Traditional Japanese bar like Izakaya Seki is a rare encounter in the DC metropolitan area. Izakaya Seki offers a causal and relax atmosphere that allows you to spend a night with a couple of good friends nibbling on authentic Japanese bar food while sipping sake and imported Japanese beer.
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| Izakaya Seki |
Izakaya Seki has a small entrance on V St, but look for the Japanese lantern and you won't miss it. Shall we take a look inside?
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| Echigo Rice |
Since this is a Japanese bar, there are a large variety of Japanese beer and sake on the drinks menu. The beer are a tad on the pricey side, but I am hoping for some Happy Hour deals at a later date once the restaurant settles.
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| Echigo Rice Cheers |
In the Asian culture, it is very common to share a big bottle of beer among your party whether than getting a gigantic mug of beer for yourself like in the Western culture. Asian dining is all about the art of sharing, we share our food, we share our beer, and that's the reason why we were given the small drinking glasses.
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| Steamed monkfish liver and yuzu miso vinaigrette |
Monkfish liver with beer? YUM! The fish liver has really smooth creamy texture and excellent taste. The yuzu miso vinaigrette adds the right sweetness and tart to the liver.
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| Basil octopus salad |
This was on the daily special menu, so it's not guarantee that it will be available all the time. The octopus was really fresh and not overcooked, so it was not rubbery at all. The basil sauce on top makes this a very refreshing dish.
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| Tarako (salted cod roe) rice ball |
While this is a Japanese bar which means food are suppose to be small portion and compliments your drinks. However, if you are really hungry, rice balls would be a great and cheap way to suffice your hunger.
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| Kurobuta pork sausage |
The pork sausage tastes really good and the skins add a crunchy texture to the sausage which makes them unique. The mustard sauce goes really well with it as well. Sometimes when I eat sausages, they are usually on the salty side, so if you eat too much, it gets overwhelming, but the Kurobuta sausage has a mild taste to it, so I didn't get that feeling at all.
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| Mero grilled with miso |
Mero is chilean sea bass in Japanese. I have always enjoyed Japanese fish with miso and this dish is definitely on the top of the list. It is such a simple dish cooked perfectly. I highly recommend ordering this when you go to Seki. Just give me some rice and this will be the perfect meal. This is the one dish which makes Seki memorable and worth coming back for.
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| Kara-age: Chicken thigh with garlic puree |
This is a good portion of fried chicken thigh and it's another good option on the menu if you are hungry. The chicken thigh were well seasoned and lightly battered which makes it crunchy on the outside and tender in the inside. The garlic puree that comes with it is the perfect dipping sauce.
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| Fried oysters |
The fried oysters were also the daily special, and it was fantastic. I am not sure what the dipping sauce was made of but it was delicious. Once again, the batter is light just to give the oysters enough crunch.
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| Kalbi: BBQ beef short ribs |
Thin slices of short ribs, seasoned with sweet soy sauce and grilled. The flavor was excellent and the short ribs were also very tender. Overall, I really like this dish except there were small bones with some of the pieces. I think Seki just need to rinse the ribs more thoroughly before cooking them.
I can honestly say that I like all the dishes we ordered at Seki. There were more interesting dishes on the menu we didn't get to try, so I will definitely come back for more, and hopefully they will have a Happy Hour deal by then. As a new restaurant, Seki has lived up the hype. I think Izakaya Seki is a very good addition to the DC dinning scene and it offers the DC diners a good alternative outside of those fancy sushi joint.
Izakaya Seki
