THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Chez Mama-San

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Chez Mama-San Restaurant Review:

Georgetown's gentrified Cady's Alley and environs are a showplace of nostalgia, and also a prime destination for several very unique restaurants. Of these, Chez Mama-San may be one of the most exceptional. Its interior is coolly organized and clean-lined, and its two floors connected by a staircase. The Japanese food is billed as home-style fare, so if you are looking for a parade of top-flight sushi, you'd better look elsewhere. Instead, you may speculate as to whether a ground sirloin meatloaf or a Japanese-style beef curry has more comfort-food appeal, or you might save up your nostalgia for a day's end meal of Kurobuta pork confit accompanied by a bowl of Japanese rice porridge with crab, chicken and vegetables. The thinking behind this menu is that Japanese comfort foods---curry, rice balls, croquettes---are really comforting. We love the cracker-thin Kurobuta pork cutlet sandwich, a geometric wonder of prettily stacked layers of toasted bread, grilled pork and the merest hint of sweet-hot jam and wasabi paste as sandwich spreads. As the side, a grilled rice ball with a pickled plum center completes the meal. And for dessert, the improbable mochi ice cream, an ice cream sandwich with the sandwich part made of rice.