On my first full day of vacation a couple weeks ago I was craving sushi for lunch. But I didn't know of anywhere good to get sushi near my parents' house. Neither of them eat sushi, so they were no help either. I went on TripAdvisor and saw good ratings for Ikko Sushi, and decided to try it out. I was just doing carryout, so my dad went with me.
We both used to be very familiar with downtown Silver Spring. But that was a million years ago. If you haven't been there in years, good luck finding anything that wasn't there before. There are so many tall apartment buildings and businesses, and it's very easy to get turned around. Even with GPS, we made at least 5 wrong turns and drove around and around in circles. But by then I was determined to find this place. Finally we did, and it was in the lobby of an apartment building. If you blink, you're going to miss it. There are a couple of other restaurants in the area, and it seems they cater mainly to people who work and live in the area because of the limited parking. There was a garage nearby, but I didn't want to pay for that. We found street parking, and went in.
It's a really small place. There's only 14 tables, plus seating at the sushi bar. They've also got a small outdoor patio.
It was almost empty, but it was also 1:45PM. They close from 2-5, so I was happy we made it in time. I went with the Baltimore roll and the volcano roll. While I waited for my food the server asked if I wanted the salad and miso soup that comes with it. Sure, why not.
The soup was just okay. But I'm not really a big fan of miso soup, so my review is probably biased.
The salad was good. In hindsight, I would have preferred double salad and no soup. The ginger dressing was really flavorful.
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| Baltimore: lump crab, avocado, masago Volcano: California roll topped with spicy crab, spicy sauce, masago |
The Baltimore roll was so good. The creamy texture of the crab is amazing. I love that places in Maryland use fresh crabmeat in their sushi. I'm guessing anywhere that has access to fresh crab does. And if they don't, they're missing out. There is absolutely no comparison to the fake stuff, which is why I avoid sushi that uses it. There was also a little old bay on top, and that added a great kick.
The volcano roll was a lot spicier than I expected. But since 2 of the ingredients are spicy, I don't know why I was surprised. But it was still super delicious. I've never seen cream cheese like that before, in strips along the top. Usually cream cheese is inside the roll. But I have to admit I liked this way better because it was a good contrast in texture, and toned down the heat really well.
I usually don't do masago, and ask them to leave it out. But I left it in on both rolls this time, just to test it out. And quite honestly, I couldn't even taste it. I'm sure there was a mild flavor somewhere in there, but I was so excited about the crab meat, that kind of overtook everything else.
Will I go back? Definitely. The sushi was delicious, and I now know where I'm going.
