Kaz Sushi Bistro

[vengroff]

As part of my ongoing exploration of the DC-area culinary landscape, I recently had dinner at Kaz Sushi Bistro.

We had the tasting menu, which consists of three small cold dishes prepared at the sushi bar, three small hot dishes from the kitchen, a selection of sushi, and dessert. It was priced at $50 per person. Along with the meal I had a lovely junmai daiginjo sake, priced at $10.95 for 180ml.

I was quite impressed and would happily go back to repeat the meal. We enjoyed diced octopus with wasabi, mussels broiled in their shells with spicy Japanese mayonaise, beef tongue carpaccio, tuna tartare with creamy tofu and shredded seaweed, and sauteed sweet shrimp in a spicy tomato and mushroom broth. Many of the dishes were spicy, but in a subtle way that balanced wasabi or chili with other flavors. The only miss was the beef shortrib, which was a little dry. Our favorites from the sushi selection included tuna with a sliver of black truffle, a candy-sweet scallop, and a seared strip of salmon. Dessert was a simple refreshing scoop of yuzu ice-cream.

Try as I might, I can't resist the urge to compare Kaz to Nobu, or at least to Nobu Next Door. It lacks the glamour, glitz, and attitude, but at some fundamental level the goal is the same: to accentuate the cuisine of Japan with the best the rest of the world has to offer. Indeed there are some common elements, whose original provenence I don't know. For example, the sauce on the mussels was not unlike the creamy-spicy sauce Nobu serves with crab or tempurad rock shrimp. There was also a sablefish in miso dish on Kaz's menu, which I can only guess resembles Nobu's overhyped black cod in miso.

I didn't leave Kaz feeling stuffed like I would have after a $100 omakase at Nobu, but I was definitely satisfied, and felt that a higher percentage of the dishes were winners. The vast majority of what we were served was creative and compelling. With the exception of the Cafe Atlantico brunch, I would be hard pressed to come up with a better mid-priced set menu option in this town. If you have other nominees, by all means let me know.

[Mark Sommelier]

I love going to Kaz's. He is a friend, too. Next time you go- sit at the sushi bar. Ask him for the toro with foie gras. We always have doubles of that one. (The foie gras is poached in plum wine). Sublime.

[Steve Klc]

I agree with both of your sentiments completely.

[jparrott]

I wish Kaz had Sushi-Ko's wine list. Of course, then you might never get in :-).

[Mark Sommelier]

I wish Kaz had Sushi-Ko's wine list.  Of course, then you might never get in :-).

You do know that Kaz was the original chef at Sushi-Ko.

[jparrott]

Yes. Which is why it's unfortunate that he didn't take that part of the sushi-ko experience with him.

[nerissa]

One of the things I really miss about D.C.

He was there the last night we went. And, you're right, considering the quality, the prices are not that bad.

[silentbob]

I might be headed here for dinner tomorrow and had a few quick questions:

1) Is it possible for me to have the tasting menu if none of my friends are ordering it too?

2) How much do the "specialty" small dishes cost (Kaz's website doesn't list prices for them)? I'm particularly interested in the tuna with foie gras and the sea trout napoleon, both of which seem to have gotten lots of raves.

3) Any other must-have dishes or sushi, if I don't get the tasting menu? I hear the short ribs are also good.

[Schneier]

Pretty restaurant. We had a late reservation on a weeknight, and had no trouble getting a place at the sushi bar.

"Soft shell crab with ponzu sauce." Delicious.

"Sashimi gazpacho." I'm not used to tasting tomato in a Japanese restaurant, but there's nothing to complain about with this dish.

"Sea trout napolean." It's chopped raw trout mized with peanuts, cilantro, soy, and ginger, served on crispy wanton skins. Yummy.

"Corianter-crusted fried calamari." Major tasty, and a nice twist on tempura.

We had a bunch of sushi, including the big eye fatty tuna and the hiramasa yellowtail belly.

We didn't--a mistake on our part--have the foie gras sushi.

A delicious meal, although expensive. And I wanted more interaction with the sushi chef. I thought I was sitting in front of Kaz, and I wanted him to suggest dishes for us. I wanted him to make dishes for us, based on what he thought was good. I tried asking for that, but it didn't work. I'm not sure why.

Bruce

[bx23$qa]

I can second the soft shell crab, which I had there last week. Slightly sweet but lovely. The jalapeno tuna is also an oddity at a sushi joint, but I like it. I really apprecate the innovation here (though, it's not like they're serving chedder and summer sausage sushi).

[stereogab]

Had a scrumptious feast at Kaz recently. Add to the list above the octopus ceviche with ginger (infused? sorry I don't remember exactly) seaweed. Also, the sea trout napoleon (mentioned above) was not only tasty, but also beautifully presented. My meal reminded me to make sure I trek over to I street the next time I have a sushi craving. Fresh tasting, innovative, delicious dishes with elegant presentation and friendly service. For the quality of the meal, I didn't find it too expensive - considering I've plunked down the same or more cash at other sushi joints for a meal that didn't come close to matching the delicate tastiness of a meal at Kaz.

[banco]

My wife and I went to KAZ last night and I am still reeling from the pleasure of the evening. She ordered off the restaurant week menu, which comprised mostly sushi selections. I nibbled frequently from her plate and found everything first rate: not too cold; absolutely clean, fresh and flavorful; with varied textures to match. She also had some meltingly tender beef short ribs that combined the heartiness of a pot roast with the refined bladework, flavoring, and presentation of Kaiseki cuisine. In the following, however, I want to concentrate on my selections, which were all drawn from the chef's specials (a blue menu insert) or his special sushi creations at the top of the regular menu. The blue specials menu also marks selections with an asterisk that the chef personally recommends, so I suppose these are “special specials.” These are also the ones I ordered.

Sake steamed shell-on bay scallops: The half-open scallops with their pink-streaked shells reminded me of flower blossoms. They were presented in a bowl of their nectar that had been delicately enhanced with miso and sake. Each scallop was perfectly shucked and had fully absorbed the flavors of the nectar while still in its shell. Adequately describing the mouth feel would require indecent or obscene metaphors.

Kobe beef carpaccio: The small morsels were served with a hot rock for grilling, though I ate a few of them raw. I was told the beef was from New Zeeland. It was not as tender or luxurious as the Japanese original, but very fine nonetheless.

Spanish mackerel sushi with basil miso: Often this fish can be unpleasantly fishy and greasy, even at a place like Makoto. Not here. Like all the raw fish served during the evening, it was clean and sweet. The basil/miso dollop was not a gimmick but really brought the flavors together.

Smoked ankimo (monkfish paté) sushi with jalapeno jelly: I'm still tasting this one after almost 24 hours. The smokiness of the surprisingly firm textured paté was barely noticeable, but there nonetheless. Seldom have I tasted a garnish that did its job of highlighting the main flavors as well as this little dollop of jalapeno-infused aspic. God, this was good.

Plum-wine infused foie gras nigiri with plum-wine jelly: This was similar in technique and garnish to the ankimo, but even more rich and luxurious, without being heavy or overpowering. The plum wine infusion carried over to the plum-wine flavored aspic of the garnish. This nigiri made this Franco- and Europhile think that plum wine might be as good an accompaniment to foie gras as Y’Quem or Rieussec. To paraphrase Elisa Doolittle, I could have eaten this all night.

Tuna nigiri with Italian black truffle: What can I say? The first thing I did before eating this was to inhale the aroma of fresh black truffle combined with tuna and vinegar rice. The little slice of truffle on top of the tuna was covered with a light coat of aspic, yet its aroma still came through. What a perfect fusion of Asian and Western traditions!

Salmon tempura roll with ginger and sesame sauce: This was the only catch in the evening, as the salmon was a touch overcooked. I probably noticed this only because everything else before it had been so immaculate. Still, it was enticingly flavored with a sesame sauce brightened by the tang of ginger, and the tempura coating was light and crispy.

A lightly sweetened green tea tiramisu finished the evening perfectly, which had been punctuated with liberal lashings of Horin sake. Service was gracious and efficient.

We had first been to KAZ about seven years ago after moving here from Germany, and last night we at first didn’t realize we were returning to the same restaurant. What a pearl it is! We most certainly will not wait another seven years before returning.

[Sthitch]

I love Kaz. I go about once a month with a former co-worker. Thank goodness we are eating off of his expense account because he simply cannot get enough of the foie gras toro, and orders round after round of it.

[tjaehnigen]

I love Kaz, too. Dee-lish. I only wish they'd make champagne available as there is nothing quite like sushi & champagne!

[The Doctor]

I have a fantastic deal to report: Kaz is participating with www.waitless.com, and for the month of February, anything you order is 50% off. It's good for carry out only (which I never really associated with the place before, but...).

I just tried it for lunch and all went smoothly. A co-worker and I ordered $30 worth of stuff and we got $15 off (the max for this deal). There is a $0.50 surcharge to use waitless, but it's kind of canceled out due to the discount and the lower tax as a result of the discount.