Matsuri (Baltimore Restaurant Week)

I'm already liking this Baltimore Restaurant Week thing and it's only one lunch old. The sister and I went to Matsuri (Restaurant Week menu) today to kick things off. I don't make it to Federal Hill often, and she never gets there. so this was a new experience for her.

We were seated by the window, and pretty much knew what we wanted. The only question we had was whether to each order a different entrée and share, or each order the same so we'd each have more sashimi. I didn't want to share, so we each got the same thing.

Our first course of three (for only $20 - okay, $20.07) was a choice between a seaweed salad and shumai dumplings. We each got the shumai, which were crispy outside and moist inside. Lovely to eat. Along with that we got the standard miso soup and a salad. My sister remarked that the dressing was very good. I agree - better than most I've had in Japanese restaurants. It wasn't a crunched up, sour sweet carrot dressing like you get in many places, but a creamy, savory dressing that made the iceberg lettuce underneath it unusually edible.

The main course was, of course, sushi and sashimi. And the arrangement was as beautiful as it was tasty. Wonderful mackerel (I think it was mackerel), salmon, squid, clam and scallop - oh, and krab with a K - all with a heaping bowl of rice. It was the standard type of offering, but it tasted so good!

Our final course was where we split ways. She got the green tea mochi ice cream, and I got the red bean mochi. The waiter brought each of us two of our ice creams, so conveniently we swapped. She liked the red bean better than the green tea; I liked them both equally.

Our meals would have remained $20.07 each were it not for the drinks we ordered. She got a Diet Coke (about $2), while I got the standard small warm sake ($4.50). Altogether the total came to about $48 with tax. Good service, good food, good ice cream.