Restaurants in Annandale

The idea for sushi restaurant Oh Fish came in a sandwich shop. As chef Kaz Okochi moved through the line choosing his bread and toppings, he realized: why not sushi? He spent years figuring out how to translate the concept of customization to the sushi market (not to mention how to incorporate the diversity of ingredients he had encountered in Osaka). The result is a restaurant where, in addition to dining on crunchy shrimp, spicy tuna, and other [signature maki] http://www.ohfish.com/sign-maki.html), customers can design their own rolls for chefs to create in front of them as they shout "Thanks chef, you da man!" Starting with bases such as spicy salmon or shrimp salad, they add veggies such as cucumber, kimchee, cilantro, or carrots. They continue with sauces, making tough decisions between wasabi soy sauce and spicy mayo before finishing with bread crumbs, sesame seeds, or Japanese chili-powder.

True to its name, Hashi Sushi's culinary craftsmen bundle and roll a variety of sushi rolls, but that's not the only recipe in the restaurant's cookbook. The chefs also acquaint diners with traditional Japanese and Korean dishes they may not have tried, such as fresh udon or ramen noodle soups tossed with breaded tonkatsu, or bento boxes of spicy bulgogi strewn with kimchi. When the clock strikes 11 p.m. on weekends, the restaurant sheds its dignified sushi-bar airs to become a nightlife hub replete with sake bombs, a late-night menu, and K-pop tracks about how to use chopsticks.

At Amoo’s House of Kabob, house seasonings add zest to flavorful Persian dishes made with marinated chicken, lamb, and filet mignon. Skewered meats sizzle on top of a grill before they’re plated with heaps of rice and juicy stewed veggies and ferried to tables swathed in red and white linen. Patrons munch hummus appetizers as they peer through crimson-draped windows or hold philosophical conversations with their reflection in the dining room’s wall of mirrors.

Using a palette of freshly sliced fruit and house-blended purées, bartenders create masterful signature cocktails ranging from the vodka-infused strawberry lemonade to the cucumber-basil martini. Zeba’s cultivated list of draft beers—crafted by microbrews from across the country—fill glasses to the brim or spur wagers among bar patrons by threatening to overspill their pints with fluffy white heads. Patrons can sip their drinks at one of Zeba Bar and Grill's four distinct areas: the main bar, dance floor, front patio, or outdoor deck. The one-page menu presents a thoughtful selection of upscale bar eats such as spice-marinated chicken kebabs and made-from-scratch pizza to complement both adventurous and traditional drink choices.

Under the gentle light of curvaceous sconces, Tangier Restaurant and Bar's guests can indulge their taste buds with an assortment of Moroccan-inspired tapas and entrees from the menu. In addition to plating fresh pita bread and traditional Moroccan–style lamb sausage, the cooks also stir chickpeas, onions, and raisins into steaming orders of couscous or glaze chicken with a homemade harissa sauce made from hot peppers. To accompany meals, belly dancers occasionally perform in the dining room, traveling between diners' tables with the controlled, fluid grace of an Olympian swimming in a lap pool of maple syrup.

As guests step past the pink silk curtains that hang in the entryway, the first thing they notice is the unmistakable aroma of charcoal. The source is the restaurant's clay tandoor, where chicken and fish cop grill flavoring that completes their yogurt, herb, and spice marinades. Like an all-in-one print/fax/clone-an-army machine, this clay oven can handle multiple tasks at once, as it also yields such fresh-baked breads as the potato-and-pea-stuffed aloo paratha. Diners feast on these dishes at tables covered in white linens in a dining room that stretches back to a full bar.