Who Does Tachibana End Up With

[Jenifer Griffard]

IfI recall correctly, many years ago, Tachibana was in Arlington (Cherrydale) on Old Dominion near the Military Rd/Lee Highway intersection. It was considered one of the higher quality standards for sushi in the DC area. We lived nearby and loved going, as they always served a little something extra to try - thereby introducing this PA girl to many things I would otherwise never have ordered. We followed the restaurant to its McLean location for several years, but in more recent years tended to spend our sushi dollars (in McLean) at Kotobuki before it moved to DC and now at Ichiban (my kids love the staff there and the udon).

I used to eat here a lot when i worked in tysons- it used to make the top 100 in Washingtonian but hasn't recently. has the quality dropped off? if you've been there recently would like to know your thoughts if it's worth the drive from Rockville area.

I went there for dinner on NYE and the quality and value of the food was as good as ever...quite simply some of the thickest slices of fresh sashimi that I have seen in a long while (and it also goes quite well with the rest of the mammoth dinner set option). Tachibana is really one of the hidden gems of high-quality, good value Japanese food in the area. If the place I went to recently experienced a "drop off" in quality, I'd be really sad that I never got to experience the original as it must have been amazing.

I am not sure why this gem is not on many people's radar. Cucas87 and I had a wonderful, romantic dinner here two weeks ago. The service and food were fantastic. We went on a Friday night and enjoyed a small wait in the bar area. The place was packed and both sushi bars were in operation. We were seated in a semi-private waiting area and where we placed a large order. The service was great and the waitress pointed out a few of her favorites. The fish was very very fresh, large pieces and probably the best I have sampled in a long time. I think Tachibana is better than Kaz, but I need to return to sushi-ko to compare the two. Each item from the tea, miso soup, seaweed salad, fried oysters, fatty tuna and sushi seemed fresher and more flavorful then its counterparts in other restaurants. Dinner with too much sushi and sake was $114 inclusive of tip.

if you dig the autumnal pacific saury (sanma), it's on the menu for another month or so. flown in fresh, it's grilled whole, guts and all (as it should), served with lemon and grated daikon. it's beautiful.

The Sashimi Lunch Special ($14) at Tachibana has gotten a bit more expensive, but comes with more fish than before. I've gotten this (as carryout) probably twenty times over the years, and never have they loaded me down with so much fish.

The tuna and salmon are cut so thick that some sushi chef must have said "to hell with it," and gotten out a meat cleaver - the salmon is a half-inch thick and the tuna is thicker than that. This is enough sashimi for two people.

The last meal I had at Tachibana was a joke. They brought out some sort of salmon that was pale pink in color and said it was from a different part of the fish, nothing I had seen in 25 years of eating sushi. They brought out an order of yellow tail belly and it looked like it was cut in half. I dont know what the problem was that night, but in conjunction can someone please explain to me why their spicy tuna is brown??? I will not be back to my one of my old favorites for a long long time. When I told the older manager lady, she was pretty much indifferent as well.

I've been going to Tachibana in it's present location for over 12 years. There are a few problems at Tachibana such as too large portions, rice sometimes not being the right blend and most definitely toro being sold when it should be classified as maguro. Still, there are problems much more symptomatic of Japanese cuisine being adapted to the American tastebuds and size portions.

However, hands down, it's had the most consistent high quality salmon in the DC metro area. Actually the last time I was there less than a month ago, I complimented the sushi chef for that very thing.

So I went down the street by myself. Strangely enough, the sushi bar was reserved but there were plenty of tables. I started with some fried oysters, tempura fried eel and clam miso soup. I love anything tempura fried and the eel was fantastic - crispy, flaky, and boneless! I wanted smelt but they didn't have it. The clam miso was also good but the oysters less so (not tempura battered). Then came the sushi - fatty tuna, uni, horse mackerel, mackereal and escolar. The toro was fabulous until I got the bill, $15 for two pieces. Uni was $10 for 2 pieces. I ended up dropping $63 before tip (with only 1 12oz Sapporo to drink). Damn menus without prices!

I'm not a big sushi fan and I seem to have a short memory when it comes to Tachibana. After I tried the fried oyster, I recalled that I ordered it the last time I was there and didn't care for it. I'll probably forget how expensive it is soon.

Went here with a group for lunch yesterday. Three of us had the Sushi Moriawase -- six pieces of sushi (shrimp, salmon, tuna, flounder, and two other whitefish that I can't recall), three of negitoro maki) (tuna and green onion roll), and three of spicy tuna roll; choice of green or bean sprout salad, and miso or clear soup. Azami had the nattou ae with hamachi; I had hiyayakko tofu, which came with bonito flakes, grated ginger, and sliced green onion.

The tofu and soups were winners. The tofu in particular had a nice mild flavor and a texture in between silken and firm. Toppings were in just the right proportion to the amount of tofu served. Azami liked the nattou part of his appetizer well enough, but was disappointed with the hamachi, which he said was not very fresh. I think the same was true with the sushi generally. We all thought the shrimp was quite good, but the others were a) disproportionately larger than the rice; not especially fresh or flavorful; and c) all seasoned with wasabi.

The prices were decent ($9.95 for the sushi, salad, and soup), and the place was full of Japanese eating (as far as I could tell) non-sushi items. If I were out in McLean, I'd probably stop in again to try some of the non-sushi items, but I wouldn't rush back for sushi.

Had a simple but nice meal here the other night. We had done a lot of snacking during the day, so we just got some miso soup and sushi. The octopus nigri here was good, not too chewy, but with really nice flavor. The butterfish, yellowtail were really tasty. Just simple, nothing to jump and scream about but all fresh and good. I would like to dig a little more into some of the other things on the menu. I have had the jaws before which I liked, I want to try some of the rice bowls or soba. Not too far from our house and pretty consistently fresh.

Ugh, knew I should have read this thread before a lunch there...sounds like the sashimi special was the way to go. I got the regular bento box and it was so-so. Tempura was fried effectively. Yakitori seemed overcooked, salmon definitely was. Tamago did not taste very fresh. Yellowtail belly nigiri was packed with fatty flavor though.

Funny enough, I too had lunch there last week, ordered the same bento box and had a similar reaction as you. What struck me, however, was the shabby and unkempt appearance. From the entrance way littered with garbage to the carpeting, which seemed to have been installed in the Carter administration, it was an unpleasant welcome. I realize the quality of fish served is top notch but I must say I was taken aback by the environs.

We had some of our wonderful friends come in from Michigan to stay with us for a few days. Their request was Thai or Sushi something they couldn't get much of in their town. I was thinking Thai, but then they decided they really wanted sushi and casual and fairly close by so off to Tachibana it was. We had a nice little evening with some sake and sushi. The radish shoot roll with bonito flakes was very good as was the flounder fin and butterfish. We had some other things we all really liked as well. And we got in on a Friday night without much of a wait at all which was nice for our guests who had been flying for much of the day. And they were very happy with the sushi.

Met a friend for dinner last night and we each ordered a Deluxe sushi, which contained Tuna, Yellowtail, Fin of Flounder, Horse Mackerel, Salmon Roe, Flying Fish Roe, Clam, Eel, Scallop, Sea Urchin, Sweet Shrimp and bowl of miso soup for $29. Seems quite pricy for 11 pieces (but cheaper than ordering a la carte) but the quality was superb. The rice was fantastic. I don't normally order a sushi platter because you don't know what you're gonna get. In this case, what you'll get is spelled out on the menu.

My wife and I recently enjoyed what were probably the best spicy tuna and spicy salmon rolls we've ever had. In fact, it was so good the first time that we went back the next day to get it again (this time for take out). Indeed, all the sushi we had was top quality, including the shrimp tempura roll and eel nigiri. We also had some tasty miso soup and other tempura pieces. Service was brusque at best, but it didn't come close to ruining a fantastic meal from start to finish.

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