I was never really a fan of Asian cuisine growing up as a kid. It was only a few years ago that I really started to develop a taste for it. I experimented first with Panda Express and found it to be amazing and much more than I expected! I think a lot of it was the fact that it was Asian food, made by Americans. But nonetheless it was Asian and I was ready for new adventures in this style of food.
The other day my roommate was telling me about this sushi bar called Bonsai down the street. He kept saying, “dude you have to come and try it!” Me being the sheltered American I am replied with, “Hell no!” Some how he talked me into going and trying it out. We got there and I was surprised to see how clean and well kept the restaurant was. There was a bar in front of the sushi chef, and booths for families to sit down for a meal. Immediately I looked at my friend with that sad puppy look hoping he would have the heart to say we could go. Instead he just said, “Dinner for two please.”
So we sat down at a booth and the waiter gave us some menus. Right away I looked for the most generic Asian dish they had available. That’s when I saw it, a number one, grilled teriyaki chicken. I was in the clear! But of course knowing my roommate, the sly dog he is, he ordered a plate of California rolls. Obviously I was thinking they were for him, I mean how big could a plate be right?
So I got my teriyaki chicken first and just devoured it as fast as I could trying to get full so we could leave. And just as I was about to take my last bite, the waiter brought over the plate of California rolls. I kind of laughed at the sight of all of the rolls that were on the plate thinking, there is no way he can finish all of that, we’ll be out of here in no time! That’s when he did it; he grabbed his chopsticks, and shoveled about 4 rolls onto my plate. I cant tell you what my expression looked like, but I could guess it was like telling a 7 year old girl she has to go pick up dog poop.
He started eating his rolls like they were candy. One after the other, like a vacuum sucking up dust. When he was completely finished and he looked at my plate with disgust and told me, “come on, just one, I bought those for you.” Damn, he used the guilt trip on me. Now I had to try, there was no way of getting out of it. So I grabbed my chopsticks, situated the roll so that if I moved it just a little it would go flying on the floor and I wouldn’t have to eat it. I started raising it to my mouth; thinking, ok just one and then we can go. I put it in my mouth and placed it on my tongue, and the taste almost startled me, I wasn’t expecting that flavor. Started chewing, feeling all the mixtures of who knows what was inside and swallowed it. Of course my roommate used the usual reply, “see it wasn’t that bad!” And you know, it really wasn’t! I finished all four rolls he put on my plate. I liked so much in fact were going back every Friday night.
