Sticky Rice - Washington, D.C.

Sticky Rice, which opened in early summer ‘08, has helped revitalize the H street area. For those unfamiliar with DC, this particular street of the NE quadrant has long needed a bit of sprucing up, and the addition in the past year or so of condos, a few new coffee shops, a martini bar, a Belgian restaurant, and this great Asian bistro-esque eatery have really helped put H street on a foodie’s map! A little bit about the restaurant itself not to worry, food to come! – the staff is very friendly, young, and hip, and the restaurant has a really awesome, laid-back atmosphere. It attracts an eclectic clientele, from families to young professionals seeking a fun location for happy hour to couples. The interior stands in stark contrast to the relatively dreary H street exterior. It is brightly decorated, very modern, and very chic. There are two levels to the restaurant; the downstairs includes the bar area, and is quite lively but very noisy, and the music was blasting loudly when I ate there. I would suggest sitting upstairs for a bit more quiet – although once the restaurant fills up at around 6pm, it’s loud everywhere! Quick note – Sticky Rice does not take reservations, but you can call after 5pm to at least add your name to a waiting list and check availability. I went right at 6pm without calling ahead and was able to sit right away, although by the time we left around 7pm, the restaurant was packed, and the line was out the door, on a Tuesday night! Now…food! : The menu is lively, delicious, full of puns, and fun to read! Some notables include ‘Shiitake Happens’ and ‘Godzirra’ tempura shrimp and veggies . There are plenty of vegetarian options…in fact, the menu has a whole section for us folk. There are also extensive vegan options, as well as many choices for meat-eaters, so there really is something for everyone. I had way too much to eat when I went, and don’t regret it at all! : My party of three ordered three appetizers to split, and filled up on sushi as our entree, which was plenty of food. Our delicious and highly recommended appetizers were spicy tofu with peanuts and scallions ‘The Hot Hippy’ , scallops, and udon-thick noodles with a veggie tofu medley. The scallops were phenomenal and were my favorite appetizer, I had to fight my mom for the last one. If I remember correctly, there were four huge scallops for a shockingly reasonable price of $8 believe me, by DC standards, this is pretty amazing ! Putting the awesome taste aside, the presentation itself was gorgeous! – cashews as garnish, and the sauce was drizzled artistically across the plate. The tofu was excellent yet honestly overwhelming, although it was our party’s fault mainly mine, I can get bossy about food that we overloaded our order with tofu goodness. It was more fried than I had expected, and it was quite crispy, which personally is not my favorite preparation of tofu, but it worked really well with the teriyaki sauce and vegetables. For future vegetarian patrons, one tofu dish is probably enough this coming from a tofu lover . The portions of both tofu dishes were really large and were heavily weighted towards the tofu over the vegetables , and either would have been a nicely sized entrée portion. As far as the sushi goes…FINALLY, great sushi close to my house! My party ordered the ‘G.I. Joe’ roll with yellowtail, cream cheese, and scallions, ‘Goochland’ with salmon and scallions and I believe goat cheese , and rather unexcitingly named by comparison , the spicy tuna roll. I LOVE spicy tuna rolls…and this one was delicious! As somewhat cliché as it sounds, the fish was so fresh and, like all the other appetizers, was beautifully presented on the plate. The rolls themselves were large and quite filling, and once again three rolls between three people, plus our appetizers, made for a very complete meal. Price-wise, the sushi was of course a bit expensive, although not outrageous spicy tuna was $4.75, and the other two “specialty” rolls were about $5.50 each . The appetizers were also very reasonably priced, I thought – each tofu dish was $6. Interestingly enough, the restaurant was first written up in the local DC papers for its tater tots! I did not try them, but looking around at other tables in the restaurant, they look delicious! They come served in a pail, and family friends who have since eaten at the restaurant have raved about them. I personally question how well tater tots would go with sushi and the other menu options, but go for it! : Perhaps next time I go, I’ll be a bit more adventurous. I really enjoyed eating here, and the atmosphere was great! And the restaurant is adding a brunch menu starting January 2009…be expecting another review around then :

The wait staff here was really nice and probably about the best thing about this place. My husband had a salmon roll, California roll and another roll that I can’t recall (I also can’t find it on the menu based off the pictures) it had red caviar on top. I don’t eat sushi so I got the Mongolian beef udon bowl, we also got the chicken tenders for our son. It was early afternoon on a weekend and not too busy. The only have online menus, I prefer to have a physical one and they are a CASHLESS establishment. My husband said the sushi was “okay” and I only took a few bite from my bowl, it was dry, unbalanced and lacked any real flavor. A little more sauce and a touch of sweetness would’ve made all the difference. The kids meal was massive but the chicken was grayish, I’m assuming they use dark meat for them and not white meat and that was the cause for the color but I’m not sure so we didn’t eat them and neither did he. Total as about $80 including the tip which is added automatically, that isn’t terrible but when you didn’t like the food and just want to go to McDonald’s afterwards it’s extremely disappointing.

Definitely stick to the sushi, it was amazing and the rolls were nearly twice the size of normal rolls. Skip out on the poke, it’s not worth the price (way too much of the crispy bits on top and not much of anything else). Not a fan of the mango sticky rice, the cherries were definitely… a choice. Not the right choice.

Came here on Saturday night and they were very busy. They play some of the best 80s -90s songs which are my favorite. Food and service are excellence. The server kept checking on us to make sure our water is always full. We'll be back soon!

I would not order from here again. Their order service is through Doordash, but on their website. To begin with they didn't receive the online order until the Doordash driver showed up at their door and they looked at their computer. When I eventually got the order it was missing an expensive item. They said I had to resolve it through Doordash. Doordash said I had to resolve it with them. End result: they get my money, but I don't get their food. The man I spoke too at Sticky Rice was rude and unapologetic.