Tama Sushi Japanese Restaurant in McLean, VA

6828 Old Dominion Drive
McLean, VA 22101
Tel: (703) 883-2001

Tama Sushi is a small family-owned sushi place in McLean.  Several years ago this restaurant was under different owners and was named Endo Sushi, which we loved and reviewed it here back in 2011.  Today, under a different name, it's the same delicious food (new chef made only a few changes to the menu) and the same wonderful service. Under new ownership, this Japanese Restaurant is still a sushi gem in McLean!

Tama Sushi is a standard Sushi place with various other standard Japanese options. It is not fancy or pretentious. The staff is incredibly welcoming and sweet. You don't feel rushed or overlooked.  It is a place to come to relax and have a terrific down-to-earth low-key quiet pleasant meal. 

We came here for dinner on cold February Sunday. We were immediately served a delicious hot green tea that was tinged with flavorful roasted brown rice.  Everything we ordered was excellent in taste, texture, presentation and value. 

Having dined in many other Sushi places in McLean, this was definitely a more pleasant experience due to the individual attention we received from the personnel, and it was evident that they treated the other diners with the same approach. Our wide-smiled waitress Midori was wonderfully attentive, pleasant and efficient.

Tama Sushi is a bit difficult to find by its address, if you have not been there before. It is in a two-floor shopping area with Cafe Taj and other long-time McLean establishments.  Parking in the garage is ample and a short elevator ride to the second floor will land you at the restaurant. Or you can park in the small outdoor lot at Tama Sushi's front door.

We will definitely return here and bring family and friends!

Our scrumptious feast!

 Vegetable Roll Combination

 One of the Chef's Roll Specials

 White Dragon Roll

 Salmon Skin Hand Roll

Kenji Fusion - Bailey’s Crossroads, VA

3539 South Jefferson St 
Bailey's Crossroads, VA 22041
703-575-8811
 

Coconut Herring???

Before you head over to the Asian Fusion restaurant Kenji Fusion in the Skyline/Bailey’s Crossroads neighborhood of Falls Church, consider this exchange between Frasier and Niles in the old sitcom Frasier*:

Niles: Frasier, I hope you're free tonight. I just secured a table at the most exclusive new restaurant in Seattle.

Frasier: I'm sorry - just not in the mood.

Niles: At least hear me out - this place is the hottest new thing in fusion cuisine.

Frasier: What cuisines are being fused?

Niles: Polynesian and Scandanavian. It's called "Mahalo-Valhalla."

Frasier: Well, perhaps there's a reason why God put those two countries so far apart.

Niles: I had my doubts too. But my gourmet newsletter gave three-and-a-half whisks to their coconut herring.

I quote this show because its further proof I am not a big fan of fusion restaurants. The old adage, “if you can do one thing well, stick with it. The more you add, the more washed out it becomes.” I think Kenji Fusion is evidence of this adage. In and around the NoVA dining scene there are really good Chinese, good Japanese, good Korean, good Thai, etc. Search this blog, or Yelp, or other reviewers and you’ll find them. IMHO, when each of the continent’s menus are fused, it takes a lot of guts, skill, and knowledge to pull it off. Kenji Fusion comes close, the food is OK, but what drops its bar is in its service and décor—both are nice, but fall way short of what a restaurant should be. If Niles’ gourmet newsletter gave three-and-a-half whisks to their coconut herring, then we give 2 whisks to Kenji Fusion.
 

Let’s start with the food simply because it was the only part of the meal that was acceptable. Savvy readers may want to skip this section and proceed directly to the décor and service below. Our orders consisted of several Japanese rolls (Philadelphia Rolls, California Rolls, Tempura Shrimp Rolls, Sweet Potato Rolls—oh wait, the Tempura Shrimp and Sweet Potato Rolls never showed up—more on that later). These rolls were “ok”, but I think a Japanese sushi house could do them much better. Our entrées consisted of Singapore Noodles, Chicken Tempura (never showed up—more on that later), Ginger Tofu with Veggies, and Chicken Teriyaki. All of our entrées passed the taste test, but because they were served out of order and some entrées came out late, detracted from the experience. Again, more on that later.

So you probably are here because you skipped the paragraph on the food. That’s ok,

because this is where the review really begins. Finding a place to start is difficult, so we’ll start with the décor as that is always the first impression. Kenji Fusion’s décor tries. Tries real hard, but fails miserably and ends up being very cheesy. Booths are huge, poorly lit, and very uncomfortable as the tables are so narrow that in order to eat you must sit at the edge of the bench. Great ideas in an open floor plan but too much thought on conveying a contemporary atmosphere and not enough though on diner comfort. The lighting is a too-dark mixture constructed with a back-light behind crystal glass balls. Makes for an interesting scheme, however, the gradual color reflections from one color to the next makes reading a menu extremely difficult. TVs showing sporting events and CNN were way out of place and distracted from the entire experience. Maybe limit the TVs to just the bar area?
 

On to the service at Kenji Fusion. OMG, how bad can service be? Order a sushi roll you’re likely to see a coconut herring delivered. OK, our guy may have been new, but he was inattentive, lacked experience (and a command of English), and did not understand the basics of dining service. Nothing could warn us more since he was very attentive on the front-end as we previewed the menu. He came by at least twice before we were ready to order ensuring we knew and understood the drink menu. Our dining companions noticed his elaborate square drawn out on his notepad, but that’s where the organization stopped. We purposely went slow through our order and “hoped” he would get it right.

We ordered two soups and four sushi rolls as starters. The soups arrived soon enough, but only two sushi rolls ever showed up. The menu states that avocado, crab sticks, etc. can be added to any roll order (for an additional charge), imagine our frustration when we ordered a sweet potato roll with extra avocado and had to argue with the waiter to convince him that the menu actually does say this is possible. Since the roll never came, we will never know if the extra was conveyed to the sushi chef. Did our starters (rolls, salads, etc.) actually start the meal? Hardly. Yes, soups came out first (believe it or not, the ONLY thing on our order that came out as ordered and were quite good), but they were followed by a mish-mash of screwed up orders.
 

You’ll have to follow closely here, because this actually happened to one of our diners: Food ordered—tempura shrimp roll (for app) and tempura chicken meal with Miso soup. What came to the diner? The soup, yes. But an entrée of tempura shrimp (with no roll). Ugh.

Three entrées arrived for the four of us with one forgotten about. We waited about 10 minutes for our Chicken – err – Tofu with vegetables to arrive. Yes, ordered tofu, but chicken came out. Obviously another error that was about as messed up as the rest of the service. I could go on-and-on, but you should be getting the point by now.

As with most fusion-type places, there is an attraction to serving a hybrid of different cuisines. If Mom wants Korean, Dad wants Chinese, and the kids want sushi, perhaps a place like Kenji Fusion works. But works only if comfort and service are not high on your list of dining needs. I’ll pass on the coconut herring.


* FRASIER. “Sweet Dreams” written by Jay Kogen, directed by Sheldon Epps. Original Airdate on NBC: 19th May 1998.

Koi Asian Bistro, Vienna, VA *** CLOSED ***

8413 Old Courthouse Rd

Vienna, VA

(703) 394-5205

*** CLOSED ***

Koi Asian Bistro occupies the old Ega Restaurant space in the back of a small strip mall near the corner of Chain Bridge Rd and Old Courthouse Dr. in Vienna.  We’re starting this entry with the location of this Tyson’s Corner gem because if you don’t know it’s there, you’ll never find it.  Once you’ve found the place, you’ll soon discover that the food, the service, and the price make the search worth it for some really good Asian cuisine. 

We’ve been to Koi for lunch twice and had the buffet.  Although tucked away in a far corner of the restaurant, the buffet was fully stocked with a cross-section of treats from various Asian cultures.  There are few surprises on the buffet:  A rich pumpkin broth, some typical wonton soup, samples of tempuras, fried rices, dishes that were plentiful, fresh and tasty.  The trays of sushi were also plentiful; if a bit typical with avocado and crab stick California maki rolls, and nigiri pieces (salmon, yellowtail, ebi, and tuna) that were all fresh and served with the standard staples of pickled ginger and wasabe.  

The serving staff was the real draw to Koi.  An attentive, knowledgeable, and pleasant minded staff seemed to take a few steps beyond what would be considered normal service.  Water glasses were kept full; plates bearing the remnants of a previous trip were bussed immediately before the new plate of goodness arrived from the buffet. They checked on us during the meal and her sense of pride was evident as she talked about the genesis of her restaurant.

Koi does a great job making a rather large space seem personal and intimate.  Several private dining rooms that hold about 8 – 10 diners line three larger rooms with open tables and booths.  Each table is equipped with a Gogigui grill (Gogigui literally means "meat + roasting"), the Korean style built-in grill for roasting meats.  A fourth larger room in the back of the restaurant is reserved for large parties that can hold about 80 – 100.  This room even comes with a karaoke machine for guest’s entertainment.  Bathrooms are very clean. 

We have not yet ordered directly from the menu, but some friends recently visited Koi for a first account of some menu items.  Here are their comments: 

“We ate there with our bridge club on Friday night and were all very pleasantly surprised at how nice it was.   And the food is good, too.   Our dinners included decaffeinated green tea, miso broth, a small salad, entrée, and a sample of their “ice cream with rice skin”.   Wow!    We ordered the honey/butter sweet potato appetizer and it was wonderful and had the blackened cod which we enjoyed.   We also had the chicken with vegies, but the sauce contained shell fish.   So she took it away and brought us the dish without the sauce.   We were very pleased with the place.” 

The next time you have a yearning for some good Asian food and can’t decide on the rich variety of Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Thai cuisines in the Northern Virginia area head out to Koi and get some of the best from all the Asian cuisines. 

Ichiban Sushi, McLean, VA

6821A Old Dominion Dr
McLean, VA 22101

(703) 448-9117

A gem for sushi lovers, Ichiban is a cozy 15-table restaurant in the heart of McLean. Since its opening 13 years ago, it has built up a loyal clientele, who are friendly with the owners, chefs and staff, and come here regularly to enjoy excellent fresh food, and be a part of a dining family "where everybody knows your name..."

This was my first time visiting Ichiban. One of the first things that struck me was how busy the place is, which is definitely a good sign. At dinner time on a weekday evening, not only were all the tables full, turning over rather quickly with a steady stream of people at the door, all the chairs at the small sushi bar were also constantly filled with customers who clearly knew what sushi is all about.

There is a standing menu, which we barely considered because the list of fresh sushi listed on the whiteboard was extensive and diverse enough to make a full meal. Our dinner included White Tuna Avocado roll, Real Crab Avocado roll, Manhattan Roll, Yellowtail Scallion roll, Spider roll, and Umagi (all with brown rice except the Umagi was with white rice) – all delicious and more than filling for 3 people. If you like avocado, this place goes heavy on avocado in most of its creations. Price was more than reasonable - about $60 (including tea and soda, but not including tip) for 3 people.

The quality of the food more than compensates for the nonexistent decor and a rather hectic ambiance. You'll be lucky to get a corner table or one near a wall for a little more privacy to enjoy your dinner, which is truly worthwhile.

We had a wonderful evening with friends and were able to relax and enjoy because we were immersed in a conversation of talking, laughing and eating great sushi. Overall, I would definitely not return here for a relaxing evening, but would definitely return to Ichiban for some good sushi! 

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UPDATE (1/28/12):  Ironically, while strolling the streets of Moscow this week, Ichiban's "twin" was found.  See pic above.

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In another sushi-related item check out:  A sushi roll in Yekaterinburg, 2.5 kilometers in length, took 15 hours to prepare

Endo Sushi, McLean,VA

**CHANGED TO TAMA SUSHI**

6828 Old Dominion Dr
McLean, VA 22101

(703) 883-2001

This place came highly-recommended by our friends as a decent combination of high-quality sushi, cleanliness and affordability.  We agree.   

For a neighborhood go-to sushi place this one is a keeper.  The service was cheerful and efficient, considering we came with a relatively large group.  We enjoyed the hot saki, tempura, sushi, sashimi, and a lettuce salad with savory ginger dressing.  One item that seems set Endo Sushi apart from the others - is our friends’ favorite - the Rainbow Roll.  The Rainbow Roll resembles a California Roll and gets its name from the alternating colors of wrapped fish.  The roll is laid out on a long rectangular plate with a mayonnaise-based accent sauce, which seems to be the house specialty.    

As this was our first visit to this restaurant, Elena ordered the plentiful Bento Box to taste the variety that Endo Sushi had to offer.  Definitely worth the $27.95.  It came with a miso soup, salad, a sashimi appetizer, a nice selection of tempura shrimp and vegetable, sushi, chicken teriyaki, and tofu.  An interestingly tasty rice-wrapped ice cream (available in vanilla, green tea, red bean, and strawberry) followed the box for dessert.   Bill ordered sushi a la carte and our friends also selected a variety of tempura and sushi.  Everyone loved the green tea. 

We have been looking for a neighborhood sushi joint that doesn’t disappoint, but doesn’t break the bank, either.  This place certainly fits the bill. 

One drawback is that this place doesn't have a website, so if you want to check out the menu beforehand (especially useful if you're bringing someone who doesn't eat sushi and wants to consider available alternatives, such as teriyaki or tempura), it can't be done unless you call the restaurant.  On the one hand, who doesn't have a website in 2011? On the other hand, a Japanese menu is relatively standard, so a website may not be imperative.  

Tachibana, McLean, VA

6715 Lowell Ave.,  
McLean, VA 22101
(703) 847-1771

Tachibana is the real deal.  Nestled in a back lot off the beaten path, Tachibana is hard to find.  But walking up the flight of stairs to the second floor establishment, entering through the doors plastered with Washingtonian, Zagat, and other top rating placards, you enter a true gem.  There is no conveyor belt, no tepanyaki or hibachi tables, no over-the-top Japanese decorations, no gimmicks-just real Japanese food.

All dinner entrees come with a 5-course selection of appetizers, soup, salads, a main course, and dessert.  We had our server select a middle of the road saki to accompany our meal which consisted of seaweed and greens salad, miso soup, a nice tempting piece of mackerel, spicy tuna roll, some ginger and vanilla ice cream and our entrees which included a sampling of sushi (see the picture above) and a seafood and vegetable tempura with rice.  All way too much to eat in one sitting.  Dining neighbors were enjoying shabu-shabu and other Japanese delicacies which we are sure to try in a subsequent visit.  Service was prompt, accommodating, and polite.

It is said that the real Tachibana experience is at the sushi bars (yes, there are two).  But, you have to get there early to find a seat with the four or five sushi chefs.  We sat at a dining table within eye-shot of the sushi bar which seemed feverously busy building an assortment of fresh sushi.  Bar or table, if you're looking for pure Japanese food, Tachibana is the place to go.