Just because there aren't people doesn't mean it isn't good

We were seated in the small back room with traditional Japanese furnishings. The other birthday guests were nervous about being in the seemingly empty restaurant they had never heard of, but once we settled in and made our order John took care of the rest.

I tried the mermaid sushi roll, which was new. It had yellow tail, salmon and mussel with green tabiko. It was a little slimier in texture than I would've liked and for that I'll blame the mussel. The flavor was great and it had just the right amount of tabiko to give it some pop. Plus, the way it looks on the plate you can totally see why it's called the mermaid roll, the green tabiko is rolled on in a circular pattern than the rolls are laid out to look like a fish tail it's pretty nifty plating.

The terriyaki chicken and beef dishes looked and smelled delicious and were great for the non-seafood people in the party. They were served huge portions with tons of veggies so all the men and women were happy with the dish. The birthday girl said the steak her husband ordered was very good.

I also tried the dragon roll it was pretty good, but not my favorite--no particular reason it just lacked pizazz. I had a California roll and realized once again how I don't really like crab all that much. Then I had the sunshine roll and remembered it was one of my favorites at Sapporo. Janelle loved the sunshine roll including the plating with the lemon slices on top. She also said that with sushi it makes sense to eat the lemon rind or else you miss some of the flavor. I would have to agree, the sunshine roll is so delicious because of the lemon.

Some of the fish seemed a little off. It may have been because we were there on a Thursday, but the birthday girl's husband was overheard mentioning the fishiness of his shashimi. I believe it was salmon and yellow tail.

When we stopped to say hi to John, he totally remembered us and apologized for not realizing we were in the "special" room. We will definitely be seeing him again on a Friday when the fish is fresh. Oh and next time we'll be at the bar.

Gallery Stroll and Sushi

OMG! Look, there's pictures!

It's the third Friday of the month, again. The roomies and I have a fabulous tradition of wandering around Gallery Stroll. If you've never made it to downtown around 7 p.m. on the third Friday of the month, you are missing out on one of Salt Lake's best little big city moments. This time before we wandered the local galleries at Broadway and 300 West, we stopped by Sapporo for some sushi.It was an excellent fix to my sushi cravings. Jon was the sushi chef again. He couldn't remember our names, but he did remember Erin had been to Italy. As always he was pleasant and friendly. Jon is an excellent reason to sit at the bar.


My Metropolitan role smiled at me. The Metropolitan is probably my favorite roll from Sapporo. It's a combination of samon, yellotail and tuna with asparagus and eel. Unfortunately, on Friday night the fish wasn't as fresh as I've come to expect from Sapporo.

Ava loved the Manitoc. Ava's Manitoc roll looked beautiful. Although, like me she too had to scrape some of the tabiko off the top. That much wasabi is just too hot for anyone not raised in Korea.


Erin again ordered the Sushi Treat and Jon set her up with a nice array of different sashimi. Erin also mentioned she really enjoyed her chef's choice entree. It looked delicious. Some of the treats included caviar and deep frying, so you know it can't be that bad.


Our service was probably the fastest it has ever been at Sapporo. The waitresses were excellent. They both did a great job of bringing us everything we needed. They were both firendly and chatted with the crowd at the bar as well.

I piad about $15 for my roll and a coke. A fairly reasonable price for sushi in the middle of a landlocked state. Sapporo is open Monday through Saturday for dinner from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Sadly, at the end of this visit I would go back to Sapporo as a good faith visit. But if the fish is unfresh again I may have to go back to the unfriendly staff of Tsunami.

Props to Er-Bear for the camera/photo help. Kudos for Jon and holding still so I could take a picture. And Ava for agreeing that asking Erin if she wanted to add anything was hysterical.

Thanks for reading, how was your food Friday?

An Eastern Weekend

Oh yes, my friends that's what I said. This weekend Ava, Erin and I sampled cuisine from China, Japan and Thailand.

China
First stop on this train: China. Okay, I'll admit this isn't authentic Chinese food, but it's my favorite. Once again, I was feeling lazy and ordered delivery from the Dragon Diner. That wonderfully fabulous restaurant delivered again with egg rolls, fried rice, sweet and sour pork and sesame chicken.

The egg rolls were good, but a little dry. The fried rice was full of flavor with ham, shrimp, carrots and peas with a good helping of teriyaki sauce mixed in. The sweet and sour pork was pretty good, the sauce had a little less sour and more sweet than I anticipated. The big chuncks of pineapple with the deep fried pork bites were a great combination.

My favorite dish is the sesame chicken. It's always excellent from the Dragon. The chicken is tender and full of flavor, deep-fried and coated in sauce .I love this chicken. For $30 it was a great night in with my best friends.

Japan
Next stop: Japan. On Friday night, we went to Sapporo in Downtown. Ava and I love this place, but it was Erin's first visit. We sat at the sushi bar where John was the chef. John actually remembered us from our last visit and once again was friendly and talkative.

I ordered the Montoc roll for $12.95. It was a little much for me. The wasabi tobiko was way more wasabi than I can handle. I like spice, but I can't handle that much heat. Luckily, John had used the tobiko as a garnish across the top of the sushi roll and I was able to scrape it off and enjoy the asparagus and yellowtail.

Ava ordered the Rainbow Roll. This roll had a combination of several fish giving it it's name and color. It must have been delicious because she devoured it in about 20 minutes. And using chopsticks. I am so impressed by her Japanese skills.

Erin ordered the Chef's choice shashimi roll. And for the undecided this is a great option. John created eight rolls using eight different ingredients. There was salmon, shrimp, mackrel and yellowtail along with the other ingredients I couldn't identify or don't remember. It's like a sample tray of sushi.

Thailand
Last stop: Thailand. On Saturday night we were treated to homemade Thai food. Pau made a wonderful meal. It was amazing! I haven't had much Thai before and I have never been impressed, but this meal changed my mind. For the first course we had a chicken coconut soup with big chuncks of carrots and mushrooms. It was very rich and hearty. Pau said it is a traditional winter dish in Thailand.

For the main course we had a very spicy curry with shrimp. Apparently, the shrimp head is a delicacy. It's kind of crunchy and a little bit stringier than I expected. It tests gamier than the rest of the shrimp. Almost like an oyster, it was surprisingly good. It also came from the most giant shrimp I have ever seen in my life.

The curry was very hot. Pau said it was medium high heat. I'm pretty sure I coudn't survive what she would consider hot. It was great flavor, but the heat was nearly overwhelming. I had to have water close at hand.

For dessert we had deep-fried bananas and ice cream. Yum, yum, yummy! Pau used a mixture of flour and water for the breading then rolled the banana in bread crumbs. It tasted like there was honey drizzled on top, as well. It was sweet and delicious.

In three days, we had three great meals three different countries. Each meal was it's own unique experience and I can't wait to eat some more. This weekend, I'm looking forward to another adventure in cuisine. How was your food weekend?