Arigato

Since moving to DC two years ago, finding an acceptable Japanese restaurant to satisfy my palate has been a surprisingly difficult challenge. Fresh, well-made sushi just seems hard to come by in this city. The overwhelming odor of fish would drive me out of the most lauded restaurants....fish smell=NOT FRESH! Ones without the offending odor inevitably would have partially wrapped chunks of fish and rice that would fall apart immediately upon liftoff from my plate. Chopsticks were too much for them to handle evidently. Thus my dilemma, until entering Arigato in Fairfax one day. The pristinely clean restaurant boded well for the raw fish laden meal I was about to undertake, and the air didn't make you smell like a seafood factory when you left. Overall, my meal was fresh, well plated and respectful for a fairly americanized restaurant. The sushi menu had both classic nigiri as well as the popular rolls we've come to love and crave. My personal favorite, the chirashi, is good, but beware of the hot rice they sometimes plate beneath the bed of fish. I now specifically ask for them to make sure the rice is cool before I order that dish lest the delicate fish be spoiled. Above everything else, however, their best dish is their balls. Not cahones, but lightly fried wontons filled with cream cheese and scallions which welcome you as soon as you sit down to your meal. It is the perfect amuse-bouche to a simple Japanese meal and often people order extras to go to satisfy their Arigato ball cravings.

Overall I give Arigato 3.5 stars...it's not the best Japanese I've ever had, but it surely is a contender in the DC market.