Sei brings sushi to center stage
By: Jeff Dufour
Examiner Columnist
March 10, 2009
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| Kobe Tataki with spicy crunch, watercress oil and red wine ponzu is served as a specialty roll on the menu at Sei in downtown D.C. (Matthew A. Roth / For The Examiner) |
WASHINGTON — Nancy Koide injected a true flash of L.A. cool into Penn Quarter when she opened Oya in 2005. Now she’s at it again, as co-owner of the new Sei, just a couple blocks to the southwest.
Lovers of Oya will find a lot of familiar touches, most notably the dominant color: white. But while Oya’s menu had only a few Asian touches, here the menu looks almost entirely to the east.
The Scene: What’s white in this sunken dining room? Just about everything, from the tabletops to the ceiling to the embossed faux leather chairs (which are laced up in back, which makes for an unexpected sexy touch). And no, the tables aren’t too close together.
The Pour: You’ll find your wines (ask them to pair wines with sushi for you) and your cocktails (I like the number with gin and lychee juice) here, but sake is the focus. Pages and pages of the fermented rice wine dominate the menu. If you ever wondered what the difference is between a Junmai sake and a Ginjo sake, they’ll help you figure it out.
The Taste: Diners get a one-two punch here in the chef department with Avinesh Rana and Noriaki Yasutake, both of whom cooked at Perry’s in Adams Morgan. Yasutake helms the sushi bar where you’ll find such creative dishes as a Caesar salad roll with romaine, tofu and anchovies. My favorite was the fish and chips roll that combines flounder, fried shoestring potatoes and malt vinegar. Rana handles the small plates. Here, you’ll find a delicate sake-cured cod, house-made tofu with basil oil and tomato ponzu and a rich Kobe tataki with a kick from wasabi salsa. A couple items suffered from a heavy hand in the kitchen: A honey mustard aioli that tasted like little more than Hellman’s mayo overwhelmed the two-color tuna, while an otherwise brilliant toro tartare was done in by the saltiness of its salmon roe accompaniment.
The Touch: Another new restaurant, another positive report on service. (Is there something in the water that’s making local servers pleasant and efficient? I hope so.) You’ll be killed with kindness here by the attentive staff, who can sometimes border on hovering. On one visit, our waitress profusely apologized for the five-minute gap between our first and second courses.
Don’t Miss: The Kobe beef sliders. Everyone seems to offer mini-burgers nowadays, much like the profusion of crab cakes. But these mini-burgers, however, stand out, thanks to the unctuous beef graced by a tangy tomato jam.
Why You Won’t Go: Because you’re older (or married). So far, Sei seems to be attracting a lot of singles and first dates.
Why You Will Go: Kudos to management, who have created a space that feels vibrant and cool without being overwhelmingly noisy.
If you go
Sei
444 7th St., NW
(202) 783-7007
seirestaurant.com
Hours: 5:30 to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 5 to 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday
Prices: small plates $5 to $15; sushi and rolls $5 to $15
Bottom Line: A small, sexy lounge where sushi takes center stage.
