Tasting Journal

Mate in Georgetown

3101 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
202.333.9232
http://www.latinconcepts.com/mate

Sometimes it takes more than just a pretty face to be a success… Mate, a Latin sushi restaurant in Georgetown, proves this to be true. The girls and I took Katherine there for her birthday the other day, and although reviews had forewarned us that Mate was just another trendy establishment, with satisfactory food and often attracting an over pretentious crowd, we had high hopes anyway. Trendy can be good, right?

Not only was the food just adequate, but the infamous “eye candy” that was supposedly plentiful there, was pretty much non-existent (but then again, maybe that was because we were there on a Tuesday night). The service was a little shaky throughout the night, and at certain points we had trouble flagging down our server. The skimpy menu consisted predominantly of sushi, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but probably not a good thing either if you’re hungry.

In addition to your usual nigiri and sashimi, Mate also offers several types of “Latin sushi”, which is basically a creative hybrid of Latin and Japanese elements all rolled up into one. The results include the Tamalito Roll (yellowtail, jalapeno, avocado, plantains, and corn mesa wrapped in daikon radish skin), the Buenos Aires (jumbo lump crab with torched salmon and tempura crunch, with wasabi mayo), and the Mate Luxe Roll (eel, sweet plantains, jumbo lump crab meat, English cucumber, and avocado wrapped in nori).

We rounded out our meal with several orders of seaweed salad (not bad), a couple orders of edemame (also pretty tasty), miso soup for Roman (I didn’t get to try this, but Roman said it was good), and ceviche (not bad). Katherine and Kim tried Mate’s mojitos, which were okay. We finished off the evening with raspberry sorbet (refreshingly delicious) and presents for Katherine.

Despite the limited menu and spotty service, I would definitely go back to Mate on another night. It has a nice atmosphere and seems like it could be a fun place to go for drinks with your friends.

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