Sticky Rice

Yesterday I had a particularly rough day at work and was in no cooking mood, so we trekked into DC to try out Sticky Rice, a sushi joint on H St. NE. They are known for their funky sushi and tater tots. I can't say no to tots. I should have guessed that the rest of the food would not be very authentic, but for some reason I was expecting something different than what I got.

We arrived around 7:45, and they told us the wait would be 45 minutes to an hour. They said they'd call my cell when our table was ready (I love restaurants that do this!) so we headed a couple doors down to Granville Moore, another place I REALLY need to eat at, for some Belgian beer. After a drink we headed back to check the status of our table and upon being told that it would still be a while, ordered a glass of wine at the bar. Ended up running into friends who had separately decided to trek to Sticky Rice from MoCo on the same night!


We were finally sat at 5 after 8 and the only available seating was at the sushi bar. I'm all for sitting at the sushi bar (free sushi!) so it was fine, but our seats were right near the wait station making it a bit crowded.

We ordered a bucket of tots to start with (obvi); they come with a delicious spicy aioli for dipping. We could barely eat 1/2 of the bucket so shared with our neighbors at the sushi bar. We hadn't gotten far in the apps when our rolls came. We ordered sticky balls and the snap crackle pop roll. We didn't realize until comparing meals with our friends the next day, but we definitely didn't get sticky balls. They're supposed to be fried inari pockets filled with tuna and crab, but there was no discernible fish in ours; instead it was just an unhealthy-tasting deep fried slice of who knows what (tofu?) slathered in a cream sauce and a teriyaki sauce. The flavors were good, but just not what I was hoping for. The snap crackle pop roll (salmon, cucumbers, jalepenos, tobiko, and tempura crunchies) was very good, except for the fact that there was barely any salmon in it. Very heavy on the cucumber. The sushi chef gave us some crab dip on crispy wontons and a dessert roll made with tempura-battered sweet potato and honey. Both were delicious (sidenote: they have Old Bay at Sticky Rice??).

Overall I was a bit disappointed in Sticky Rice but I also should have known what I was getting into. If you're in the mood for real sushi, this isn't the place for you. It has a cool fusion/hipster vibe to it and the tots are great, but the rolls aren't fish-focused in the slightest. If you love all the crazy combination rolls with odd ingredients and don't care if the flavor of the sushi doesn't stand out, then definitely try Sticky Rice. Normally I do love to order the crazy rolls (dynamite, volcano, spider, anyone?) but this restaurant took it a little too far for me.

Anyone have suggestions for great sushi places in MoCo? I'm still on the hunt, although my favorite so far is Tako in Bethesda.

Sticky Rice
1224 H St. NE
Washington, DC 20002