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Review content:
Restaurant Review Mie N Yu's Small Wonders By Eve Zibart Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, Feb. 8, 2008 At first sight: The extravagantly quirky Mie N Yu looks as if it had been decorated out of a Singapore flea market, with paper lanterns and lacquer-red shutters, Hindu and Buddhist deities, bazaar awnings, upholstered drum stools and water fountains. There's a table for two in a gazebo and one for six in a giant bird cage. The black bar is embedded with mah-jongg tiles. The music is a mix of reggae, salsa, chaabi (Moroccan pop) and techno. On the menu: Although the entrees have serious price tags, chef Tim Elliott has crafted several more budget-friendly menus: happy hour dim sum at the bar starting at $1 for veggie tempura and topping out at $4 for delicate duck shumai (Monday-Tuesday from 5 to 7 and Wednesday-Friday from 4 to 7); American fusion sushi for $5 to $15; and tapas-like small plates in the same price range. (Sushi is available only Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but Elliott hopes to expand to five nights next month.) A number of dishes have a humorous '50s cocktail-party feel: crab Rangoon (crab- and cream cheese-stuffed won tons), shrimp toast, barbecued ribs and shrimp won tons -- even a pu-pu platter. The dim sum and sushi are smallish servings, but enough for two to nibble; and the tastings are half again as large, so four starters (or an appetizer combo) and two tasting dishes make up an intriguing and substantial meal for two. At your service: Except when it's really busy, the bar service is attentive to empty plates, but not pushy. In the dining rooms, waiters double-team to watch for empty dishes and dirty flatware. But they don't pressure you to order more (or more expensive) food, even if you stick to the tastings. On the table: The bacon-wrapped chorizo-stuffed dates resemble those vintage chicken liver cocktail snacks but are much tastier. The tempura-fried mushroom roll is lightly battered and drizzled with truffle oil. "Veal wraps" are very like Peking duck, pulled crunchy meat with scallion crepes and hoisin sauce to dip; they're tasty but a little messy. Roasted beets are served with unusually good Humboldt Fog blue cheese. Grilled calamari are tossed with black olives, caramelized onions and goat cheese. Scallops topped with foie gras were carefully cooked, though the pureed squash sauce is bland and the saba too scant. Sugar-cane-barbecued ribs are tender and not overly sweet. The cheese sampler (your choice of three) comes with a unusually generous dozen crisply toasted baguette slices. The sushi includes good, not over-rich toro (fatty tuna) sashimi topped with witty "eyes" of grape tomato slices and dots of pesto. The "BLT" sushi of well-blotted smoked bacon, lettuce and tamago (Japanese omelet) is tasty, although a little thick and clumsy. The spam and eggs sushi -- a rectangle of rice, a bite of hamlike pork and a sunny-side-up quail egg -- is fun but sized somewhere between one bite and two. Thai shrimp roll is flavored with a mild red curry and baby basil. What to avoid: The meat in the Peking duck roll is overwhelmed by sriracha sauce, the ubiquitous Thai chili sauce. The rock lobster meat was overcooked, and its remoulade-like sauce didn't suit. Wet your whistle: Mie N Yu has a full bar, several imported beers, a few boutique sakes and an expanding wine list with a large number of choices by the glass.
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