12 New Things - Sushi

Those of you who read my blog regularly might remember that I had joined the 12 New Things challenge last year and checked three things off of my list (covering chairs, making my own black bean burgers, and snorkeling). Those of you who are good at math are thinking right now that three does not equal twelve.

You're right - it equals three. Good job.

Anyways, in full disclosure the challenge fizzled out across the board. The originator openly admitted her life was incredibly crazy and she couldn't keep up; truth be told, I just lost track. So now my "12 New Things" list is still in action, it's just significantly slower going than was originally intended.

Now that the confessions are out of the way... I am pleased to announce that I can finally check one off the list (that I had actually been putting off for a lot longer than the existence of the list): I tried sushi.

When Steve and I went to Martha's Vineyard, we had originally wanted to have dinner our first night at the Offshore Ale Company because the idea of a fun, pub dinner appealed to us. We arrived, discovered they had a 45-minute wait, put our name in - and looked elsewhere to see if we could find something else. After a check on Yelp, we decided to walk a couple of blocks over to the Lookout Tavern. They got great reviews... including rave reviews about their sushi.

I looked at Steve. We agreed. It was time for me to try the raw slimy stuff.

To start, I have to say that I loved the atmosphere of Lookout Tavern. It's seat yourself, super laid back, has a chill bar-ish atmosphere without being loud & obnoxious. The place breeds friendly, social contact among its patrons; we sat next to a group of women who were out for dinner & drinks that were pleasant to talk with. Not only that - but the waitstaff were fantastic. Our waiter was personable, offered up great suggestions, was prompt and attentive. We really enjoyed our visit and all the food was great. Plus, they served Magner's Hard Cider which is an automatic win in my book.

Mmmmm... Magners...

But enough about that. I know you're chomping at the bit, wondering about my first foray into the world of sushi.

After perusing their relatively extensive sushi menu and resisting the temptation to fall back upon tempura (which is fried and therefore not entirely sushi in my opinion), we decided to get two rolls to share. We ordered a spicy tuna roll and a yellowfin crunchy roll; somewhere in the back of my head I heard an old college friend's voice telling me that tuna was probably the right way to go when I finally did try sushi, so that was part of what drove the decision. It came out quickly, I took a deep breath, and followed the soy-sauce dipping instructions of my handsome companion. Without further delay... I popped the first spicy tuna roll in my mouth and took my first taste of raw-fish sushi.

Open wide! And don't mock my terrible chopsticks technique.

What happened next was almost like a scene out of a 1980's Life cereal commercial with me as the Mikey character: I liked it! Danielle liked it!

I really, really enjoyed every bite of the sushi that we got. The spicy tuna was quite good, but the yellowfin crunchy roll was my favorite. What made it crunchy were breadcrumbs around the outside and a small bite of apple rolled in with the fish & avocado. The flavors were so good that I had to resist the temptation to steal some of Steve's 4 pieces that he had for himself. The most impressive part in my opinion? I was enjoying the sushi so much that I didn't want to taint the taste of it with anymore soy sauce. I ate it in its raw, naked state until the last piece of my share of the sushi was gone.

And I wanted more... but we had a chicken sandwich coming that we were going to share and we also had our excursion to Back Door Donuts to take into consideration. Alas, no more sushi for me that night. The good news though - especially for Steve who loves food adventures - is that I've opened up a whole new level of the game of food for myself. With so many friends that love to go out for sushi, I no longer have to be the wet blanket who whines and says "waaah... but I don't liiiike sushi..."

Because I do. I like sushi, and want to try more of it.