Just Roll With It
Sushi-Zen, 2457 N. Harrison St., Arlington, 703-534-6000; www.sushizen.com
Sushi-Zen’s specialty roll platter. Photo by Stacy Zarin-Goldberg
Putting together a cocktail party for 20 is a snap when you have an excellent Japanese restaurant at your disposal. After all, is there a more perfect bite-size morsel than a medallion of sushi?
Enter Sushi-Zen’s elegant specialty roll platter: a tasty assortment of 112 maki pieces that includes California rolls; crispy shrimp-tempura rolls; crunchy spicy tuna rolls; salmon-and-avocado rolls; tuna-and-avocado rolls; volcano rolls (shrimp tempura, crab stick, avocado); alligator rolls (shrimp tempura, eel, avocado); Virginia rolls (spicy tuna, cucumber, salmon, avocado); Hawaiian rolls (crab stick and avocado topped with tuna and salmon); and Oishi rolls (shrimp, spicy tuna, avocado). The colorful spread comes with wasabi artfully molded into leaf shapes, plus piles of pickled ginger, avocado slices and orchids. (Other platter choices in different sizes and configurations include nigiri and vegetarian rolls.)
For added variety, consider augmenting your menu with gyoza (crispy filled dumplings), yakitori (broiled chicken skewers with soy ginger dipping sauce) and bowls of edamame. Now all you have to figure out are the cocktails.