A brisk walk from the main drag of restaurants and bars near U and 14th streets, NW, Izakaya Seki is tucked into an unassuming and narrow, two-floor row house. Choose to eat upstairs in the dining room or downstairs at the chef’s bar. Either choice is equally no-frill; coat hooks are just about the only décor. Once seated, you’ll be hard-pressed not to salivate, either over plates arriving at neighboring tables or by what the robata cooks behind the bar are turning over a low flame. When it comes time to choose what to drink, brace yourself for page after page of sake selections. Your server is your best ally here. Another great ally: the list of specials handwritten on a piece of scrap paper, usually accompanied by a quirky doodle or two. The chef’s rotating sashimi selection is explosively rich (note: the wasabi here is fresh), and the seasonal miso soup (recently served with assorted roasted mushrooms) is not to be missed. From the main menu, order the slow-grilled octopus. The salmon roe hand roll—with its barely warm rice and fresh roe—will put you in a state of nirvana. In short: Izakaya Seki deserves a deep bow of respect.
Known during the Jazz Age as America's 'Black Broadway', the neighborhood around U Street became an African American cultural powerhouse during the 1920s and '30s. Poet Langston Hughes and jazz great Duke Ellington matured here. Along with Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Redd Fo, they made 'You' Street world-famous.
These days the area has transformed into a shopping and nightlife corridor for a diverse group of consumers, diners, drinkers and partiers. It seems a new business opens along the stretch between 9th Street and 16th Street nearly every week.