Jeana and I had planned on going here for lunch over Thanksgiving but they were closed, so it only made sense of us to try again over Christmas time. It's a really unassuming small authentic Japanese cafe nestled in the middle of a really blah strip mall on Rockville Pike. Like so many places in the suburbs, it's so hard to tell what's a good place to eat if you only judge them by the outside (I guess it just goes to show you that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover even with restaurants).
It was packed to the brim on a random Thursday afternoon. Luckily we got a seat within 15 minutes at the counter. This isn't really a sushi place per say, although you can order from a small limited sushi menu, instead its focus is more on donburi, katsu, curries and ramen dishes. They are famous for their katsu curry which is what Jeana got and I got the Tonkatsu combo ($20). My mom kept claiming that I had been here before and that I had complained about how small the portions were - I have no memory of this at all. If that was the case, they've certainly changed their portion sizes. Jeana's katsu curry was huge - it was the size of an entire dinner plate with a huge helping of white rice. Meanwhile my combo came with a lot of side dishes on top of the main entree. There was a broth with a plump clam in it, a small marinated green and some kind of gelatinous dish that I can't quite put my finger on. But the best part is that it comes with a side of sashimi - for a side order is was a pretty generous portion of 2 pieces of salmon, 2 pieces of yellowtail, 3 pieces of tuna and 4 pieces of flounder in a flower shape. All of them were fresh and clean tasting - very surprising to get this many pieces of this quality as a side dish. It kind of made me wish that I got a sashimi or chirashi dish instead. I usually don't get any kind of breaded meat at Japanese places just because I'm usually so focused on the fish but when Jeana said she was getting a katsu curry it made me crave getting the fried pork strips. It's definitely great comfort food in chilly weather. The tonakatsu was tasty and breaded well but it was a ting dry - I had to pour an extra heaping of the tonkatsu sauce to give it continuous moisture but getting a mouthful of the pork + white rice + sauce = one happy girl.
The place was quite bustling and busy the whole time we were there. People were getting all sorts of dishes that made me want to go back and try it out again. I liked the traditional feeling of the place and while sushi will always still be my great Japanese go-go, this place reminds me that even in the suburbs of Maryland, there can still be great hot Japanese food options. Total bill: $23/pp with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
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