never try sushi in front of the chef.

joey and i went to a japanese steakhouse restaurant last night for sushi.  sushi is not my favorite food, let's be honest. but i've grown to stand california rolls.  last night i was feeling a little adventurous and decided to try some raw fish... the tame kind (tuna, salmon, shrimp, and yellowtail).  right as our food was coming joey leans in and says "now. we are eating right in front of the chef, so you can't spit any food out if you don't like it." great. really? i figure if you're trying something for the first time you should be able to spit it out if you don't like it. better than it coming up later.

anyway. we ordered shrimp tempura for an appetizer so i wasn't too worried about spitting any of that out.. i mean, it's essentially fried fish. so while finishing our appetizer we get a dish "compliments of the chef" which was green and raw looking.. so not only can i not spit out the tame food I ordered, i definitely can't spit out a "compliment from the chef". So thank goodness joey asks what it is and it's just cucumber with crab- that. i can handle. and it was actually very good.

so then the raw food comes... along with some california rolls, which i start with. so i find the courage to try the salmon- again, in front of the chef, and manage it down my throat- not bad. really. but it is so slimy and slippery- in the end it becomes mind over matter... and sneaking joey my food when the chef isn't looking.  of course, half way through the meal we get another "compliment from the chef" this time though- raw flounder. great. and this time he is staring at us, watching and waiting for us to try it. so i have to. i have to put it in my mouth and swallow it. raw flounder.  so i do and it goes down...nice and nasty... i only ended up spitting out one piece of fish- and, if i do say so myself, it was very discrete.  

anyhow. if you're going to try sushi for the first time. raw fish. not in a roll...order in.