Joss Cafe: Soup, sushi & mochi

Located on Charles Street, Joss Cafe is a recent addition to the Mount Vernon ring of restaurants. I like it because it's cheaper than most of the other sushi places in the area and has that nice new restaurant vibe to it. Plus, they cheer when you walk in. Always a mood booster.

The only downside I would say is that their menu lacks many entrees. The sushi menu is fantastic, the entree menu is tiny.

A visiting friend sang his ass off in a local opera production and to celebrate we had dinner at Joss. We both started with soups.

Miso soup (2.95): Mild soy bean broth

Pretty straight forward; tasty; good portion of tofu and seaweed.

Rockfish soup ($5.95): Slices of rockfish with cellophane noodles in light clear broth, garnished with carrots, scallions and shitake mushrooms

Very, very strong for the first taste; almost overpoweringly salty; bitter bite; the rockfish itself is well cooked and tasted great.

Then it was on to a sushi-fest.

Our plate of shared sushi rolls. Tuna, salmon avocado, spicy scallop, Alaskan. Quite the fish feast.

Spicy scallop roll ($6.95 for 8 pieces)

Good God, is this a great sushi roll. I want to eat the spicy, creamy sauce on top with a spoon. The scallop is tender and sweet, contrasting perfectly with the sauce and the crunchiness of the cucumber slices inside. I don't normally care for spicy sushi but this is so delicious I could eat it every day and not get tired of it.

Alaskan Roll ($8.95 for 4 pieces): Combination of salmon, crabstick, flounder, scallops, cucumber & avocado inside. FF Roe on outside, garnished with salmon roe.

This roll did not do it for me. It's too large and difficult to eat. Every time I tried to bite into it, the roll would just collapse. My friend had a roll and even he had trouble not making a complete mess on his small white plate. I could only eat two of the four. The flounder was too overpowering and fishy, obviously not in a good sushi-fishy way. The roll itself looks attractive and colorful, but the taste is not nearly as attractive.

We shared mochi ice cream for dessert, one mango piece and one green tea piece. Tasted fine. Nothing to write home about, but it was fine for mochi.

Joss Cafe has another location in Annapolis and seems to be quite popular. I think it's a decent sushi place in the Mount Vernon area and would return (happily) for another meal.


Current location: Apartment.
Current music: How Many Licks? (Explicit) - Lil' Kim & Sisqo
Currently eating: Leftover mushroom risotto I made a couple of days ago.