Wednesday, March 25, 2009

I is for Ichiban

http://www.ichiban-sushi.com/

Type of restaurant: Chinese and Sushi

He had: Shrimp fried rice
I had: Shrimp lo mein
We shared: Hollywood Roll, Ichiban Roll

Thoughts: Okay we went to Ichiban over the weekend with the full intention of NOT eating sushi. As some have pointed out, we have several reviews of sushi restaurants, and not much else. True. Hey, we have a preference, but we're trying to work on it. After consulting the Chinese portion we decided on our dishes and decided just to get a little sushi as an appetizer. There was NOTHING little about the two rolls we ordered. I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of these two rolls. They were huge! And super yummy. The hollywood roll was made with soybean seaweed which meant, much to my delight, that the rolls were pink! It was one of the special rolls of the day and it was amazing. The Ichiban roll was awesome too because it had shitake mushrooms, and we are both huge mushroom fans. I told myself when we ordered the sushi that I would not write about it, only the Chinese food. But after tasting each roll Allister said, "you have to write about these!" I will just leave it at both of the rolls were up there with some of the best sushi I've ever had and the presentation was beautiful. Now on to the Chinese portion... Seems lame that we ordered such basic dishes, huh? Allister swears this place has the best Chinese food, and even the simple things are so good. Shrimp lo mein is pretty simple so I went for it. Awesome decision. The noodles weren't super thick like typical carry out lo mein and the flavor was great. The shrimp were abundant and not overpowering. The whole dish had a really nice, subtle, smokey flavor to it. Allister's fried rice was just as good. There were a lot of different vegetables throughout, as well as a lot of shrimp. After eating our huge rolls (which we didn't even finish) we were only able to eat a little of our entrees. On the bright side, they made fabulous leftovers the next day.

Overall opinion: This isn't the first time we've gone to Ichiban and I'm just as pleased this time as I was the last. Its a small place (though they will be expanding) but its nice. There are a lot of little touches that make it more than just a strip mall sushi place, for instance, they have really pretty stainless steel chopsticks with intricate designs. The food, both Chinese and sushi is very good. Since we spend most of our time on my side of town, we don't go often, but if I lived closer, I'd definitely go here all the time. The staff is also nice and very attentive. If you ever find yourself out in Bowie, definitely check this place out. Allister says it can get pretty packed on weekend nights, but even so, I'd say its totally worth the wait!

Monday, March 2, 2009

H is for Hana Tokyo

http://www.hanatokyo.com

Type of restaurant: Sushi

We had: Shumai, Spicy Tuna Roll, Hana Tokyo Roll, Fancy Roll, Volcano Roll, and Firecracker Roll

Thoughts: We decided to head out to Hana Tokyo on Valentine's Day around 7ish. After following the directions, we ended up in a strip mall and the H on the sign wasn't lit...not a good look. As we walked in, there were TONS of people waiting. Good sign, but not so good for our hungry tummies. After Allister talked to the hostess we realized everyone was waiting to the hibachi tables and we were able to sit right down at the sushi bar. After consulting the menu for a while, we decided on the shumai appetizer, spicy Tuna, Hana Tokyo, Firecracker, and Volcano rolls. It was Allister's first time having shumai and I don't think he was super impressed. I typically get it as an alternative to pork filled dumplings, but I thought they were pretty average. As for the rolls, there isn't much to say except they were all amazing. Seriously. They first gave us the Hana Tokyo and Spicy Tuna rolls, both exceptionally good. When we got the Firecracker and Volcano rolls, I was thinking, these have a lot going on...After I figured out the best way to dig in, I was pleasantly surprised again. The Volcano roll, which is topped with a mix of scallops, crab meat, and tobiko, was my favorite. Everything tasted very fresh, which is always a plus. It was also nice to see how much care the sushi chef put into his work, he was very detail oriented (luckily we were seated right in front of him so I could see all the action). After finishing those rolls, we chatted for a bit and decided to have one last roll. The decision was between the Fancy roll and the Dragon roll. We had to eeny, meeny, miny, moe it (I know, very precise method of choosing). We ended up getting the Fancy roll, which was pretty good. The only reason I wouldn't say it was amazing is because I have a bit of an issue with too much raw fish in my mouth at one time. Again on the plus side though, it was very fresh, and not at all fishy, its just a weird texture thing for me. Allister liked it a lot.

Overall opinion: Hana Tokyo is delicious!! We definitely have to go back and try the hibachi tables, but the sushi is wonderful. Its that perfect mix of a nice place with good quality food, but just hole-in-the-wall (i.e. broken sign, strip mall location) enough not to be too chi chi or expensive like so many sushi places in the city are. I'd totally give this a 5/5, the atmosphere was fun and the food was awesome. I'm definitely adding this to our list of favorite sushi places.