Rice will be coming up to Washington for two months to make sure that the new kitchen delivers the way the original does.
• Nightly events including "Sushi Heaven" on Mondays (half-priced sushi from 10:30 to 12:30 PM), Karaoke on Tuesday, Blingo (speed bingo) on Thursdays and trivia nights on Sundays.

Sticky Rice has seating capacity for roughly 100 people on two levels and an outdoor seating area on the second floor.  They will open from 5 PM every night, though the kitchen hours will vary from night to night.

Sticky Rice - Opening next week
1224 H Street, NE
Map
(202) 397-ROLL (397-7655)
www.stickyricedc.com

Lakeside Asia Cafe is hidden away in a little shopping center in Reston. Little did I know that this little Asian gem was minutes from my office. I'd driven by it many times, even dined at the same shopping center for ages now and never paid the little Asian cafe much attention. It's a small place, with a tiny, four-seat bar and probably ten to 15 tables max, but the food has big spicy flavors that I always enjoy. I've tried many of the dishes from the various sections on the menu, Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Japanese, and I've never had a bad meal.

For starters, definitely try the spicy beef jerky. No one at the table would share it with me, since it doesn't look like the most appetizing appetizer in the world, but that just meant there was more for me. It's got incredible flavor! Although, not horribly spicy, I'm sure they'd kick it up a bit if you ask them to.

My favorite entree is any Kung Pao dish. I usually go with chicken, which is always tender and not fatty or chewy. In a similar manor to the kung pao that I get at Joe's Noodle House, it's got some kick to it and plenty of garlic. Chicken Rangoon is another star on the menu with crispy snow peas and tender dark chicken meat that's had all the fat removed from it. You also can't go wrong with the curries from the Thai section of the menu. Yellow, red, green, they're all good. The creamy yellow curry is definitely my favorite, although I wish it had a little more kick to it.

The prices on the menu are very reasonable. Whole Peking duck is the most expensive thing on the menu at $36, but everything else is between $7 and $15. Lunch portions are available for everything, but are still fairly large making it an ideal lunch stop. Definitely give it a try for lunch if you're in the area!

Lakeside Asia Cafe
11130J South Lakes Drive
Reston, VA 20191
Map
(866) 743-6137
http://www.lakesideasiacafe.com

Last night, Amy and I had our first dinner out with our son Noah. We were pretty nervous about what would happen. Would Noah fuss the entire time and make everybody's dinner miserable or would he be the adorable little angel that he usually is? Only time would tell.

We decided we wanted to go somewhere really casual. It'd been about nine months since Amy had eaten sushi, and she really had a craving for it -- I didn't blame her. If I'd gone that long without sushi, I'd probably go out of my mind.

I'd read about Kotobuki -- how its prices were extremely cheap and its sushi is optimally fresh. I figured this was a good time to try it. Getting to Kotobuki isn't the easiest task in the world. If you can find a direct route from Cleveland Park to Palisades, you know DC streets better than I. It took me a lot longer than it should've to get there.

On the way over, I could tell there was a possibility that Noah was going to have a fussy night. Usually a car ride puts him right to sleep, but this time he was fussing and crying on and off. Luckily, the drive was longer than I thought so he was asleep by the time we were there.

There's plenty of parking on the streets around Kotobuki, which is good because the only Metro access is via bus. The closest Metro station is Foggy Bottom.

The restaurant is located in a townhouse. The top level is Kotobuki, the ground floor is the restaurant's office and the bottom floor is Makoto, the excellent Japanese restaurant that DC Foodies are all too familiar with. I'm assuming that both Makoto and Kotobuki are owned by the same people, although I could be wrong.

We walked up to the second floor at about 8:30 PM. There isn't a whole lot of room up there. At the top of the stairs is a short sushi bar with five chairs. Around the room are small two-person tables that are as close to each other as seats on a Metro bus. Luckily, the waitress was able to clear a three-seater table in the corner so we didn't have to put Noah and his car seat on the floor.

There were a total of five people working the restaurant: two sushi chefs and three or four waitresses. I'd say the whole place can hold about 20 people at the most, and there was a full house that night.

The restaurant is decorated fairly makeshift, but with prices as cheap as you get at Kotobuki, who the hell cares. I took a look at the menu and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. I mean, seriously, it's $1 a piece for most of the Nigiri Sushi and prices peak at $1.75 a piece for Toro (fatty tuna). Most rolls are $2.55 or $3 for six pieces. I wondered if I'd been caught in some worm hole and shot back to 1984.

Noah continued to be the little angel that he is. He just sat there quietly. I think The Beatles music playing over the speakers was soothing to him. Plus, I've noticed from our few trips to restaurants for lunch over the last couple weeks that he's at home at a restaurant. He likes the white noise in the background.

Ok, so what was the sushi actually like? Well, we waited a while for our sushi to come -- probably about 25 minutes, so keep in mind that I was famished by the time our food was brought to out table. Kotobuki is certainly not a place to go if you want a quick in-and-out bite to eat. We ordered a couple rolls and about six or so Nigiri: toro, salmon, yellowtail and scallop. Surprisingly enough, I thought the BBQ eel roll was one of the best I'd ever had. The spicy tuna roll was quite spicy -- not hot, but spicy, and they didn't use Tabasco like some places. I saw some red pepper in the tuna which is why I think it was better. Every once in a while though, I'd get a little chewy fat in the fish which I didn't like so much, but I learned to ignore it.

The scallop Nigiri was similar. The scallop tasted very fresh and practically melted in my mouth. I was enjoying it until I got a few crunches in the flesh of the scallop that sent my opinion of the scallop sushi southward. All of the other Nigiri were very fresh and tender though.

One thing worth mentioning is that there are only two beers on the menu: Bud and Sapporo. That's not much of a choice, but Sapporo is as good a beer as any other, especially with sushi. We asked for iced tea and the waitress brought out two cans of Japanese imported green tea. I would have sent it back, thinking it would be like some sweetened Nestea or something. But I was glad I didn't because it actually turned out to be quite tasty.

The bill was very cheap in the end. For four rolls, six Nigiri sushi, two iced teas and three beers, we paid less than $40. That would have run us at least $60 at Sushi Sushi or Spices and at least $80 at Sushi-Ko. Now was it as good as those other places? It was certainly better than the sushi at Sushi Sushi and Spices, although I'd say that Sushi-Ko was better. But twice as good? Probably not.

I'll finish this review with a cute Noah story....About halfway through eating our sushi, Noah started to cry. Amy picked him up and was successful at calming him down. I continued to eat and a little while later Amy handed him over to me so she could eat as well. I liked the BBQ eel roll so much I asked for another and that was where the fun started. Imagine eating sushi (with chopsticks) with one hand and rocking a baby with the other and all the while singing "Love Me Do" softly. I mastered that act quite well I believe. For my next great foodie feat, I'll do the same, but I'll eat a whole lobster at Oceanaire Seafood Room instead.

Kotobuki
4822 MacArthur Blvd., NW
Washington, DC
Map
(202) 625-9080

Hours:
Tue-Sat: noon-3 PM
Tue-Thu: 5-11 PM
Fri-Sat: 5 PM-midnight
Sun: 5-10 pm
Dress Code: Casual
Smoking: Not Allowed
Closest Metro: Foggy Bottom
Parking: Ample street parking
Reservations: Not taken.

Earlier this year, Mandalay moved from College Park to downtown Silver Spring. What was College Park's loss is Silver Spring's gain. At Mandalay, you'll find some of the best Burmese food in this area. That said, I don't know of any other Burmese restaurants in this area besides Mandalay. The closest place I know of is Straits of Malaya in Adams Morgan.

This might surprise you, but before going to Mandalay, I actually did a little research about Burma, its cuisine, and history. If you look on a map, Burma (or what is now Myanmar) is located right between India, China and Thailand. This is an ethnic foodie's dream cuisine. Burma's cuisine is influenced by each country surrounding it - curries from Southern and Eastern India, noodles from China and Thailand (ok, that might be simplifying it a bit). Mandalay is actually a city in Central Burma. Blah, blah, blah. Enough with the geography lesson. Get on with it!

Well, last Saturday night, Amy and I went to try Mandalay's new location in Silver Spring. When we drove up, the area was not quite what I expected. Bonifant St. is partly residential and partly commercial. Mandalay's façade makes it look like it is an everyday Chinese $7 buffet. On the inside, it doesn't look much different except there is no buffet. Of course for foodies, these things don't matter. It's all about the food. Right?

We were sat quickly - there was no wait. The table next too us looked very satisfied with their meal. There were four people sitting there all of them talking about how they wanted to come back and rubbing their stomachs. Amy and I were enthused by the sight. Not that I needed to see that. Looking at Mandalay's menu online, I was very excited to eat there. The list of salads alone made my mouth water, nevermind entrees like WetThar MoteNyinChin Gyaw (Sliced pork sautéed with onion, sour mustard, and fresh cilantro) or KyetThar KyetHinGarThee Gyaw (Chicken sautéed with bitter melon and onion).

It took a little while for someone to come over and acknowledge us, but that was the only service hiccup the whole meal. The servers were all very friendly and attentive. We were handed the menu, but I already knew what I was planning on ordering. I had planned to start with the Let Phet Thoke (green tealeaf salad) and have KyetThar PinSane/NanNanBin Hin (chicken chunks simmered in onion-tomato curry with basil or cilantro) as and entrée. (I'm not sure what's up with the "/" in the name on the menu. Does the dish have two different names? Guess I should have asked.) Amy took a while to decide what she wanted because she had not previewed the menu ahead of time. Her initial comment was that the menu was large but that most of the dishes were a variation on the same thing. She ended up having the BooThee gyaw (squash fritters) and Nyat KaukSwe Gyaw (flat rice noodles stir-fried with yellow beans, bean sprouts, romaine hearts, crushed peanuts, and lightly fried tofu).

Before I tell you how the food was, I first should say that Mandalay has yet to acquire their liquor license. I kind of knew that this was a possibility before we went there, but I was hoping that they'd received it by the time I'd gotten around to visiting them. Oh well - like I need any more alcohol. Instead I had some hot tea because I've been coming down with something for the last week. The waiter brought me a teapot filled with fresh loose-leaf green tea. It was perfect for my sore throat.

The appetizers didn't take long to come out. With tomatoes, toasted yellow peas, cashews, cabbage, fermented tea leaf, sesame seeds, puffed rice, and Burmese dressing, my green tealeaf salad had a pretty complex flavor to it,. The salad had an overall bitter flavor with a sweet aftertaste. Amy's squash fritters were lightly battered and served with a sauce on the side. The sauce tasted like a combination of soy sauce, sesame seeds and chili oil. Imagine the vegetable tempura that you would get at a Thai restaurant with a slightly thicker layer of breading. Cooked just right, the squash was not mushy and had a firm texture.

We quickly finished our appetizers and our entrees came out soon after. When we ordered out entrees, the waiter asked us how hot we wanted them. Both Amy and I opted for a medium spiciness, but as it turned out, we both could have handled some more heat. When visiting at a new restaurant, you never know how that restaurant will define "spicy". My chicken in tomato-onion curry had a real hearty, comfort-food flavor to it. I don't think I could have had a more perfect dish for my looming cold. There was no dry overcooked chicken in this dish, although they use dark meat in the dish which almost always means you'll get a little gristle. With peanuts, wide rice noodles, yellow peas and fried tofu, Amy's entrée reminded her of a Thai dish. A bite of this dish started with an initial sweetness and ended with a touch of heat.

We quickly finished off our entrees and we ready to move on to dessert. We had seen another table eating the ShweJi (Cream of wheat, coconut cream, sugar, raisins, and milk, topped with poppy seeds, then baked until light golden brown). According to Amy, it tasted "like a macaroon". It had a firm texture like a cake. Overall, this dessert was pretty good. Amy liked it a lot...probably more than I.

At about $32, I would say this was probably one of the cheaper meals we've eaten in a long time. I would say the food was well worth it, despite the lack of atmosphere. Sometimes, though, you just want to go out for a casual meal and be able to get great food at the same time. It's probably too early to tell, but I'd say that Mandalay is just as good as Straits of Malaya, except it's considerably cheaper.

Mandalay
930 Bonifant
Silver Spring, MD. 20910
(301) 585-0500
Map

Hours:
Monday-Thursday 11:30 am - 10:00 pm
Friday-Saturday 11:30 am - 10:30 pm
Sunday 12:00 pm - 10:00 pm
(Closed 3:00 pm - 5:00pm Every Day)

Dress Code: Casual
Reservations: Not Accepted
Parking lot on location and on street

See what other people have said about Mandalay:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=mozclient&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&q=mandalay+silver+spring

The last week has been pretty boring for me food wise. I haven't been eating out anywhere new. Work and my new dog have been keeping me busy. Mostly I've been eating out and around in my 'hood - Tenleytown. Cafe Ole has seen a lot of me and I have not been disappointed by them at all. I especially like that they bring out water for Ceiba when we come by. She is very appreciative.  We actually went there last night - AGAIN! All I have to say is you gotta try the polenta tartufo and ask for some pita chips with which to eat it.

Let's see where else have I been eating? Oh, I ate at Sushi Sushi on Thursday night and was kinda disappointed in their crab rolls. I mean, there is no excuse for the low quality crab meat they use there. Their crab meat is about as real as Michael Jackson's nose. I found myself wishing I was across the street at 2 Amys.

I had a great brunch with Amy and a friend of her's named Martha. I was not expecting much at all, because we were just stopping at some random place, but it really turned out to be the best breakfast food I have had around here in a while. The place was called Logan Tavern and is right on P st between 14th and 16th by the Whole Foods. I had a breakfast burrito, Amy had the Bacon and Eggs and Martha had a grilled cheese. I want to go back and get the grilled cheese because it looked so yummy. Martha thought it was good too :). My breakfast burrito was very fresh and I enjoyed it very much. Amy only had the eggs and bacon, but she ordered them over easy....AND THEY ACTUALLY CAME OUT OVER EASY! Imagine that?! The rest of the menu looked pretty interesting and I would have ordered some of them if I were not hung over from the night before (breakfast food it the best for hangovers). The arugula, peach and prosciutto salad looked good as well and the lump crap and avocado. Grilled scallops with balsamic glaze, baked Greek cheese with tomato sauce, grilled baby squid...all of them sound good, and those are only some of the appetizers. I think I will be heading back for dinner when I get back to Logan Circle.

Well, I think that is everything that has been going on in the last week or so in food. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that an Indian friend of mine from work made me some bhaji that turned out most excellent. He made us this huge container of it and we ended up eating it all in two nights. YUM. YUM. and YUM.

As I mentioned before, I made reservations for Yanyu for last Tuesday. Yanyu was the first of two restaurants that Amy and I tried for Restaurant Week. It is my favorite place to go during Restaurant Week because they aren't snooty about it. The portions are generous and no different than their normal menu. Also, the service is inpeccable. I've heard many stories about other restaurants treating the people that order off the "Restaurant Week" menu like second-class citizens.

Our reservation was at 8:15 and we were running behind. I didn't get home from work until 7, and Amy didn't arrive until about 15 minutes after that. By the time we were all ready, we ended up having to drive over, because the $5 valet is cheaper than a cab ride and there is no way that Amy was walking from Wisconson to Connecticut Ave in stilettos. :-) When I pulled up for the valet, though, there was no one in sight. I sat there for a little bit waiting. Now, for those of you familiar with this block on Connecticut Ave. you know that you can't just sit in front of Yanyu for long without a few cars piling up behind you. So I ended up having to circle the block...not once...not twice...but three times. The third time around, it was 8:20, and there was still no valet. Finally, I had Amy go in and tell the restaurant we were there, and I tried to find a spot on my own. I was really lucky. There was a spot only three blocks away on Porter Street.

The valet magically appeared the instant Amy entered the restaurant and asked her if she needed him to park the car. The car she was...not driving?  What?

Having the whole parking situation behind us was good. I arrived back at Yanyu just in time for them to be ready to seat us. To my surprise, we were seated upstairs like I had asked when I made the reservation at OpenTable.  Our waitress greeted us instantly once we were seated, asked us if we wanted some water or anything to drink and then gave us the menu for Restaurant Week.  There were two different menus. One was a menu tasting menu where you had a chance to try a small version of every dish on the menu that night. The other (which both Amy and I chose) was a three-course meal where you had anywhere from 1 to 3 choices per course. The latter was more appealing to us because one of the dishes that night was a shrimp dish. I don't care for shrimp, and Amy is just outright allergic. If she eats it, it'll be a long night for both of us.

You also had the option for a wine pairing for an extra $10 which we went for. The pairing came with a glass of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot Noir. Both glasses were half glasses of wine and I did not find that they really paired well with the food (i.e. the red Noir with seafood courses). The wines on their own were wonderful though.

For our first course, I chose the seared tuna. It was cooked properly - just barely seared and completely rare in the middle. It was served in a ginger-soy sauce with cucumbers and seaweed. I liked this dish, but I was not overwelmed by it. Amy ordered the Lily Bulb Dumpling which was  egg white wrapped with minced chicken and vegetables. I actually liked Amy's dumpling a lot better than my tuna.

Now the second course is what we come to Yanyu for...the Big Duck. This is their signature dish. Basically, they roast a duck, cut it up fresh right in front of you, and serve it on pancakes with cucumber, scallions, and the best little plum sauce you've ever tasted. I'm not talking that crappy, corn syrup based, runny sauce you get at the grocery store. This plum sauce is homemade, thick, and contains sesame seeds. The combination of all this is a wonderful little handful that you rollup and eat like a small taco. The way they cook the duck at Yanyu makes it come out very tender. Amy usually hates duck because it can come out gamy and chewy. Amy loves Big Duck though. (Oh, come on. Get you sick little minds out of the gutter!) We asked the waitress if we just ordered the Big Duck, how many servings would it be. That night we received two small pancakes. Each pancake had about two generous slices of duck on it. WE WANTED MORE!!! The waitress said that if we ordered just a whole duck, it would yield about 10-12 servings. I think Amy and I will just order one of them next time for ourselves.

For final course, we both ordered the sea bass. It was a choice between that and the crispy garlic shrimp. The sea bass was cooked in a honey glazed sauce. Mine was cooked perfectly medium. Amy's, however, had been cooked a little too long and was a tad chewy. She still enjoyed it though.

Although dessert was not included in the Restaurant Week menu, we ordered it anyway, opting for the ginger creme brulee. We are normally not people to order creme brulee, but the other dessert choices didn't sound interesting to us.  This wasn't the best dessert we've ever had, but we enjoyed it. It wasn't terribly sweet like creme brulee usually is. It was also served with citrus fruit so it had a tart flavor as well.

Yanyu is a pretty upscale. It is not formal, but you won't find people wearing jeans or shorts.  There was one guy who came in while we were eating that was dressed like Rodney Dangerfield on the golf course in Caddyshack, but he was an exception.

In the end, the bill came to around $130 after tip. It was not exactly what I was expecting to spend during Restaurant Week and when I got the bill, I was like "Huh? How did that happen? There must be a mistake here." But after I added up everything, it made sense.  Was it worth the price tag on the meal? I don't know...the Big Duck was REALLY good though.

Yanyu
3435 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 686-6968
Map

Dress Code: Business Casual
Hours:
Sun 5:30-10:30 pm
Tue-Thu 5:30-10:30 pm
Fri-Sat 5:30-11 pm

Read other reviews:
Washington Post
Washingtonian

Amy and I have been going to Spices, located across from the Uptown Theater on Connecticut Ave, for a while. Because it serves all types of Asian food, Spices is the perfect place to go if you are with friends that aren't sushi fans. You can get all the sushi you want, and they can choose from other Chinese, Thai, and Japanese dishes.

First I just want to say that the Sushi isn't out of this world. I actually think that the sushi at Sushi Sushi is better as far as freshness and quality of fish is concerned. Spices doesn't get too exotic on you. But, if you are familiar with our taste in sushi, you won't be surprised why we still like Spices. Our favorites at Spices are the Spicy Crunchy Tuna Roll, Kimchi Tuna Toll, Dragon Roll, and Yellowtail Roll. As you can tell from this list, we are not the most adventuresome people when it comes to sushi. We've tried the exotic stuff: Octopus, Barbeque Eel, and we're just not crazy about it. Maybe we are squeemish, or just unadventuresome when it comes to raw fish.

As far as non-sushi dishes, there's one dish there that Amy and I crave on a regular basis - Crispy Tangerine Peel Beef. I swear they put drugs in it to make it addictive. In fact, just writing about it is making me want to go there tonight. Also I particularly like the Mee Goreng. It is a combination of Lo Mein and Pad Thai with Indian spices, tofu and your choice of chicken, shrimp, or beef. One thing to keep in mind...When they say on the menu that a dish is spicy...THEY MEAN IT. Last time, I ordered the Ginger Chicken and I could barely finish it. If you order it, be prepared to have your water glass refilled a lot.

The wine list is average, but inexpensive. Oh, and save room for desert. They serve a flaming ice cream, which consists of vanilla ice cream dipped in tempura batter and then fried quickly. They then dump it in Rum and light it on fire. When they bring it out, everyone's head turns to see and you just know they are saying, "Ooooh, we have to order that!"

Spices is as casual a restaurant as they come. We usually go in jeans. We try to arrive early or later in the evening, since the service tends to falter when the place is really crowded. Prices are extremely reasonable. The average bill tends to be around $70 with a bottle of wine.

Spices
3333-A Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 686-3833
Map

Hours:
M-F 11:30AM-3PM, 5PM-11PM
Sa: 12PM-11PM
Su: 5PM-10:30PM

Delivery available - minimum $15 order - $1 delivery charge

I just want to say right off, that my wife and I are not expert sushi eaters. We generally stick to tuna, salmon, and rolls. So given that, this review might not mean much to you...

Sushi Sushi recently opened a second location at the intersection of Wisconson and Macomb in NW. It moved in the vacant location where the Flat Top Grill used to be. As it's name sounds, it's a no nonsense sushi restaurant. They don't mess around with other Asian cuisines like Spices does.

The first thing we noticed was that the service is friendly and prompt. They have plenty of people there to serve you. I counted three different people that came by our table tonight. The miso soup was not your average miso. I found it was much better than that of other Asian restaurants. The soybeans are as good as any we've had at other Asian restaurants. Granted, it is hard to mess up soybeans.

The rolls were the highlight for us (big surprise). So far we have tried the spicy crunch tuna roll, spicy crunchy california roll, etc, etc. Tonight we tried the Sunny Delight roll. It was basically a california roll wrapped in Salmon with sweet and spicy sauce. Honestly, I would have never tried this unless Amy had ordered it, but it was excellent. Sushi Sushi also has temaki rolls which are cone shaped rolls that come in single servings. Both Amy and I found these a bit difficult to eat (Yes, I know, we are ignorant hicks). The sashimi was fresher than we have received at other sushi restaurants.

Overall we are very happy with our dining experiences at Sushi Sushi and we plan to continue to go back there. They are a reliable (so far) place that is close to us. If you live more than 20 minutes away, I would not go making a special trip. There are probably other sushi restaurants that are closer to you and are just as good.

Our average bill has been under $50 which is pretty reasonable when you consider we usually order drinks and appetizers.