Azura Contemporary Asian Bistro

A Capitol Hill restaurant specializing in lychee martinis, fried calamari, and people-watching windows.

Next time I show up at for happy hour at Azura Contemporary Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar, I might print out the hours listed on the Web site and bring them with me. Why? Because our server insisted happy hour started at 4 p.m. and made us feel shady for trying to get things started at 3 p.m. We could say he was nice for “making an exception we shouldn’t expect again,” but after getting a mango mojito ($7) and lychee martini ($7) that tasted more virgin than Clay Aiken, we decided to turn our attention to the food, masking our woes of sobriety with the fried calamari with sweet chili sauce ($5). The food menu has a creative selection of Asian fusion delights, including hoisin pork ribs ($7.50) so tender the meat slides off the bone with the light tug of a chopstick. The house sushi roll ($4) was a thoughtful combination of fresh salmon, cream cheese, capers, cucumber, and red onion. All things considered, we would go back just for the tasty calamari, but there are also the giant floor-to-ceiling windows, which allow great Capitol Hill people-watching and a unique view of downtown. We’d also return for the generous happy hour schedule (3–7 p.m. daily, 9 p.m. to close Sunday through Wednesday, and 10 p.m. to close Thursday through Saturday), as long as the restaurant’s servers are accurately informed of it by then. KATIE BECKER 1216 Pine St., 264-0133, www.azurabistro.com. CAPITOL HILL