It's easy to walk right past Joss Cafe and Sushi Bar, a tiny, 10-table pit stop on Annapolis' Main Street. But once you walk in and the sushi bar chef shouts "Irashai!" ("Welcome" in Japanese), you'll be glad you didn't.
My dining companion and I got to the restaurant about 8: 30 p.m., frazzled after a long day at work. Joss Cafe was packed, but its friendly servers and comfy ambience settled our nerves almost immediately.
With its soft lighting, partly wood-paneled walls, paper screens and other Japanese artifacts -- including a Kabuki dancer entrance flag -- Joss Cafe makes you feel as if you're dining in a warm, bamboo shack -- a shack lined with the Polaroid photos of customers.
"It's like they're trying to be Japanese, but they can't leave out their hokey American-ness," my companion observed.
The menu is not rigidly Japanese either. Offerings are mostly regular Japanese fare but include fried calamari and a range of interesting sushi -- such as the Dynamite Roll featuring salmon, yellow tail, flounder, clam, crab meat and flying fish roe mixed with a spicy, creamy sauce ($5.95).
We started with bowls of miso soup, which came seconds after we ordered. They were a good deal at $1.50 each and came in DTC bigger bowls than the black-lacquer cups used at many Japanese restaurants.
Our sushi came just as quickly, and our waitress seemed at a loss when asked to identify each roll. After goofing a few times, she had to run back to the sushi bar to consult the chef, who we later discovered was Chinese-American and had worked in a French restaurant.
We had the lobster roll ($8.95), which came in eight pieces, and it was superb. It arrived with a creamy dip that was a tangy mix of mayonnaise, soy sauce, sesame seed oil and chili peppers. But don't over-dip or it could overwhelm the sushi's lobster morsels.
The smoked salmon nigiri (two-piece) sushi ($3.50) had a lingering effect. The sliver of salmon was fresh and soft, and you could taste its smokiness long after it disappeared.
The best sushi we had was the Chesapeake Roll ($6.95), which came in pieces that seemed just slightly smaller than hockey pucks. It offered shrimp tempura and crab meat with avocado and cucumber wrapped in rice and topped with a generous sprinkling of flying fish roe.
The shrimp tempura was light, crisp and not greasy. The only problem was that it fell apart easily.
Sadly, compared with these excellent and interesting choices, the restaurant's signature sushi -- the Joss Roll ($5.95) -- seemed bland. It featured a mix of crab meat, asparagus and flying fish roe that would have been outstanding at an average sushi place.
Joss Cafe offers a delicious-looking range of Western desserts, but we chose coffee and Tai Yaki ($3.95), a yummy, chewy, fish-shaped pastry filled with red bean paste. It was served warm with red bean ice cream and was tasty and light enough not to feel heavy on your stomach.
We wanted to end our evening by immortalizing ourselves in the sushi shrine, but a waitress told us it had to be a special occasion. When my companion offered that it was our first date, she grabbed the Polaroid and directed us to say "sushi" as she snapped away.
If you stop by Joss Cafe, look for us before you leave. We're right under the exit sign.
Joss Cafe and Sushi Bar
Where: 195 Main St., Annapolis, 410-263-4688
Hours: Lunch from 11: 30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon to 11 p.m. Saturday. Dinner from 5: 30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5: 30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Prices: Appetizers from $3.95 to $9.50; soups and salads from $1.50 to $12.50; and entrees from $9.95 to $18.95. Sushi -- Nigiri-style (two pieces) from 50 cents to $4.95; rolls (four to six pieces) from $3 to $8.95. Credit cards: MasterCard, Visa, American Express
Rating: ***
Ratings: * culinary wasteland
**** culinary heaven
Pub Date: 8/21/97
