When Coby George invited me to come to the soft opening of Sticky Rice (NE DC’s newest gem) last week, she described it as inexpensive Asian fusion. I went there not knowing what to expect. Despite its immediate proximity to Rock n Roll Hotel (another venue Coby and hubby Jason Martin have lent their Midas touch to) I had not yet caught a glimpse of the space. Given the inauspicious description, upon walking into the exposed brick, penthouse vibe, turn on your red lights, throw some Rashomon up on the video screen, hang parasols from the ceiling magic that is STICKY RICE, my pleasant surprise was totally authentic.
The house was packed. Management opened doors for the first time on Thursday night to friends and family, offering everything on their menu half off for the night, the kitchen was working hard. Despite the fact that it was the first night of business, and the place was slammed, the food came up with pace, and hit on all cylinders. Notably, the sushi and the fresh fish from the raw bar was spectacular. However, I have to mention the chicken wings as well, which were fried to perfection. Buckets of tots (perhaps an appeal to the late night crowd?) were also of note, something you might not expect from a place serving up raw fish, but hey, what kind of American restaurant doesn’t serve some kind of deep fried potato?
The gong behind the downstairs bar was put to good use, bartender Rebecca being potentially a future member of the National Symphony percussion section. Okay, and can I just say… there are phones in the bathrooms that connect to each other. All you have to do is pick one up and the one on the other end rings. Brilliant, endless entertainment. And although there was none on the menu, whale tail was spotted at Sticky Rice Thursday night, of the underwear variety.
Food was excellent. Check it out for yourselves, make your way down to 1224 H St and get a taste of Sticky Rice, DC’s newest treat.
I thought the food was rockin. My favorite was the godzirra roll and the Sticky Balls.
May 27, 2008 at 1:13 pmLooks great - late night sushi at last!
May 27, 2008 at 1:24 pmadam, have you actually tried the sushi?
i see BYT has a heart and did a little unbanning.
May 27, 2008 at 1:28 pmTOTS!!
May 27, 2008 at 1:40 pmderrrricious!
May 27, 2008 at 1:44 pmadam’s either a snotbot or someone’s weak idea of making the comments more interesting. either way pretty inarticulate and useless.
there’s no wiki entry for snotbot. I just made that up.
:?
FWIW He did state that the one in Richmond sucked, not the one here.
I only eat sushi I prepare myself, but there are some other items on the menu I’d likely try.
Anything in that neighborhood is going to have an uphill battle trying to serve something more tasty than the Philly Cheesesteak at Philadelphia Water Ice though.
May 27, 2008 at 2:19 pmI sat near a group whose command of style (lets-see-how-many-garments-from-the-vintage-shop-i-can-throw-on or let-me-iron-half-of-my-hair types) and body language clearly suggested they were cooler than myself. Clearly not from the neighbourhood and hopefully not frequent diners.
More important than the tots (really, who gives a fuck) were the sticky balls, goat cheese wrapped with yellow tail, and chili roll. Creative, well-prepared, and delicious. I was disappointed to see PBR on the beer menu, at the very top. Perhaps this was to be ironic?
May 27, 2008 at 3:16 pmi tired to stop by after leaving jimmy v’s monday, but they were not open. pbffft.
May 27, 2008 at 3:18 pmmade it on sunday night and it was so so yummy. the chili roll was genius. the sticky balls were the best kind of delectable fried heaviness. the tater tots were perfect and the sauce was out of this world. also i’m obsessed with edamame and their’s ranked quite high on my best edamame in dc list. oh also managed to mooch some spicy tuna and gi jane from friends and those were great too.
bottom line: everything i ate that night was awesome.
May 27, 2008 at 3:29 pmThey saw you and your Garutachi coming and turned out the lights.
May 27, 2008 at 3:30 pmclearly, i give a fuck about the tots.
why not play nice?
May 27, 2008 at 3:36 pmGeorge is obviously ass-hurt from not being invited to the iron hair/vintage clothing table. I wonder who he thinks does Garatuchi.
May 27, 2008 at 4:34 pm“Garutachi shirt”, that is. Got distracted while surfing for armless hoodies that show off my tattoos.
I was more ass-hurt for not being invited to the lets-all-look-at-our-iphones-and-not-talk table.
May 27, 2008 at 7:01 pmThe sticky balls were fabulous! Does that make me sound gay? At any rate, I need to go back and try some more of the offerings.
May 27, 2008 at 10:10 pmscrew the food! according to frozen tropics they’re gonna have speed bingo on thursdays (and some other stuff on some other nights)
Monday: SUSHI HEAVEN- delicious and fresh for half the price from 10:30 to 12:30
Tuesday: KARAOKE -the longest running karaoke night in Richmond lands in DC. You never know what’s going to happen when you’re the star!
Wednesday: DJ Night.
Thursday: BLINGO- Sticky Rice’s own speed bingo, free to play but hard to win. Keep track as the numbers fly by and the excitement grows.
Friday and Saturday: DJ NIGHT- resident DJ’s and bar tenders play personal fav’s and video’s until 3am.
Sunday: PIKO- a 4 years Richmond tradition. Quite possibly the GREATEST trivia night on Earth. Over 10,000 questions and crazy dare challenges.
http://frozentropics.blogspot.com/2008/05/count-down-to-sticky-rice.html
May 28, 2008 at 9:42 amNE just gets yuppier and yuppier. Not that I’m complaining. :heart: tots and :heart: late night sushi guzzling
May 28, 2008 at 11:29 ami believe PBR at the top of the beer menu would be a nod richmond, first sticky rice local
May 28, 2008 at 3:34 pmwho gives a fuck what kind of beer they have or what is on the top of the list…THEY HAVE BUDWEISER, and that is all that ever matters
May 29, 2008 at 6:18 pmBah- can’t stand sushi snobs. Having had the stuff in Japan for a year, I’ve served my sushi-nerd time. Yay for Sticky Rice if it’s cheap and fun (might check it out soon). Okay, who is that girl in the heavy silver liner on the potty phone? I think she bartended at the relaunch party @ Artomatic..
June 4, 2008 at 12:51 pm
potty phones are the best
May 27, 2008 at 12:23 pm