Maru San. 325 Seventh St., SE. Chef Carlos Delgado of acclaimed Peruvian restaurant Causa in Shaw is leaning into the Japanese immigrant-inspired flavors of Peru—known as Nikkei cuisine—at his newest restaurant. Maru San, opening February 20 in Eastern Market, will focus on Japanese-style handro lls with Peruvian twists. The 25-seat counter restaurant gets its name from Sakura Maru, a ship that brought the first Japanese immigrants to Peru in the late 1800s. Delgado says handrolls are one of his favorite things to eat, and aside from the short-lived Hando Medo on 14th Street, DC has been lacking a place specifically specializing in them. At Maru San, Delgado partnered with chef Simon Lam, who worked with him at José Andrés’s Asian-inspired Peruvian restaurant China Chilcano. More recently, Lam worked at Tiger Fork, next door to Causa. Carlos Delgado is partnering with chef Simon Lam, who previously worked with him at China Chilcano. Photograph by Rey Lopez. Every roll at Maru San will be made to order with toasted nori that crackles when you bite into it. Delgado calls the restaurant “quick service” because there are no servers; diners will check off their orders on a dim sum-style paper menu. “You should be able to get in and out in 30 to 45 minutes, depending on what you order and how fast you eat,” he says. One ceviche-inspired roll will feature lightly torched snapper with a leche de tigre mayo and a garnish of crispy sweet potato. “There’s an umami bomb of flavor because you still get that handroll snap, the rice, all the things you want in a handroll, but as soon as you start biting into the fish, then you all of a sudden get this acid flavor that just tastes like ceviche,” Delgado explains. Handrolls are served on custom ceramic plates. Photograph by Rey Lopez. Another handroll draws from a classic Peruvian-Italian grilled scallop dish with parmesan and lime. This version combines scallop with a sauce made of parmesan, lime, butter, garlic, and aji amarillo—and the whole mix gets torched. You’ll also find standard handrolls with tuna, crab, and octopus, plus premium options with uni, aged fatty tuna, and foie gras. Wasabi won’t be the only condiment—look for housemade Peruvian sauces, such as a fermented aji rocoto. Most individual handrolls will cost between $7 and $13, but there are some splurgier options for the luxe ingredients. Pre-selected sets will also be available at a discounted price. Carlos Delgado sources Japanese seafood from the same purveyors as his fine-dining restaurant Causa. Photograph by Rey Lopez. The menu will also feature plenty of other raw fish dishes, including tiraditos, sashimi, and usuzukuri (where the fish is sliced paper thin). Delgado says he’s sourcing Japanese seafood from the same purveyors he uses for Causa, and Maru San will likewise dry-age some fish. Don’t expect any cooked dishes, except an occasional soup.  The drink menu will include Peruvian and Japanese beers and simple cocktails such as highballs and chilcanos with pisco, ginger ale, and lime. Non-alcoholic options will range from matcha lemonade to chicha morada, the fruity, spiced purple corn drink. Carlos Delgado with a caviar handroll, available a la carte and as part of the tasting menu. Photograph by Rey Lopez. Four to five seats at the front of the restaurant will be devoted in evenings to the “Maru Experience,” a tasting menu of about 15 courses for $115 per person. About five of those courses will be handrolls, including one stuffed with caviar (it’s one of the only dishes also available a la carte). The rest of the menu will feature seafood in other preparations. Only one 7 PM seating will be available per night with reservations on Resy. In fact, it’s already booked up through April. But the rest of the restaurant is first-come, first-served for walk-ins only. An octopus mural features prominently above the 25 seat counter at Maru San. Photograph by Rey Lopez. Custom ceramic plates were imported from Spain and Peru, while octopus-shaped chopstick holders were 3D-printed from recycled plastic. A mural of a giant octopus by Brooklyn-based muralist Carson DeYoung also features prominently on the ceiling of the narrow, dark, and moody space, formerly a cupcake shop. “The person giving you handrolls is like an octopus,” Delgado says, “because they’re just nonstop feeding the people in front of you.”The post A Japanese-Peruvian Handroll Bar Is Coming to Capitol Hill first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less