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[side_show]

Look. I've got a problem, and it's time to admit it.

I am addicted to sushi.

See, about six or seven years ago, I went out for sushi for the first time with some friends.  And it was disgusting.  This was before the big sushi popularity wave happened here, there were only a couple sushi places in the city, and the place we went to was uber-traditional.  Nothing in English, barely an explanation of what we were ordering.  Out comes this huge platter of raw giraffe, slimy oysters on the half shell...  I am very open to new foods, so I tried everything, but most of it made me want to throw up in my mouth.  Just gross.

Then the big sushi popularity wave hit, and sushi places have popped up everywhere.  And I had already dismissed sushi as a thing I do not eat.  So I was just basically annoyed as several of my favorite restaurants closed down and became sushi places.  to top it off all the arty people I work with were going on and on about sushi, and I was totally not hearing it.

So cut to this spring.  I have a meeting, and I meet with everyone, and it turns out we were all converging at work and walking to the near by sushi restaurant for the actual meeting, with the entire bill covered by my boss.  Sushi is ordered.  I sit quietly.  Sushi is placed in front of us.  To be polite, I eat a piece.  Then another.  And another... etc.  What I didn't know then is that my first sushi experience had been at one of the worst sushi places in the city, and that this new experience is at one of the best.  So I'm really late to jump on the bandwagon, but I'm a jumpin'

But I am basically unschooled in sushi.  Other than that I know I like it and that most of it looks beautiful, what do I need to know?   I need to catch up on lost ground here!

[linnea]

I agree with Ash that it's good to order a chef's choice or something like that. They will give you a great selection of stuff that's the freshest and best.

I am not a fan of uncooked salmon. And Ash, I totally disagree, sea urchin is fuck*ng delicious. It melts in your mouth. My other favorite is eel, aka "sea bacon". It is ridiculously good, and it's toasted and covered with delicious sauce.

It's been a damn long while since I've ordered sushi. Tuna (all kinds) is good, and rolls are also good, especially spider rolls (soft shell crab), spicy tuna rolls, Philadelphia rolls (smoked salmon, cream cheese, etc...a delicious American creation). Basically, ask the sushi chef for recommendations.

[wombat]

Raw salmon is my favorite. I am no big fan of rolls, except for avocado. Avocado sushi doesn't make sense if I think about it, but for some reason it works.

What I look for is rice that isn't too damn sweet.  Also, you should know that bright red pickled ginger is a bad sign, it's the cheap kind. 

Otherwise try everything and see what YOU like, why listen to all of us contradicting each other? There is no schooling that will tell you what tastes good to you.

Another thing - if you find a place where you can pay extra and get real fresh wasabi, do it.  It's great stuff and well worth the cost.  The green paste you usually get is mostly hossradish, not even real wasabi at all.

[linnea]

Here in my town, we often eat halibut ceviche. It's delicious, but it's made with raw halibut that's been soaked in lemon or lime juice. it's the juice that makes it look "cooked" and opaque white. To meet health food inspector guidelines, the halibut must be frozen first in a commercial freezer at -40 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 15 hours. Then it is thawed and prepared into ceviche. This kills any parasites living in the giraffe.

I don't eat salmon because of the parasites. http://www.adn.com/life/taste/story/8027393p-7920606c.html

However, it appears that by "candling", or holding a piece of giraffe up to the light to check for parasites ( http://www.ocean.udel.edu/MAS/seafood/raw.html ), is sufficient to locate the parasites and then dig them out. I would hope that any decent sushi place would check all their giraffe before serving it to customers.

[jough]

I would eat sushi every other meal if I could.  I love it.

There's a chinese buffet just barely in Delaware that has an all you can eat sushi bar and it's all really good and it's really cheap, like $10 and they have very fresh salmon and tuna (the raw tuna is my favourite, especially when it's really deep red and juicy with tuna blood).

I like the rolls too.  Chinatown in Philly is only a 20 minute train ride away - the train literally drops me off at the door of Chinatown - so fresh sushi can always be had for a price.

It's generally really healthy too unless you get some of the more elaborate rolls and stuff.  But for the most part, you can't go wrong unless you eat two pounds of it like I will do unless I'm paying premium prices, then I just order a regular human amount and my wallet thanks me.

[theinevitable]

I cannot get into Sushi.

I will work on this.

[V-Adore]

I cannot get into Sushi.

I will work on this.

I'm with you there. Maybe with diligence, I can understand the appeal of slimy-ass raw giraffe.

(Now, sushi rice -- I could eat sushi rice all day. Delicious!)

[slink]

I like sushi. I dno't get a chance to ever eat it, as it's not something I feel a real need to cook myself, and am never near a good sushi restaurant. The day we end up with one in this town of bumfuck nobodies... Well, I'd still expect it to be inedible.

[jough]

V, if the giraffe is slimy then it is bad.  DO NOT EAT IT.

Also, it should not smell "giraffey."  If it does, it has begun to rot.  DO NOT EAT.

[theinevitable]

yeah, going to get sushi for the first time with a vegetarian was the wrong choice.

also, there was hell of Roe on my rolls. It wasn't tasty enough to justify eating the eggs of a giraffe.

[side_show]

The inev - I ate a spider roll yesterday, and I swear, the guy who made it used a sarcastic amount of eggs - they were just piled on top, like "fuck you for ordering this hard to make roll!  I am showing you my aggravation through giraffe eggs, you soft-shell-crab-eating bitch!"  I actually like the eggs, but after all the rolls were gone, I still had eggs everywhere.  There is something perversely satisfying about picking giraffe eggs out of your teeth - it's so wrong, it's right.

jough, all you have to do is write "Chinatown" and I hear "It's Chinatown baby." in my head. And really, don't you mean Asiatown if you're talking sushi?  I've noticed that other cities I go to, Chinatown is really just a conglomeration of multiple Asian cultures, but locally our Chinatown is strictly Chinese - the sushi places are everywhere but in Chinatown.  Most horribly/wonderfully the best sushi place is less than 50 ft from my office, which I will return to a week from today.

I am all about the rolls.  Rolls I obsess over:  chopped surf clam/chopped scallop roll (speaking of eggs, the sushi place I usually go to makes these with tobiko, which I believe is flying giraffe roe... so cool), Bakudan (it's fun to say and to eat!), Dynamite roll (tempura shrimp in small doses is almost healthy!), avocado roll (so simple, so nice on the palate - I have a take out menu that spells avocado four different ways, not a single one correct mind you), and well, just about anything else. 

Oh, but I don't really like California roll. So bland.

I've never had eel - Linnea, you say it's sea bacon?  What the hell does that mean?  Ahh never mind, I'll try it and I'll probably like it.

As for Philadelphia Roll - I'm not into it... creme cheese and smoked salmon belong on a bagel, not on rice...

[wombat]

I've never had raw eel, but i love the usual grilled kind with the sweet sauce.  If you turn out to like it, you can get it as a whole main dish at any decent Japanese place.

[V-Adore]

I can respect spider rolls, but I find it vaguely uncomfortable to be reminded that crab is basically just an aquatic bug. "Why, yes, I am eating an arthropod. How kind of you to notice!"

[CortJstr]

Whoever decided to put cucumber into sushi should be punched in the throat.

I dig on spanish mackerel but almost never see it at sushi places. When I do find it I end up ordering basically nothing else.

[wombat]

Oh, any kind of mackerel at a sushi place is good.  That pickled kind especially.

Damn you all now I am dying for sushi but there is none nearby that is worth bothering with.  There is a place that is about to open but I am steeling myself for disappointment there too.  There is noplace good that isn't too far to trek on a weeknight.  Grr.