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[quote=Anonymous]Responses to some of the other posts and some other basic things to think of when eating sushi and selecting a restaurant.

Wasabi in your soy sauce at a true sushi bar is inappropriate. The chef should be putting the correct amount of sabi on the nigiri or on the roll. Wasabi is put in the soy for sashimi and then the restaurant should give you a new soy dish for your sushi. Note that this also means the restaurant should know correct order is sashimi then sushi, part of why I no longer go to Kaz, simple rule of meal order they screw up every time.

Do NOT get things like spicy tuna. It is typically made from older tuna going bad, unless you know it was made fresh, or that the restaurant definitely goes through enough volume that they have to use fresh tuna.  They also might use cheaper types of tuna for spicy tuna.

Do NOT eat your ginger with the sushi. What's the point then? Another trick of sushi chefs is to put ginger right next to pieces of fish that are at the end of their shelf life for being served raw. Sometimes a strategically placed lemon does the same.

Eating with your fingers is fine.

Start with things such as tuna, salmon, yellowtail, and whitefish such as snapper or flounder. Unagi is another really good one if you can deal with the idea of eating eel.  Avoid sea urchin and salmon roe.

For rolls, you can get the creative American style rolls, but for good traditional Japanese style rolls, go with the old standbys of tuna or cucumber (tekka/kappa maki), salmon skin (like eating bacon in a roll), or unakyu (again if you can get over the idea of eating eel, nice combo of sweetness of the eel and crispness of the cucumber)

Sushi Taro is probably the best sushi place in DC, they have a happy hour with discounted sushi so that's probably the best way to go. You have to sit at the bar.

There are very few purveyors of good fish and most places do order from the same places. It does make a difference who is preparing it however as two different chefs can produce vastly different product. Obviously, there are some places that do serve really bad quality fish. I would avoid pretty much anyplace where it is a Chinese or Korean restaurant that also serves sushi. most Asian Cafe type places probably are not going to have the greatest quality either.

Also look for places that have the full piece of fish in their case. Precut fish saves the chef time, but leads to quicker spoiling of the fish, easier transfer for taste from one fish to the other due to increased exposed surface area, and dried fish. Same is true for conveyor belt sushi, grocery store, or all you can eat places. That fish is sitting out a while and can get pretty dry. Also when you refrigerate sushi as in the grocery store, the fish may keep better with the refrigeration, but the rice is getting cold and hard. Sushi ideally should pair cold fish with body temperature or slightly warmer rice.
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