Wednesday, January 20, 2010

sticky rice

sticky rice
1224 H St NE(between N 12th St & N 13th St) Washington, DC 20002
tel: 202) 397-7655
hours: monday-thursday 11:30am-2am, friday 11:30am-3am, saturday 5pm-3am, sunday 11:30am-2am
what was consumed: bucket of tots, halibut something, tilapia ceviche, godzirra roll, snap crackle and pop roll, millennium roll, green curry ... chef's special/chef's choice ... beer, sake ...
i heard about sticky rice from friends before it even opened. despite everything else friends said, the only words that stuck were "sushi" and "tator tots." what a GRRRRRREAT idea - sushi and tots! i couldn't wait. unfortunately, it wasn't for some time that i actually got the opportunity to visit sticky rice. friend s was visiting and as we were thinking of neat and uniquely-DC locales, sticky rice came to mind, so we head over. we walked in a little bit earlier than the standard dinner time. sticky rice was just starting to fill up and when i saw that seats were available at the sushi bar in the upstairs seating area, i asked if we could sit there. we took a look at the menu, made a number of selections, and anticipated our food. and good thing too because it was worth the wait as we gorged on delicious eats!
now, while the more traditional japanese/asian fare is available and delicious, i would recommend the more creative selections available on the menu. between quite a few vegetarian options, new combinations of rolls, and (of course) tator tots (come on!), there are definitely a plethora of things to try. try things! be adventurous! and be filled with delicious combos~
the last time i visited sticky rice, we made reservations (just in case. turns out, though, that because we made reservations for the sushi bar, there were special "sushi bar reservation" dishes that had been set aside - so excited!) and just as we walked in, we were directed to our seats at the sushi bar and ordered the chef's special, i.e., chef's choice, i.e., chef, give me what's good today. friend johnny was working and i was totally looking forward to the good eats that would be coming my way.
i love getting the chef's special and the fare at sticky rice definitely did not disappoint. we were served a slew of "small" plates (they actually weren't that small) of different sushi and sashimi, all super fresh, many which incorporated flavor combinations that i probably wouldn't have thought of, but was glad they were there because they were delicious! seaweed salad, grilled fish, ceviche, spicy plates, not spicy plates, fried plates ...
as we were eating, the main sticky rice guy came in and we all began to chat (i asked him if the tator tots really was a sort of homage to his hometown. turns out, his grandfather was a potato farmer (or something like that), so yes, a sort of homage. so cool!!). as we continued in our consumption, he proceeded to ask us what we were eating, what we liked, and whether or not we liked to try new things. heck yeah we like to try new things! he then proceeded to have us takes a few prototypes. some favorites? sashimi guacamole (who would've thought that guacamole including chunks of fish would be so delicious? trust me - we gulped that stuff down), tempura fried tomatoes (sorta an asian take on the whole fried green tomatoes dish - yum), carrot (or was it sweet potato - point is, what a great idea!) nigiri. despite having already been filled with lots of other delicious dishes, our stomachs definitely made room for more deliciousness. ahhh~
we didn't order tator tots this last time (despite my initial desire to do so), but that turned out to be a wise move. mauri literally had to roll christine and me down the stairs and out of the restaurant. i think c and i sort of scared mauri with our never-ending and exorbitant delicious food consumption - ha!
i can't wait to go again! DELICIOUS!