#Murasaki restaurant washington dc windows#

Specialty rolls - known as maki sushi - grace most tables, and part of the reason may be the innovative presentation of the restaurant's menu. Just glance at what's presented to the happy diners who fill the restaurant at lunch - mostly workers from nearby office buildings - or at dinner and you'll know that rolls are also a hallmark of Murasaki. But you don't have to make such a commitment to enjoy the pleasures of Murasaki. Diners may choose from sushi omakase, sashimi omakase, or with a little planning, the Murasaki omakase, which rings up at $50 to $70 a person and may include baked dishes and other traditional treats not listed on the menu. Regulars at Murasaki simply order the omakase, which means the chef prepares a selection of dishes of his choice using the freshest fish.

#Murasaki restaurant washington dc windows#

Pale-colored wood predominates: in the tables, the chairs, the sushi bar and the lattice screening that adorns glass windows overlooking the patio. Purple is reflected in the carpeting, the upholstered chair seats, the chopstick wrapper and the carryout menus. The restaurant takes it name from the Japanese word for purple, and the decor reflects that, though not in a garish way. And the orders from the embassy keep rolling in. New owner Seo Seoung Huck has two Japanese sushi chefs at his side, Shimmoto Mitsutoshi and Tetsuya Nakata, who together have more than 45 years of experience. The original owner now owns a kebab place a few doors down. He brought in chefs from the upscale Hisago, which burned brightly in the 1990s at Washington Harbour.

When it opened, Murasaki was owned by an Iranian who ran a limousine service that often did business with the embassy. It was bought by a Korean sushi chef who had previously worked at Bonsai in Shirlington. Those deliveries have been ongoing since the restaurant opened six years ago. And it makes regular deliveries to the nearby Japanese Embassy. There's usually on-street parking available nearby, and it's a short walk from the Tenleytown Metro station. Murasaki is a neighborhood place in Tenleytown that has both a dining room and patio seating in the midst of a Japanese-influenced space. But some of the best places are downtown (Kaz Sushi Bistro and Sushi Taro), tiny (Makoto) or a little too precious and expensive. There is certainly no shortage of places to find sushi in Washington. Pros: Fresh fish and really good, cheap sake It's probably good I didn't find out about this dish a few years ago, otherwise I'll be that much poorer. There was also some different types of seaweeds as garnishes. Everything was just amazing and the salmon was the best I've ever had. I made the effort to go back there a several months ago and took a chance and ordered their chef's special sashimi dinner, which costs about $10-$15 more than the sushi dinner. Since I was still at a loss, I threw away the paper she gave me. I asked about it once and when the waitress went to go find out and told me, it turned out that she only told me the name of the brand and not the actual product. It's not the bad-tasting low end sho-chik-bai or gekkeikan stuff either (though they price it the same). The nameless (not really house brand b/c they don't make it so I feel weird calling it that) hot sake is the best I've had in any Japanese restaurant. My friend and I were such frequent guests, the waitresses knew what we wanted right as we sat down, which are two sushi dinners and a large hot sake. Their sushi is consistently fresh and tasty the dozen times I visited when I lived in the area a few years ago. Murasaki might not be the best Japanese restaurant in D.C., but after going there, I stopped looking.