Output Stream of Consciousness

We actually went out to vote in the PC party leadership elections today, which made us feel pretty good, actually.

Afterwards, it was time for an extraordinarily late lunch, so we decided to pop into the Edo Ichiban restaurant on 32nd, not too far from the Nando's the other day.

Now Edo's serves up some pretty good rice and noodle dishes in many a food court. We went to the Edo Ichiban which, since the restaurant is in the same typeface, I would assume to be closely affilated with the fast food Edo's. The sign outside had one of Dena's great loves, however: Sushi. So this was to be a treat.

When we got inside, I was a little surprised. It wasn't like the fast food place at all. It had a bit of a diner feel to it, spiffed up a little bit with paintings and paper. The menu seemed pretty good, though not a lot of overlap with the fast food version at all: things like sushi and sashimi combo plates, gyoza (Japanese dumplings), beef and shrimp tempura combos, as well as some slightly more exotic fare like eel (for those of you who've never had eel before, it really is just like fish, and I'm usually a pretty leery eater, myself).

Our hostess was very nice and actually Japanese (I could tell the second she said "orenji" for orange :) ), which is a relative rarity these days.

Dena had a combination sushi and sashimi plate, and I had the salmon/tempura shrimp combo. We both had miso soup to start and salads came with both our meals.

The miso soup was excellent. The salad was likewise very good, which can be totally chalked up to the ginger dressing they use. (Note to self: buy a bottle of the dressing from there next time)

The thing that struck us most about the meals themselves was the presentation. In this semi-diner type atmosphere, the meals were served in some classy-looking dishes. Dena's sushi and sashimi was artfully presented in the middle of a brown/black lacquered serving dish, and mine was presented in a very nice dish with compartments for all the food items: teriyaki salmon and mushrooms (Dena saved me from the mushrooms), an oriental coleslaw, rice, a section of orange, and tempura shrimp and veggies.

Mine was delicious, though the salmon could have been seasoned more strongly. Dena thoroughly enjoyed most of her plate, and was most impressed that the rice did not come apart when dipped, unlike that of pretty much every restaurant we've been to so far.

It was a very pleasant surprise. I'd go there again.