2915 Columbia Pike, Arlington, Va. (703) 521-2811 Hours of Operation and Prices Lunch: M-F 11:30-2; Entrees: $5-$10 Dinner: Sun-Th 5:30-10, F-Sat 5:30-10:30; Entrees: $7.50-$15 Other Information • Credit Cards: All major • Reservations: Recommended • Dress: Casual • Parking: Free lot • Nearest Metro: Rosslyn • For the Maryland branch of Matuba, which has similar dishes, prices and hours: 4918 Cordell Ave., Bethesda, Md., (301) 652-7449.

There is, of course, more than sushi here. You can find traditional Japanese noodle dishes, grilled meat or fish, and sesame-scented salads. And if you like, you can have raw fish for a first course, before your sushi. That's my choice, since the chopped raw tuna salad, studded with shreds of black seaweed, is one of the spiciest and most scrumptious versions of tuna tartare anywhere. Then check the daily specials for sushi treats: diced raw scallops, soft-shell crabs or fried shrimp formed into a sushi roll, pale pink tuna belly, red clams. And every day there are such rare choices as yellowtail cup, its fish minced and seasoned, then piled on rice and wrapped in seaweed; or rolls of spiced tuna, spiced cod with radish sprouts or raw asparagus with smoked salmon. The greatest treat, though, is a rainbow roll, with diagonal stripes of salmon, yellowtail, tuna and avocado waiting to blend and meld on the tongue. Your eyes will love it, too.