Temari

Today I had made plans with Eric and Matt (the good Matt -- Matt L.) to go out for lunch at this reportedly 'extremely ethnic' Japanese restaurant in Rockville called Temari. It's off of Rockville Pike in a small shopping center on the first floor.

We didn't know what exactly 'too authentic' meant in the description we had read on Tyler Cowen's ethnic dining guide, but me and the guys are pretty brave when it comes to eating most ethnic foods. When we popped in through the door we were delightfully surprised with how many Japanese people were around. All the reviews we'd read about the atmosphere were on-par with what we saw. It's a cutesy cafe that's patronized mainly by Japanese and the staff is mostly Japanese that speak English 'ok'. The food on the menu is mainly composed of Japanese 'comfort' food like katsu-kare, katsu-don, and hambagu-raisu. It's not Japanese food for beginners, and if you're looking for teriyaki -- you've arrived at the wrong place. It's also a place that has sushi, but it isn't the main focus. I generally don't like Japanese restaurants here in the U.S. for the reason that most of them usually only serve sushi or hibachi items (and usually things like udon/donburi). At this restaurant they had most all of those things, but they even had my favorite onigiri on the menu (which I didn't order because I opted for more standard shumai). Most of the things on the menu were things I'd never heard of, but whose descriptions sounded delicious. The sushi appears on a separate menu that's written on a chalkboard at the bar. I got the feeling though that most people don't order the sushi when they go there.

We shared some broiled fish (I can't remember what kind of fish it was exactly) and shumai to start off with and followed up with different entrees. Matt ordered some pork-yaki, Eric went with a standard katsu-don, and I went with katsu curry. We pecked off of each others' food and every entree tasted great. We had the balls to even try desert. Matt and I went with something that began with a 'Z'; while we both ordered the same thing, I opted for the kind with ice cream in it -- dairy always makes things taste better. The dessert had red beans and mochi balls in a sweet sauce. It was wonderfully sweet and subtle. Eric went with a snowball -- which was crushed ice with a milky sauce served over top; he went with a green-tea flavor which was wonderful.

Everything was reasonably priced (most entrees were $12+) and we walked away with a very satisfied feeling wanting to come back again. I have a feeling the next time I'm in the area, I'll be heading there again :) It was worth the beltway battling and trip across the border to eat that food! This place has got my recommendation; A++.