Sei

Location: 444 7th St. NW, Washington DC, 20004
Penn Quarters
Nearet Train: China Town (red, yellow, green line)
Website: http://www.seirestaurant.com/

Sei is a new restaurant in Penn Quarters, that just opened in late January, by the same people who have produced Oya. When you walk in, you can have the same expectations of Oya. It's clean, modern, upscale, and has awesome service. The white walls and contemporary decor really take you outside of Penn Quarters and put you somewhere else. It's definitely noticeable that the management puts a lot of emphasis on customer service and it shows, good job. The bartenders were pretty good at making great drinks, and the saki menu is pretty extensive. The waitress was quite personable and so were the runners.

The menu is creative and keeps the basics of sushi with a flare. I enjoyed the appetizers they offered. Sei is a little pricier, but not unreasonable. I would strongly suggest this place for a happy hour or for a romantic date. Definitely need to check it out. I think it's the next IT Sushi spot.

Thai Chef

Thai Chef is a small space with a bar and a happy hour on their sushi a few of the Thai entrees and rail drinks that begins from 4-7. They have sushi and Thai food. The sushi isn't all that great. The Thai Chef dumplings were okay. The people are really nice there, but the service can be shotty. The Grilled Jumbo River Shrimp are pretty good, but the Hawaiin Duck isn't so tasty even though the tomatoes and pineapples in the sauce were pretty chunky and good. Wouldn't consider this spot if I was in the taste for sushi, maybe for a Thai dish, but I'll update my review when I have had more of the dishes on the menu.

Location: Dupont Circle
Price Range: $10-20

http://66.34.56.214/thaichef/main.html

Zengo

I have been to Zengo's on a date catching up with friends and business associates for quick eats and good drinks. The environment is really modern, hip and trendy. It's a perfect way to start the night, or a perfect way to end an evening. Zengo's is a restau-lounge spot. I would recommend coming dressed up, or at least casually cute. The first time I went, I was unaware of what the dress code was and wore jeans and tennis shoes, and felt so out of place. The chicken emapanadas are REALLY good. The sushi, eh, I wouldn't recommend ordering any of them except the Angry Zengo (which are pretty good). I went for my cousins birthday dinner and I think we ordered everything on the menu. The Tuna Tataki Salad (My fave) was devoured by everyone at the table. A couple of my friends ordered the Grilled Lamb Striploins and I swear within a matter of minutes their plates were absolutely spotless, I really think they licked their plates clean. The tuna belly tartare was okay the tuna is cut up pretty chunky but it was cooked a little more than I preferred, but it was okay. The drinks are really good and would recommend ordering any of them. Definitely a must stop spot =) Being that the restaurant is tapa style you can get caught up trying to order every menu dish on the menu and your bill starts adding up, so if your on a budget be cautious, this place can be dangerous on your pockets!

Location: ChinaTown
Price Range $25-up

http://www.modernmexican.com/zengodc/

Sake Club

I have been here a couple of times and it never fails, I always enjoy my food. Gentlemen, for a first date, this is a MUST! I went here for a first date and fell in love LOL. The waiters bring out a bowl of miso soup (complimentary). It is a little pricey but the rolls are GINOURMOUS (Is that the webster spelling?) so it's well worth it. I usually get the Rainbow rolls, Philadelphia Rolls, and the Spicy Tuna, I know I've had a few others, but can't remember which ones. But they are all good. They have really good unfiltered saki and a pretty decent sake/drink/wine menu. I had some of the plum wine and it was pretty good too. The interior is really dark, and upscale, makes you feel like you want to wear some pumps or a pair of hardbottom shoes. It's a really nice place. During the summers its nice to sit in the patio area and people watch. The service is really good and the servers are great.

Location: Woodley Park
Price range - $30-up

http://www.sakeclub.net/

Spices

I can say I frequent this place A LOT! (Most of the people know me in there) The people there are realllllly nice. They have a great happy hour (1/2 off all drinks alcholic and non-alcholic). The service is great, the atmostphere is pretty relaxed and it can get PACKED.

The sushi there is great! I really enjoy their Spicy tuna, and the Crunchy shrimp tempura roll. Whenever I am sick I grab a bowl of their Tom Yom Shrimp soup and it clears me right up! The Crab wontons are really good as well as the rice paper rolls. The pad thai and their curries are all pretty good too. You can't really go wrong by stopping by this place if you are craving Thai food or Sushi.

Location: Cleveland Park
Prices $10-20


http://spicesdc.com/

Mate

Sunday night with a taste for sushi and some tasty drinks, a friend suggested Mates. Mates (pronounced Mah-tay's) is apart of the Latin Concepts chain of restaurants. As soon as I walked in I had a strong feeling I wouldn't be disappointed. The menu had the usual maki rolls, nigiri and sashimi but also has a nice amount of creative latin inspired maki rolls that are quite delectible. (Mmmmm my mouth is actually salivating thinking about their rolls, especially the Bamboo roll) The different flavored mojitos and pomegrante inspired drinks are to die for. The bartenders are pretty good and timely unfortunately the waitresses can sometimes be slow, but after getting your food it's well worth the wait. The calamari salad is interesting, the seaweed salad is VERY good. I've never had the ceviches, but I'm sure they are just as good as the sushi!

There is a happy hour during the week, and MAN, me, my cousin and a friend of mine went one day for their happy hour and ate sooooo much, had a few drinks and our tab only came up to about $80 for the three of us (we ordered about a million rolls and a couple of drinks) and we had SO much food leftover. The happy hour menu can be found on their website. http://www.latinconcepts.com/mate

Don't let the ambiance and setting fool you, it's not as expensive as it looks ;)

Location: Georgetown (K & 31st St.)
Cuisine: Latin, Sushi
Price Range: $10-$20

http://www.latinconcepts.com/mate

Saki

Saki located at 18th and Columbia Rd is a hot little sushi spot.

Saki is one of the sushi restaurants I like to frequent although it's kinda iffy when it comes to how good the sushi is. It's a small spot consisting of a small bar area and the dining area is a row of tables, a wall length seating arrangement and little cube ottomans. It's a nice intimate place with a great happy hour. The happy hour has half off rail drinks and half off most of the sushi on the sushi menu and the appetizers. The sushi is so-so, depending on what day you go. It's not really consistent, one day it's great and one day it's not so much. But it's not that bad. I recommend it as long as you don't go with high expectations. I mainly go for the vibe more than the sushi because I never know whether or not it's going to be up to par that day. (I've tried most of the sushi on the menu)

http://www.sakidc.com/