Welp, I have finally returned home to the good ol’ US of A,
though that hardly means I have slowed down travel wise. Within 2 weeks of my
return home I went to 3 different cities before finally settling in what is to
be my home for the summer: Washington, DC. This is my first time being in DC
(that I am old enough to remember, anyway) and I am excited to be here for so
many reasons. I mean, the nation’s capital is of course going to have some
pretty cool stuff to explore: incredible monuments, free museums, beautiful
parks and gardens, and (most exciting of all) fabulous restaurants!
I don’t think it needs to be said that I already had a list
of restaurants I wanted to try in DC even before it was confirmed that I would
be living here for the summer. It is a
long and diverse list with restaurants specializing in a range of cuisines. I’ll
admit that I steered clear of adding a lot of Italian restaurants to the list.
I am sure there are several good ones in DC, but a girl needs a change of pace
after 4 months of pasta.
Cue in Current. Current is a sushi restaurant near Dupont
Circle in Washington DC. Seeing as sushi is one of the foods I ate absolutely none
of while abroad, I was ready to treat myself to this Japanese delight.
Upon walking into Current, I was excited to be back in a
restaurant that had a certain kind of atmosphere, uniqueness. In Italy, the
restaurants all tend to have a similar, almost homey, feel and look to them,
but Current felt completely different with its wooden floors and dark walls
accented by subtle candle light. It felt sleek and trendy, but avoided being
cheesy or over the top. The noise level
was quiet enough for my friend and I to have a conversation but was not
awkwardly quiet. The only tweak I would have made is for there to have been a
bit more lighting so we could have gotten a better look at our food, cause it
tasted gooood.
Both my friend, Lauren, and I were hungry and ready to go all
out. To start, we ordered the shrimp and vegetable wontons to share. Lauren
then ordered a small mixed salad with ponzu dressing along with 2 of Current’s
signature rolls. I ordered the chef’s selection sushi tasting menu.
Lauren’s salad arrived first. The base was your standard
mixed greens with cherry tomatoes and shredded carrots, but the addition of
sesame seeds and the ponzu dressing made the salad a bit above average. Ponzu
is a citrus based sauce that was thin, like vinaigrette, and had a flavor that
reminded Lauren and I of miso dressing (which we are both fans of).
Next to come out were the shrimp and vegetable wontons, four
tiny pockets of mushroom, cabbage and onion with no shortness of shrimp and a
lime-ginger sauce for dipping. The nicely browned wontons tasted good on their
own, but became great with the additional dimension of the sauce.
While we enjoyed the wontons, I was brought out a bowl of
miso soup which came as a part of my tasting menu. The soup was standard in
flavor but heartier than any other miso soup I have had. Each spoonful was
loaded with as much seaweed and tofu as it was broth.
Then my main course arrived. I was brought out a platter
with 6 pieces of nigiri (rice with fish lying on top) and 1 spicy tuna roll. The
fish atop the nigiri were tuna, yellowtail, horse mackerel, Chilean white tuna,
scotish salmon, and eel. I was in
heaven. The simplicity of the nigiri was so pleasing and the spicy tuna roll
was just hot enough to be interesting, but not too hot so that I couldn’t enjoy
it. The best part was that the lightness of the chef’s selection as a whole
allowed me to clear the plate and not be overly full.
Lauren was equally pleased with her main course. She ordered
the Dubfire pepper tuna roll and the Thomas Blondet roll. The Thomas Blondet
was similar to a Philadelphia roll in flavor due to the inclusion of cream
cheese, but it also had spicy tuna, scallions, spicy miso, and sesame seeds. It
was the Dubfire pepper tuna roll that
really impressed us, though. It had grilled asparagus, cilantro, pickled
scallion, wasabi, and jalapeno peppers rolled in rice and topped with torched
tuna with a mayo sauce drizzled on top. It was fabulous. The just asparagus and
just seared tuna were the main flavors that came through but they were elevated
by the addition of the other components of the roll.
All in all at Current, the sushi was good, the service was
attentive, and our water glasses were always kept full. Current made mission “treat
myself to sushi” a great success.
Current Sushi
1215 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
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