Sushi Taro, Washington, D.C.

Last night, Leo took me back to Sushi Taro on 17th Street, which I think is becoming my favorite local sushi bar. He had the sushi and sashimi bento box, and I had a an ecclectic assortment of food starting with a big bowl of steamed, salted edamame (soybeans in the pod), followed by an interesting salad of five different types of seaweed in a sweet, creamy, "vinegar" dressing, followed by the Tori no Karaage, which is the Japanese version of fried chicken, and ending with the Chawanmushi, that Japanese seafood soup with a layer of egg custard on top, all washed down with many cups of hot, Japanese green tea. The chicken was quite good. They selected large, bite-sized morsels of skinned, boned chicken (both white and dark meat), dredged them very lightly in Japanese bread crumbs, then flash deep fried them until just done and still quite juicy and tender. They came to the table steaming hot. The seafood soup was a little different than it was the last time I had it, since there was very little actual soup broth this time, and the custard layer was thicker. It was still good, and came with shrimp, eel, chicken, fish cake, and some vegetables in it.