KAZ Sushi Bistro — Restaurant in Washington

OK, here's the deal. I've been to KAZ 3 times. I've even been to Oh Fish, while it existed. Now, the first 2 times at KAZ = winning. The fish was fresh, it was delicious, but they put a lime slice in between certain fish (like salmon). Um, I want sashimi, not ceviche! Just a pet peeve.

Now, you might notice I didn't have much to complain about yet I gave it 2 stars. Well, boy Oh boy, here you go then.

Today, 4/8, we went for lunch via work and sat down to eat. We order our food and, as usual at about 5 minutes after 12, it takes about 35 minutes to get our food. I get my usual Sashimi plate and it's got my usual favorites in scallops, salmon, tuna etc. So I'm scarfing it down and enjoying it and all of a sudden my coworker says "hey, not to ruin your lunches, but there's a worm in my fish." Now, for argument sake, fish don't get worms. They get parasites. YUUUP! It was an anisaki parasite (read: worm...lol). Now, these little guys can cause all kinds of stomach issues and even require a tiny surgery if they take home in your intestines, but I'll save the details for your googling pleasure.

We call our waiter over, who then takes the plate and then about 3 minutes later we get the owner or manager at our table. He politely tells us that everything is complimentary today for our entire table and asks if they can't prepare anything else for us today, also comped. We politely decline, because finding a parasite in your food is kind of a buzz kill for your appetite. Now, who's to blame for it? Who knows. Fish suppliers are bad and evil. There's a thing called fish fraud in the USA (google it). There's also shady fish dealers who just want your money and give you poor fish. I think they just went with the wrong supplier this time around.

Overall they reacted reasonably and I wouldn't avoid the restaurant forever, I just know that I may be admiring my food a bit more in detail before consuming it there. This also kind of hinders my ability to enjoy sushi (for a while). I'll get back on the wagon, but this is kind of UUGHGHGHGH, ya'know?

Also, for comparison sake, a lot of FDA requirements make people freeze their fish at -5F for X hours in order to kill most parasites. In japan, though, they don't have this requirement and plenty of people deal with anisaki on a yearly basis there. They have legit, unfrozen fish served over there whereas we have flash frozen etc to try to protect us. So don't be all that surprised if you find a parasite in your sashimi/sushi. It happens (worldwide). It's a risk of eating raw fish.

Anyways, not really KAZ's fault, or is it? Who knows, but they've gone down a rung in my book. The chef should have noticed a worm wiggling around. It sure...

Went to Kaz Sushi with a friend for dinner. We shared a two-piece nigiri order of salmon with mango sauce, split four rolls, and each had a dessert. Overall the food was reliably okay but not great.

My favorite bite was the nigiri. Here I could really taste the fish and it was gorgeous--smooth and melt-in-your-mouth-y. The mango sauce was eh--gave a fun kick, I guess, but the fish itself was so good that I'd have rather focused on that taste.

The rolls were all fine but a little boring. Most are the traditional style of seaweed on the outside and this, combined with the small amount of fish in the roll, made the fish hard to taste. My favorite roll here had pickled pineapple in it. It was an interesting, new taste for me. The rolls were just insubstantial, though.

The dessert I'd pass on next time. We used the Yelp check-in to get 50% off the dessert and I order the kahlua creme brûlée. It was odd. Rock hard ice cream under a burnt top. Not really creme brûlée-ish and not really Kahlua-ish. I wouldn't order it again. I tasted my friend's green tea tiramisu and was more impressed with that. It was small, though!

The service was a mix. Our waitress hadn't gotten down the idea of leaving us time to look at the menu. So we'd have 30 seconds, she'd come over, we'd say we need more time. Thirty seconds later she'd come back over... it was just awkward and made me feel badly for not instantly knowing what I wanted. However at the end of the meal we just sat and sat and talked and talked. We sat at the table for a very long time after we'd finished ordering anything. When an eight-person party came in and they needed our table, they were kind about asking us to move and actually said we could sit at another table as long as we wanted. We took it as a cue to leave, but I believe the person who told us we could stay said it in earnest. That felt very generous.

Finally, the tea. We each got a pot of tea. It was over $4 for a pot which seemed stupid to me, but then we each got at least two refills, maybe three, which then made it not seem like a rip-off but a nice complement to the meal. I'd definitely order the tea again.

So, were I to go back: I'd get the tea and plain nigiri (i.e., without...

We came because of its 4.5* rating, we wanted to try the Omakase that was highly recommended by other reviewers. But Omakase is only available Tue-Thurs.

The restaurant was pretty packed, we came in and the hostess was throwing attitude over the phone telling people that they might want to call back everyday for a reservation, since they’re had so many reservations. But since we have a reservation, we were seated immediately, at a table in the middle of the walkway, obviously added last minute.

We ordered the Okonomiyaki, Sashimi Moriawase, Artic Char Nigiri, Seared Scallop Nigiri, and Unadon Bento.

The Okonomiyaki is probably one of the worse I’ve had, it came in a cute small pan, but it was slightly too flat and big for the pan so it looked squished. It was a sad soggy excuse for an Okonomiyaki.

The a la Carte nigiris we’re the best part of the meal, at $9 and $11 for 2 piece each. The fish was sweet and fresh.

The sashimi moriawase was seriously thinly sliced, I guess it’s a testament to the chef’s knife skills. The fish was fresh, but it felt like each piece was halved then served as 2 pieces. For $47 it was really very disappointing.

The Unadon Bento was probably the most disappointing of all. Mostly because the Unadon was actually pretty good. But everything in the bento box was food court quality at best. Tempura that wasn’t made with proper tempura batter, super oily Brussels sprouts, served in the same square as the edamame, and hijiki seaweed, so everything was oily. The wakame was mixed with cucumber and felt like Mayo was added to give it more flavor. Just serve the Unadon with a miso soup, and it would have been sufficient. Why give poor quality food and ruin...