Restaurants in Oxon Hill

Before guests to Japone—or its less-formal sister eatery, Café Japone, located upstairs—even take their first bites, they notice the restaurant’s unusually colorful environment: an attached lounge area dubbed Sango Sho surrounds patrons in oceanic hues and fiber-optic luminescence, and regular DJ performances keep toes moving so that they don’t get caught by a shark. Karaoke kicks off at 9:30 p.m. every night in both Japone and Café Japone, giving guests two places to show off their pipes on a continually updated list of the latest hit English, Japanese, and Spanish-language tracks.

To keep mouths happy, Japone's French-trained chef fuses Japanese and French flavors. Entrees include curried jumbo shrimp and scallops, plated with fresh veggies, japanese mushrooms, and a dollop of rice, while sushi specialties include the Arizona roll with shrimp tempura and carrot.

At Hikaru Sushi, seasoned chefs mold the sea's freshest specimens into more than 70 types of maki and nigiri. In addition to constructing classic California rolls from crab sticks and cucumbers, they whisk taste buds to the frontier of the sushi realm with colorful fruit maki and a deep-fried Virginia roll stuffed with asparagus, cream cheese, and yellowtail. The eponymous Hikaru bento box pairs a choice of five sushi rolls with hot teriyaki and an Asian amuse-bouche such as gyoza or shumai, and the Hikaru maki teams crispy shrimp tempura with a mayo that has more kick than a Rockette who took tae kwon do lessons as a child. To end the meal on a sweet note, guests can nibble desserts such as mango sherbet and tempura ice cream on the restaurant's outdoor patio.

Aromas of waft from Asia Bistro's busy kitchen, wrapping around stone fountains and lush potted plants to delight noses with hints of marinated short ribs and ginger salmon. Diner’s eyes widen as the heaping plates grace their tabletop or bar top—as they hold a lychee martini in one hand and chopsticks in the other—before slurping up soupy udon noodles or spicy tuna rolls. Bento boxes quickly find themselves bare as eaters nibble on pickled kimchi and tempura while listening to the Wednesday and Thursday night live music performances. Come warm weather, guests indulge in fresh sashimi as the carnivorous mermaids once did, in the open air of an outdoor patio.

While Axian Food Factory’s intercontinental menu reinforces the idea that in some ways the world has become smaller, it also reminds us that our planet is still full of diverse flavors. The offerings waffle between classic Americana dishes—such as Baltimore Ruebens and Italian hero sandwiches—and pan-Asian dishes, including Japanese yakisoba noodles and Korean bibimbob rice bowls. The joint also caters events. Its eclectic menu provides guests with plenty of options to suit their specific cravings, so they don’t have to rudely order in their own personal bucket of meatloaf.

A friendly staff serves up generously sized portions at this family-friendly Italian eatery. Children dine on kids'-menu selections as adults choose from a menu of classic pizzas, seafood, and pastas. Chefs' Southern Italian cooking can be enjoyed beneath the stucco archways of the casual dining area or amid well-kept shrubbery on the patio.

At Ristorante i Ricchi, owner Christianne Ricchi re-creates the traditional Tuscan flavors of her family's trattoria in Cercina, Italy, where she honed her cooking craft more than 20 years ago. The resulting menu of handmade pastas, prime aged beef, and grilled seafood and fowl garnered the Insegna del Ristorante Italiano—a certificate of culinary authenticity—from Italian president Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.

In keeping with Christianne's Tuscan roots, the rustic decor at Ristorante i Ricci evokes the ambiance of a country villa. Terra-cotta tiled floors share warm hues with murals depicting garlands of greenery and trompe l'oeil architectural details. In the open kitchen, chefs sear meats with embers from the same oak-fueled flames that warm the dining room from the finished side of the wood-burning hearth. In the front room, floor-to-ceiling windows filter natural light through lush potted plants, giving the dining area a garden-like feel.