Eat
Nama Ko's vegan omakase. Photo by Nama Ko.
Vibe with Vegetarian Sushi at These Local Spots Innovating Fish-Free Creations
September 26, 2023 @ 5:18pm
The DMV has a wide variety of unique vegan sushi beyond your basic cucumber avocado roll. Here’s our list of must-try, vegetable forward bites.
Sushi without seafood? It sounds crazy, but we live in a city with chefs so talented that they are able to devise vegetarian sushi that is so packed with flavor and texture you’ll forget that sushi is originally a raw seafood dish. While almost all sushi restaurants offer the classic avocado or cucumber rolls, the list below highlights some of the more exceptional vegetarian sushi options available in the city, with little (and big!) twists on traditional sushi.
Nama Ko’s Vegan Omakase
The vegan omakase at Nama Ko is such an epic display of color and creativity that there’s no one way to pick a single nigiri on the plate to highlight. There’s a tomato nigiri, where tomato is shaved thinly to resemble tuna; a soy sauce-marinated mushroom nigiri with mushroom sliced to look just like abalone; a leek nigiri designed to look like eel nigiri; avocado nigiri with rice crowned with crescents of avocado, a shredded broccoli and wasabi roll and more. Other vegetarian menu items not to be missed include crispy avocado tempura, broccolini tossed in a thick, rich miso sesame dressing and shishito peppers drenched in a spicy vegan mapo tofu sauce.
1926 14th St. NW, DC; nama-ko.com // @namakodc
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Nobu’s Vegetable Hand Roll with Sesame Miso Dressing
This sushi roll is as pretty to look at as it is delightful to eat. Bright green lettuce leaves, crescents of avocado and matchstick carrot slices are smothered in a toasty sesame miso sauce and rolled into a nori cone. It’s crispy and fresh, with the dressing as the star of the dish.
2525 M St. NW, DC; noburestaurants.com // @noburestaurants
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O-Ku’s Harvest Roll
This dynamic sushi roll includes small pieces of tempura-fried sweet potato, avocado and cucumber, all of which are enrobed in the rice and nori. The roll is then topped off with dollops of a tangy goat cheese mousse, a sweet soy sauce glaze and shards of fried ginger. It is sweet, cool, creamy and just surprising enough for your palate because of the goat cheese.
1274 5th St. NE, DC; o-kusushi.com // @okusushidc
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Sticky Rice’s Hot Hippy Roll
Stuffed with spicy marinated tofu, peanuts, cucumbers and shredded carrot, this sushi roll has a bit of heat, and a whole bunch of crunch. Insider tip: the Hot Hippy Roll is just one stand-out among many; Sticky Rice offers almost 20 vegetarian/vegan rolls, including some that have vegan tuna!
1224 H St. NE, DC; stickyricedc.com // @stickyricedc
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Sushi Jin’s Crazy Jungle Roll
Crazy is right! This sushi roll comes stuffed with woodsy asparagus, meaty shitake mushrooms and crunchy cucumber. The roll is crowned with thin slices of avocado, doused in a sublime sriracha- mayo, and then topped with pickled jalapeno. It is feast for your taste buds as it packs quite the punch – heat, acidity, and richness. Insider tip: Sushi Jin has a whole vegetarian sushi menu, too. Options range from simple, like a tempura-fried green bean roll, to wild, like the crazy jungle roll we recommend.
8555 Fenton St. Silver Spring, MD; sushijinnextdoor.com // @sushijinnextdoor
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