Restaurant Review: Kushi

I know I have been missing for a bit, no excuse for a true blogger, but I have a job and sometimes it demands my attention. Boo. 

Work took me north, to Washington, DC, to shoot a television pilot. Always wonderful to have a mini reunion with people I don't see regularly.

For my wonderful work family up here, this means long, long days of meetings, wrangling people, scheduling, negotiating, filming, planning, etc etc etc... then ending the day with a fabulous meal. As one of our wisest producers says: "You have only a few meals in life- don't waste them," so we've made that our motto. And everyday at 2pm we have the required: 'ok, where are we eating tonight?' conversation, and even though we won't be able to escape until 9 at the earliest, it gives us something to look forward to.

For my first DC night, the restaurant answer was Kushi, a modern Japanese Izaykaya and Sushi restaurant on K Street. And what a perfect choice because it was freaking delicious.

Izakaya literally means Japanese place to drink, with food to accompany the drinks. In honor of this namesake, the first thing we ordered was Sake. Obv.

I prefer unfiltered Sake, which is why it looks white instead of clear, and this one was exceptionally good. I would tell you what it is, but I have absolutely no idea.

Then came the food. We typically put the ordering in the hands of our wise producer, he never leads us astray. After a quick glimpse at the specials of the day-

-we decided on Kara Aged Fried Chicken, Pork Belly skewers, Hickory-smoked cauliflower and brussel sprouts, spicy tuna roll, grilled squid legs and another special roll I don't remember. My least favorite was the cauliflower, which wasn't a shock as the conversation that preceded us ordering it went:

JZ: Cauliflower?

Me: Ech, gross. I hate cauliflower.

Steph: How can you hate cauliflower? You haven't had it cooked right. Over hickory smoke? Yum, let's get that.

So, no surprise, I still hate cauliflower. But everything else was amazing.

Kara fried chicken

spicy tuna and I remember! the other was yellowtail and scallion, delish

The chef sent us over two scoops of their house-made ice cream: Sea Salt and Black Sesame. Both were incredible, but the sea salt was my favorite by far. I would show you pictures but by the time I finished shoving food down my mouth I realized I had forgotten about you and our bowls were empty...

 Sorry.

Not only is the food really really good, the decor is fun. There's massive anime painted right onto the wall-

The kitchen is open and you can watch everything happening-

photo courtesy of the Washington Post

And now they have a food truck so you can get some deliciousness on the road!

If you find yourself in DC, put Kushi on the list. It's worth a trip up K St.