SUMI MEANS CHARCOAL IN JAPANESE

or so my friend, Am, kept telling us. Here sister was preparing to open a restaurant with her fiance in Allston. And lo and behold, they were opening a yakitori restaurant (if you look at my posts from la, you'll see that i specifically wished for someone to open a yakitori place in Boston) and so, we all went off to join them on their opening day.

The ironic part about their new restaurant, Sumi, is that even though their name translates out to charcoal, there's actually no charcoal grilling involved. All of it is done over a gas grill which makes for some different flavors. (or lack of grilling flavor). Ok, so let's start. Sumi is a really cute, small restaurant. I think it seats under 30 people. and this being the first night it was open, a large, rowdy group of us made up most of the customers. Here's a photo of some of the decorations. It's a lucky cat! I think it's super cute and they have them all over the restaurant.And onto the food. Am started us off with some boiled soybeans. They were very nicely flavored with sesame oil and soy sauce. I ate a bunch of these while everyone else ate skewers of pork belly and beef. They seemed to enjoy them immensely.Ok, if you remember anything about my previous post about eating yakitori, I really like to eat
oh let's call it "untraditional" part of the chicken. These parts tend to have more flavor and certainly a different texture. And when I saw these on the menu at Sumi, I of course, had to try them out. So I ordered several skewers. Here's my skewer of chicken hearts:
which were quite tasty and in some type of marinade. Here's a photo of the chicken gizzard:
And another photo of the chicken meatballs.
Here's my favorite dish of the night, the chicken wing. And i really liked the small grilled fish. (which i unfortunately don't have a pic of) and was very proud of Jayna and Leah for trying it out.
It's nice that Sumi has different options for people who don't want to order just a bunch of skewers for dinner (which at $2-$4 per skewer, can add up pretty quickly). Leah was smart by ordering a short rib rice platter. And there was also an unagi/fois gras platter that many people at the table ordered and enjoyed. In general, I found the skewers to be quite different from my favorite place in LA. First of all, carcinogens taste good. (case in point, bbq. ) which in an unfortunate fact. So i missed that grilled charcoaly flavor that a gas grill just can't replicated. Also, at my yakitori place in la, they seasoned the meat very lightly and let the flavor and juiceness of the meat come through. I think I tend to enjoy that more than the skewers at Sumi, where they marinate all their meats, cause I found the marinade a bit too sweet and cloying. I did enjoy my meal, though. And am very pleased that a yakitori restaurant has opened so close to my home. I think that next time, though, I'll take someone who'll pay for me (like i do at home), so i won't be counting the number of sticks i order before i hit my budget.

And as a final departing pic, here's our party post dinner. (minus jayna and her 2 friends)

FOR GOOD FOOD, GO WHERE THE NATIVES GO

As a general rule, when you're looking for good ethnic food, it's a good idea to check out the clientele of the place. When you're going to a Chinese restaurant, and there are actual Chinese people eating there, it's a sign that you're at a good place. (Case in point, Victoria's). So it was a good sign that on my last trip to Sushi Express at St. Mary's on Beacon, there were plenty of Japanese people present. Actually, there were only Japanese people present. (except for me)

Here' s a pic of the place. It's a really simple little restaurant that serves inexpensive food and sushi. Actually more sushi than anything else. And we're not talking about the best sushi in Boston. But it is pretty good and definetly well priced. It's basically the place where the poor Japanese students attending B.U. go to get their sushi fix. (or in my case, the local sushi place where i can get quick take out to eat at home).Here's the interior of the place. Like I said, it's small. Hardly more than 20 seats (maybe 5 can fit at the actual sushi bar). But when I arrived, the place quickly filled up. I had placed my order in advance.Actually I was very hungry, and so was overly ambitious in my ordering. I ended up getting 4 rolls, and here they are below. There's a spicy california roll, a shrimp tempura roll, a chicken teriyaki roll and a soft shell crab roll. (you might have noticed that i don't do the raw thing. not cause i'm scared of raw stuff, but i can't deal with the texture.) of course, this enormous box of sushi was way too much for me. I ate half of it and gave up. and for all that sushi, it cost me $20. This is definetly a place where you can get a quick, casual dinner for under $15, unless you're overordering like i did.And don't worry, they have some items that aren't sushi. Like rice bowls with beef or chicken, if you're not a sushi fan. So in summary, I don't think the sushi at Sushi Express is worth driving to (unlike Oishii, which i once waited 2.5 hours to eat at). But if you happen to be in the neighborhood and in need of your sushi fix, stop by for some inexpensive, pretty good sushi!

CELEBRATING MATT'S BIRTHDAY AT MATT MURPHY'S

Every year my friend Matt likes to celebrate his birthday at Matt Murphy's in Brookline Village. Except that for the last 2 years, he hasn't lived in Boston. He actually drives up from upstate New York to go to Matt Murphy's, which is a testament to how much he likes this place. For those of you who haven't been to Matt Murphy's in a while (and up to a week ago, I was one of those), it's not the Matt Murphy's of the old days.

I had heard that Matt Murphy's had undergone some changes, but I wasn't expecting what I saw when I walked in for dinner last week. The Matt Murphy's of old had this sort of charm to it. It was dark, crowded, with funny bookcases filled with games and random books and live music on the weekends. You could get beers on tap from bartenders with cool accents and fish and chips wrapped in newspaper with homemade ketchup. The new Matt Murphy's looks so different that when I first walked up to the door, I though I had walked up to the wrong restaurant. It looks totally gussied up. With a new roof, embedded speakers, flowers, dim lighting, it actually reminded me a lot of Pomodoro's, just two doors down.

I guess these changes aren't a bad thing, but it certainly does make for a different dining experience. I felt a little underdressed when I walked in. Oh also, they now make you wait for your entire party to arrive before they'll seat you. We got there early so we could actually get a table, since this place fills up very quickly and has limited seating, so that part of the Matt Murphy's experience hasn't changed. After I took a quick look at the menu, I realized that to pay for the fancy new surroundings, Matt Murphy's has raised it's prices. It wasn't cheap before, either, so now it borders a bit on the expensive side.

But on to the food. Here's a very nice cheese plate that we all shared. And i still like the bread that they give you, will slabs of butter that taste extra creamy and buttery.

Oh, and here's my glass of Pear Cider. You can't go to Matt Murphy's without having a drink. I also like this beer that involves the word "hen" in its title. It's a bit creamy, though still light. And of course, they have Guinness.For dinner, I ordered the potato leek soup. Which was very tasty. I liked the crunchy onion thingies on top.And for my meal, i got the cheese sandwich. I certainly liked the bread that was used. And the cheddar was very good, though a bit too much for me. The fries are also excellent.Matt loved the lamb stew that he got. I think it has Guinness in it. and though I've never tried it, I suppose that if it's worth driving all this way for, that it's gotta be worth it. All in all, I did enjoy our evening at Matt Murphy's, though I still long for the old Matt Murphy's. The new one might be all pretty with flowers, but you can still relive the old days, cause you still have to walk through the tiny kitchen to get to the bathroom.

LESSONS IN HOMEMADE RAVIOLI

As you all know, i went home a few weeks ago. And unfortunately, I forgot to cancel my Boston Organics order while i was there. (despite having written a little note to myself and writing a reminder on my hand. The minute I landed in LA, all aspects of life in Boston were forgotten). So upon my return, I had a load of veggies waiting for me, which had to be used ASAP.

As usual, the first resource i turned to was foodtv.com in order to get some inspiration. I had a bunch of what i thought was swiss chard (actually, it was red chard), so typed that in and out popped all these recipes. A creative one which I liked involved swiss chard ravioli. And as I searched other ravoili recipes, i decided to make a red chard, spinach, mushroom and ricotta ravioli. (since all those other veggies also came with the Boston organics order and had to be used). Of course, I wasn't about to make the pasta myself, so I had my sister by me two boxes of fresh pasta at Russo's.

Which means that all i had to do was make the filling and assemble the ravioli. Having worked in a kitchen, i knew that ravoili really isn't all that difficult to assemble, it just takes sometime. So first, i prepared the filling. I started off by slicing the mushrooms,
red chard (you can tell by the red veins in the leaves)and washing off the spinach, which i stored in a plastic bag with damp towels (very Rachel Ray-like).

As soon as that was done, everything was ready to be sauteed together. So first, i sauteed the mushrooms in a bit of olive oil until the liquid had dissappeared. Next, i tossed in the swiss chard, waited for that to wilt down, and lastly, added the spinach. I let all of that cook down together and ended up with this:I put this all in a bowl and let it cool down. Then, i put everything into the food processer and pulsed it a few times so that everything was chopped up together and mixed through.

Next, I added in about half a pound of ricotta cheese and grated in parmiggiano reggiano cheese. And seasoned with salt and pepper. Here's what is looks like.i layed out the pasta one sheet at a time and kept the rest of it refrigerated, so it didn't get too warm and hard to work with. i brushed the entire side of the pasta with an egg wash, and then spooned the filling right on. Here's what it looks like.Then, i laid my next sheet of pasta on top and made sure to press down on the top sheet with my fingers so that no air was trapped inside and the ravioli was firmly sealed.
After trimming off an excess pasta, I cut the ravioli into squares and laid them on a waiting sheet pan, under a damp cloth. Ok, I'll admit they ended up a little bigger than i expected. And i tried reducing their size, but it didn't really work out with the size of the pasta sheets. The little yellow dots you see around them is cornmeal. I used that to stop the pasta from sticking together.
Still, i think they turned out pretty nicely. And i wrapped them all up and stuck them in the freezer. I'm having all the friends over for dinner on Sunday night, and we'll be having the ravioli, so i'll tell you all how it actually turned out next week.

A DISAPPOINTING BDAY DINNER AT THE RED HOUSE

Very few things in life will anger me enough to actually write to someone and complain. Actually, I've never taken this action at a restaurant before. My normal course of action is just to never go again and to tell everyone I know never to visit said restaurant. But after my birthday dinner at the Red House, i've learned that one thing can anger me enough- seriously crappy service and rudesness to my friends. And so, let me retell the story of dinner, and what actions i took afterwards.

Let me start by saying that the Red House used to be one of my favorite restaurats in Boston. Not because they have incredible, amazing food. I'm not going to say that. But they do have an excellent menu, prepared well, in a cozy setting and with reasonable prices. Which is why i chose to reserve a private dining room there to celebrate my bday. I made the reservation nearly 3 weeks in advance, just to make sure we had it all set and of course, invited all my friends.

Well, when we arrived, we were only expecting around 10 people to show, but ended up with 14. So we all squeezed in around the table, and since we're all friends, it wasn't a big deal. But here's what was a bad signal, the minute we stepped into the room, the waiter seemed to be unhappy with us. I'm not sure why. Maybe he had a bad party in front of us, which is really no excuse, but whatever it was, he wasn't happy to be there. And had i been a smarter person, I would've asked for a new waiter immediately, but I had never had to that before and also I was, surrounded by friends and didn't want to make a scene. As people arrived, he didn't bring any bread or snacks for the ppl waiting, never checked in on us and basically left us for a full half hour. In the end, Leah had to get up and grab him so that we could order. These are just minor annoyances, but it gets worse.

So we all began to order. Many of us ended up getting duck and lamb. At any rate, at the end, my friend Sue Min tried to order a drink for her husband, and the waiter actually talked back to her and said very rudely "I already asked if anyone wanted a drink." (he had, once, before everyone had gotten there). That was not cool. We had to ask for bread repeatedly and as dinner progressed, he was in general really hostile. Ok, onto some of the food. Here's a pic of my
appetizer, which was seared scallops with mushrooms. You'll notice that it's off kilter because the waiter basically threw the plate down in front of me when he served me.This was a pretty good scallop dish. Not amazing, but prepared well and I liked the large amount of mushrooms. Here's my sister's crab salad. I gotta say, this appetizer was definetly a big winner. Fresh, bright flavors and a very generous portion. I liked it a lot.Oh, and here's a pic of Sue Min's mushroom phyllo appetizer, which I've also ordered before and enjoyed.Here's a pic of my entree, the duck, which i almost always order at the Red House. One of the great things about the Red House is that you can get a lot of the entrees in an appetizer size portion. Which encourages sharing and trying out new things. So this is actually the appetizer size of the duck. It was moist and tasty, which is why I always order it.

And here's a pic of my sister's risotto. I think it has squash in it and lobster. At any rate, I liked it a lot, also, and they were very generous with the lobster, so that was good.

Our waiter was MIA for a lot of the time, so by them time dessert rolled around, we'd been there so long and in general, the entire experience of having to deal with this guy was such a pain that none of us ordered. (and you all know how i'm a big fan of dessert, even just to see the menu.)

At the end, when we did pay the check, we used 2 credit cards, which the waiter never returned to us. we had to ask for those back. And furthermore, for all his crappy work, he got an 18% tip. I would've given him around 5, had i been given the opportunity.

So what means of retribution were available to me, as a customer? Well, had a manager or any restaurant staff asked how our dinner was when we were leaving, I would've told them. But there wasn't anyone. So instead, I typed up a letter, detailing my complaints, and promptly faxed it to the Red House the following day. I never heard anything back. Now, as a business owner, if anyone bothered to write or call in a complaint, I respond immediately. Because most people never complain, they just never come back. A response from management can make up for a lot and the fact that the Red House never responded is a reflection of how they value their customers. So I took the grassroots approach, and posted said letter onto Chowhound's message board. You can find it here. http://www.chowhound.com/newengland/boards/boston/boston.html. Oh and don't worry, I won't be stopping there, I've still got citysearch and boston.com to post to.

So in closing, great service can make up for mediocre food. And can make me come back. But for me, bad service can never make up for a dining experience, no matter how stellar the food is.

BACK IN BOSTON WITH DINNER AT THE PUBLICK HOUSE

When I landed back in Boston, it was about that time for dinner, and having taken JetBlue, I was definetly in need of a meal. Katie and Dustin were nice enough to pick me up from the airport and then the debate about where to eat began. I wanted fried food (man, 10 minutes back in the cold weather and it's right back to the heavier food) and suggested Audubon. But Dusty vetoed that pretty quickly, for reasons that Katie and I still don't understand. So instead, Katie suggested that we got the the Publick House, which is a bar in Washington Square. After picking up a couple of Dustin's friends, we headed there.

I had driven by Publick House before, but had never really noticed it. When we stepped in, it looked like the typical Boston pub. The bar and restaurant were pretty full, so we glanced around for open tables. And here's the annoying/vaguely interesting part of Publick House. They have a seat yourself policy. Now, that's ok if you have a big restaurant with lots of open tables and booths, but when you're in a crowded bar with no waiting area, it can get a bit confusing and frustrating, especially when you have a party of 5 ppl. First, you have to attempt to figure out who's in line in front of you. But since there's no real "line" it's pretty much looking around to see who else is standing awakardly in a stair case or between tables. Then, you have to wander around, plotting out which table is about to leave. And then you take you opportunity and pounce, before any one else is able to grab that table. I think this took us about 20 minutes to get a table, but luckily, katie and i had gotten drinks at the bar.

The good thing about the Publick House is that it has a really extensive beer menu, with lots of beers that you don't typically see. I think they had at least 100 choices, lots of them imported. If anyone's from Philly, it reminded me a lot of Monk's. They're menu is also pretty long. I debated getting the mac and cheese, for which they are apparently famous, and you can add different items into the mac and cheese, like peas, spinach, etc. But I was here for fried food. So i got the Battered shrimp dinner. Katie had a late lunch, so she got the cheese board and Dustin got the lobster ravioli.

So here's my shrimp. It's a really generous portion. With fries and a big side of coleslaw. It was pretty good. Not lots of shrimpy flavor, but they were really big and satisfied my fried food craving.Here' s Katie's cheese board. It came with taleggio cheese, but you could've chosen from like 10 different cheeses. And they give you sides of bread, cornichons, and this funny homemade jam stuff. I think Katie thoroughly enjoyed her cheese.
I didn't photgraphy Dustin's dinner, but i don't think he was a big fan. He kept saying it smelled a little stinky, which i think had to do with the sauce on top of the ravioli. But this is a bar, after all, so i don't think they'll be specializing in pasta.

Prices here are in the medium-high range, considering you're in a bar/pub. Kinda in line with Matt Murphy's, where the entrees are in the mid-high teens. The service was another serious problem. It was super spotty, and it was almost impossible just to flag a waitress down, to order extra drinks and food. All in all, I think the Publick House is more of a place for true beer fans and drinkers. Or if you wanna watch a game, cause they have a big flat screen to watch it on. I was happy with my fried food since that's what I was craving, but if you're just looking for a meal, I would suggest someplace where someone seats you and the waitress make a minimal effort to serve.

DINING IN LA, DAY 4

Well, it was my last day in LA, and my parents had headed out of town to go to Vegas. but that was ok, since i was hanging out with two of my friends. So of course I took them to two restaurants that I enjoy eating at and, as usual, had my requisite Japanese food.

I met my friend Rudy at Neiman Marcus cause I wanted to take him to the restaurant in the basement of the store, called Mariposa. And i got to look around at all the clothes that were on sale since it was post- Christmas. Now, unlike what you might normally think of restaurants located in departments stores or malls, Mariposa is an excellent restaurant that specializes in California cuisine. This was also the first restaurant i went to at home that has that LA "scene". You know, pretty people looking around to see who else happens to be dining there. But since we were the first ones to arrive, I was pretty comfortable and got to watch the rest of the place fill in. Here's a pic of the menu.

So at Mariposa, they always start you off with a popover with homemade strawberry jam and an amuse bouche of chicken broth. Here's the popover. Puffy and eggy. Rudy enjoyed it a lot. And I liked the strawberry jam. Sorry for the bluriness.And here's the chicken broth in a little cup along with a cheese stick.For lunch, I chose to have a duck salad. It was very nicely plated when it arrived. And it was more like a generous portion of duck with a side of salad. But both were totally tasty. Rudy got a lamb sandwich (no pic here) and he also liked it a lot.

And lastly, we had dessert. We had problems picking out what we wanted, so we decided to get 2 and share. There were homemade sorbets and a pear/cranberry crumble with ice cream.
Here's the sorbet. The flavors were raspberry, champagne and a green thing i don't remember. Actually, the desserts were my least favorite part of the meal. And the champagne sorbet was so icy, it was more like a granita.

Here's the pear/cranberry crumble. You'd think it'd be hard to screw up a dessert this easy, but people always manage to do it. In this case, the fruit was undercooked and still a bit hard and the topping was really gooey. The probably put in too much sugar and butter, but it made the oatmeal in it taste wet and really not tasty at all. At least the vanilla ice cream was good, and made with real vanilla beans (you could tell by the little black specks and the intense flavor of the ice cream).
Over all, it was a very yummy meal. A bit on the pricey side, but hey, we were sitting in Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills. After lunch, we walked around Rodeo, since Rudy hadn't been there before, and I got to check out the new Prada store, which is super cool. You should all go check out the architecture on the place. Now! Go!

Are you back from Prada? Aren't the cameras in the elevators totally cool? Well, we were done with walking, so i suggested we get coffee. We drove to my favorite coffeeshop in LA, the Balcony Cafe, but it turns out there were closed. They have strange hours and didn't open until 3pm. So instead, we went to another favorite place of mine, Amandine. Now Amandine is one of those really great Japanese French Bakeries. I'm sorry I didn't take a pic of the pastry case for you, but they always have fresh cakes and tarts and you can get slices of them. Not great coffee, but the desserts make up for it.

Here's my strawberry tart. The strawberries were lovely and ripe, the pastry buttery and flaky and the pastry cream was delicious. Now I don't readily dole out high compliments to most pastries, but this place is excellent.
Rudy got an almond croissant. Here it is below. I think he liked it, though he's rarely unhappy with any food.And lastly, here's a pic of my coffee. Though it's not great, at least they're generous with it. And so i bid farewell to Rudes after our hours of eating and headed home, where I watched Hitch as I waited for Juliet to arrive so we could go out to dinner.

When Juliet got to my house, I decided to take her to Granita in Malibu. Granita was one of the first Wolfgang Puck Restaurants and one of my favorite restaurants in LA. But when we arrived, it was closed. Not just closed, it didnt' exist anymore. Which I think i had heard about a while ago, but had forgotten. I think it was one of the casualties of Wolfgang's divorce from his wife. So, we decided to drive across the highway to Nobu, located in the Malibu Country Mart.

You might have heard of the Malibu Country Mart cause stars, especially Britney Spears, are often photographed shopping there. And it really is a great example of the LA "scene". I actually didn't like Nobu the first time I ate there. Since it's located deep into Malibu, it's really more for the locals, and there were more children running around the restaurant screaming than adults sitting at tables, eating. Which I found very strange for a restaurant like Nobu. Plus I didn't think the food was that great. But we didn't have many choices left, and so off to Nobu we went.

We were seated immediately, which is always good. But it was a very small table crammed between two other tables, so we could hear our neighbors' conversations and vice versa. (the ppl to our right were celebrating a bday). One thing I will say about Nobu, though, is that it is fun for people watching. (Jeremey Piven was leaving when we arrived) But onto the food. After perusing the menu, which is a bit confusing cause it's hard to tell what size the entrees actually are, i ordered the Shrimp with Lobster in a Lemon Sauce and a Shrimp Tempura Handroll.

Here's a pic of the shrimp/lobster dish. I was acutally pleasantly suprised by this dish. It was totally yummy, with the tanginess of the lemon and there were lots of mushrooms, which i love.
It was also a pretty big dish, so i wasn't able to eat my handroll(pictured below) which i handed off to Juliet. She never has a problem finishing off food. Which is quite a useful skill when you're eating with me, cause a rarely finish my food.And to finish off the meal, we got these hazelnut ice cream sandwiches. Very nice plating and they were pretty tasty.

I'm sure you would think a meal like this would be totally pricey. But to be honest, it was very reasonable. I think that Nobu Malibu would actually cost less than Nobu in NY, maybe by 1/3 of the price. ( I don't really know what the prices are like at Nobu NY, since i've never been, but i do know what prices are like in NY in general, and our meal cost way less). Actually, it cost less than it would've in Boston. And I'll say it again, that's the best thing about eating in LA, you don't feel like you're getting ripped off when the check arrives. And after living for a while in Boston, lots of the time I feel like I'm getting a great deal for the quality of the food. Well maybe not a great deal, but at least there's no remorse at the end of the meal. And that's something that will always keep me happy.

DINING IN LA, DAY 3

Day 3 at home brought more Asian cuisine, as expected. But I also got to try new stuff. For lunch, my mom took me to this place in Koreatown called BCD Tofu. They're famous for their soft tofu, which I'd never tried before. I guess it's basically a homemade tofu that's cooked in a broth with other ingredients. I ordered the seafood one, since it was the only thing that didn't involve beef or pork. (well there was a vegetarian option, but I wanted more flavor than just veggies.) You can order it mild, medium or hot and here's a tip. Unlike Japanese food, when Korean food is hot, it really is very hot and spicy. (just like Indian food).

After we waited for a brief few minutes, we were quickly showed to our table. I discovered that this restaurant is all about efficiency and turning tables. It's not about service. People quickly take your order, bring your food and usher you out. Which is ok for a quick lunch. So like I said, I order the seafood soft tofu, mild, while my mom got some other one, but medium. I think the spicy would burn a hole into your tummy.

Ok, so first they give you a number of small pickled items (like kim chee) and oddly enough, this fried fish. Which was pretty yummy. (except for the small bones).

Next came the rice that arrived in the neat stone bowls. You're not supposed to eat out of them. Someone comes out and dishes the rice out for you.

And finally, here's my bowl of soft tofu with seafood. It arrived bubbling and steaming. So you're supposed to spoon it over the rice and consume it that way. I found it very yummy and was glad that I ordered the mild, cause I don't think I could've handled any more spicy than that. It was so much food that I couldn't finish mine. It would've been even more perfect on a cold day (unlike the 75F that it was, but i'm not complaining) And of course, the greatest part of lunch was the fact that it all cost $20 including tax and tip, for the both of us. (and my mom paid- that's right, the real reason i go home).

After lunch, I did some chocolate shopping and then spent the afternoon at the spa! yeah! And then before i knew it, it was time for dinner. Once again, my parents let me pick the place, and i wanted to go to Sushi King, my favorite Japanese restaurant in LA for sushi. And no one protested my choice because everyone in my family likes this place.

We arrive early so we could get any seat we wanted (since they really don't take reservations) and we all got to sit at the sushi bar. So here's another tip. When you go to authentic (and i empahsize that term) Japanese restaurants, the more senior sushi chef generally works towards the front of the sushi bar. Since my family's going to this place for years, we know the chef and of course, all sat at the front of the bar. Here's a pic of my cousins and my little sister, Cathy. (try to pick her out! we look nothing alike)

Unfortunately for me, i wasn't all that hungry having had lunch not to long before. But i made a heroic effort and tried to eat as much as my tummy could hold. Here's a photo of the bar, with the fresh fish in the case.And here's what i ordered. I started with a California roll(yes, with real crab):

And ate my dad's sunomono salad (aka cucumber salad in rice vinegar) with shrimp.

Then I ordered a shrimp tempura roll:

And then I soft shelled crab roll:No no, I didn't eat all that food by myself. I shared with everyone. and when i really got full i started coercing other ppl to eat the sushi.

Ok, and here are the fried shrimp heads that I ate. When you order ama ebi (sweet shrimp), they give you the heads, deep fried, with some tempura dipping sauce. yummy.And lastly, I finished it all off with a green tea ice cream. (which i always order when i eat out at Japanese restaurants, for some reason, I find that the stuff in restaurants always tastes better than the stuff you buy in a market). And so, i filled my requirement for one Japanese meal per day while at home and I also tried something new, the tasty and spicy soft tofu.