Sushi--Not On My Activities List Ever
December 1, 2012
First of all, my little goal of having a meal with a friend or with friends each week is going well. However, Friday evening I met a good friend at a sushi restaurant. She loves sushi.
Personally, I would not choose such a restaurant willingly, but I was invited, and I like my friend, so... It was so foreign, none of the items on the menu made any sense to me. I don't eat raw food or food wrapped in brown plastic, and I don't like to think of how long the food preparer had handled the food just to get it to get it into those origami sausage shapes.
My friend and I had a rather in-depth discussion of why I was averse to new foods. The result was she found the one thing on the menu I might actually eat...tempura vegetable appetizer.
There was a counter and seats where people were engrossed in watching grotesque things being prepared. It was supposed to be entertaining, the waiter explained patiently.
We became very involved in our conversation and our individual career trials and tribulations. It was lovely. When the food appeared I found it hard to even look at her huge rectangular plate of make-believe food. I know she could see it all over my face. I'm never shy about blurting out my opinions. May I just say that I had to request a fork, as if that was asking for a trained seal to be brought to the table. Don't misunderstand; the waiter was excellent. They just don't put forks on the table.
My plate was the size of a bread plate and contained five items, each one a "vegetable," if you can call one long string bean as one of the five items. There was a slice of a sweet potato, something green, something maybe yellow, and a definite onion ring, and something else. And I ate all of it.
Thank goodness the tempura coating was familiar in flavor. But wait, there is more. By the time I drank 2 full teapots of tea, and we gathered our things to leave, this place was packed with every person in Baldwin park, including children eating this stuff.
Outside, the sidewalk tables were just as packed except the family dogs were all sitting near the tables as well. I am definitely living in my own little world. My friend repeatedly asked why I wasn't excited to try new foods. Let me say that this is never going on my retirement activities list.
I adore my friend, I adored our conversation, I definitely did not adore my meal. As soon as I got home, I got ill, enough said. Who invented this kind of restaurant, and why are people paying these prices for mystery food with mysterious ingredients and names? It is obviously one of the most popular restaurants in the area.
If my good friend reads this, I hope she understands me well enough to know that I loved every minute of the meal, except the food.
Note: I am not criticizing the restaurant in any way.
