Food: So good, so naked

Naked Fish Japanese Bistro in Downtown at 67 West 100 South is Salt Lake Magazine's Japanese Restaurant of 2010. And there is little question why.

Naked Fish is undoubtedly my new favorite place for sushi in the City of Salt. It started when Manfriend, Ava, Erin and I walked through the doors into the beautifully decorated space. The website says the concept of Naked Fish is to serve contemporary Japanese cuisine in a swanky Downtown location. They definitely hit the mark.

The place feels very modern, comfortable and clean. The bathrooms are AWESOME! I want to take the sink, floors and walls and move them to my apartment. Seriously if there was a shower I would move in.

We didn't make a reservation so we missed out on the private omakase rooms, but our table was still comfortable.

We started off with some drinks. Ava and I ordered some cocktails. My Cosmo with champagne was a touch too sugary for it to be my favorite drink, but it was well made and yummy. Erin had a glass of wine that paired well with the sushi. And Manfriend tried a Japanese beer for the first time. Not surprisingly, the beer went best with the sushi, but that's not keeping me from more cocktails at Naked Fish in the future.

The sushi rolls are between $7 and $12. One roll was plenty for me--so Naked Fish can be done cheaply. But it was Ava's birthday so we splurged.

These were hands down the best sushi rolls I have eaten. Ava ordered the caterpillar roll and loved it. I don't remember what roll Erin ordered, but I believe it was the tekka maki roll. It was also outstanding. I ordered a stand-by favorite of mine, the Wasatch roll. I was very impressed with the freshness of the ingredients, the solid construction and the great mix of flavors. Manfriend ordered the Mexi roll, while the flavor was great it was too hot for me, and I barely made it through one piece with a glass of water.

At this point, I had deiced Naked Fish is the BEST. JAPANESE. BISTRO. EVER. Manfriend disagreed. He insisted the mark of a good Japanese restaurant is in the vegetable tempura. He disagreed with Ava and said Tsunami was better. So of course, I had to take him up on the challenge. And I promptly ordered the vegetable tempura.

Oh.My.God. It was amazing! The asparagus, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and Japanese squash were all cooked perfectly. The tempura batter itself was crisp, light and delicious. The sauce on the side was also wonderful and went fantastic with each vegetable. Although I can't even begin to guess what was in it.

After the vegetable tempura, Manfriend acquiesced and agreed Naked Fish is the best Japanese restaurant in Salt Lake City. And that was before the ice cream.

The waitress suggested mochi ice cream for dessert. We had the plum and green tea ice cream rolled in mochi. (I'm not sure what mochi is, but I think it's a red bean paste.) I love, love green tea ice cream. It was the perfect dessert to end such a wonderful meal.

I can't wait to return to Naked Fish. And this time I'm making a reservation.

Alcohol: The cocktails never taste so good

The good news: the cocktails.

The bad news: bowing to Salt Lake City culture and adding a sports channel to the TV.

After presenting my senior project my posse of Ava, Erin, Lilian and Manfriend indulged my love of classic cocktails at the Speak Easy.

The Speak Easy is a 20s inspired bar in Downtown Salt Lake City (63 West 100 South). My friend Alex joined us later in the night. He just got back from South Korea, so you can blame him for my current indecision about teaching there or in Taiwan.

We had a great time with a lovely group of people who also sat in our comfy corner. The Speak Easy is a small venue, but has never been very packed. The live band was great and the cover charge was a reasonable $3 for one or $5 for two.

The space is lined with great comfortable couches and small tables. There are cool vintage mirrors above the stage area. And a small dance floor for the dancers of the group. The club has a dress code, but isn't too strict about it. In the name of dressing nice though, it's a great excuse for a cocktail dress and heels. There is a TV playing sports above the bar, but it's easy to ignore with all the other cool vintage things to watch.

The bar tenders know how to treat you right and will set you up with any cocktail. I tried the Bee's Knees and it was delicious. Lemony, sweet, and pretty, too. It was a little sweet for my taste so I went with a Long Island next.

I've explained the baseline theory of cocktails before, any one who can make a Long Island can make a cocktail. I said it at the bar and I'll say it at the blog, "Speak Easy makes the best Long Island's in Salt Lake." These people aren't afraid of their alcohol and you can taste it.

I finished the night with a side car. I love the cognac, lemon mix.

I also tried Manfriend's Singapore Sling. It was definitely too Kool-Aid like for me, but he liked it enough to get a second.

The Speak Easy also serves beer on tap.

I had a great night with a great group of people. I highly recommend Speak Easy to anyone who wants a different bar experience in the city of sports bars.

Food Review: Adventurous Chinese cuisine at a Southern cafe

When CBC and I went to Bay Leaf Cafe, I tried this incredible dish called "congee." It is a delicious rice porridge served with ginger and an egg hard boiled in tea. The server said congee is a traditional breakfast dish from China and at his recommendation I tried it out.

The rice was warm, soft and about the consistency of a risotto. Mmmm...just the memory makes me want to go back for more. The rice seemed to have some sort of vinegar in it as a seasoning at first it was a little off-putting, but then when I got some of the fresh ginger with the vinegary rice there was an awesome blend of savory, bitter and sweet going on.

The century egg was somehow boiled in a tea until it turned dark purple. The egg looked a little intimidating, but ended up being much better than any other hard boiled egg I've ever tried. So good! This is a dish that changed my life, people.

We also had fried pickles because CBC just had to taste how delicious this amazingly Southern dish is. Once again, Bay Leaf delivered and I have to tell everyone to try out fried pickles. They are amazing!

CBC had the catfish po'boy. It was pretty good, but it didn't win mad adventure points like the congee or fried pickles. The ingredients were all fresh. And the sandwich wasn't dry and it wasn't mushy--it was just right.

Our server was amazing! He's definitely my favorite at Bay Leaf. I just can't remember his name. Maybe, Michael? Or Caleb? Something Bible related. Anyway, man with red hair was fantastic.

Bay Leaf Cafe, I love you. Please prove the statistic wrong and stay in business. Salt Lake City needs you. I need you.

Now, excuse me I'm off for some congee experimentation.

Alcohol Review: Beer buzzes in Utah

So apparently there's this guy Dell Vance who really likes Utah and beer. I think we're soul mates. He opened the Beerhive Pub on 128 South Main Street in Downtown to share his favorite things with me.

Okay, maybe it's not all for me, but I'm going to pretend it is. I love this little place. The upstairs is comfortable and clean. There's also a nice mix of browns, reds and light in the decor. Seriously, a bar where you can see the people around you...amazing.

I visited the Beerhive with Patrick, Ava and Erin last weekend and it was a vast improvement over our first bar of choice the Green Pig. The vibe at the Beerhive is comfortable. It manages to feel like a bar where it's okay for the ladies to hang out by themselves without getting creepy comments and/or stares from the men who are also hanging out by themselves.

The beer menu is impressive with over 100 choices. I saw lots of beers I wanted to try, but in efforts to pay off my credit card I stuck with the cheap, local, on-tap brews and had some Uinta Cutthroat. (I'm down to the last credit card, people!)

We met some of Patrick's friends who were really cool and tried lots of tasty beers. All in all it made for a great night with a great server who was adorable, on top of things and fun.

Also I hear tell the food menu comes from Vienna Bistro and is made of Austrian goodness by their chef Frody Volgger so next time I head to the 'hive I'll have to try out some wiener schnitzel.

The photos come from City Weekly and SLCLunches.

Back to the pond

After Erin and I had our adventure in a suburban/small town hell, we were relieved to be back in the city. It's just nice to know where things are and to see streets with different names.

Since we had missed out on lunch, we decided to head to Downtown for some dinner. Erin wanted to check out Saans since she missed their show on Friday. The photography there is incredible!

For dinner we went to the Atlantic Cafe on 325 South Main Street. It's a great little place with an amazing vibe and an awesome patio. Our server was the blond woman who I've had before. She's good, not great. But does a decent job of waiting tables.

We sat on the patio. I had a Newcastle, which is a great beer from the UK. It's dark, smooth and only half as bitter as you'd think. But for five dollars, I limited myself to just one. I ordered the salmon dinner. In order of yumminess the meal was crostini, salad, salmon and rice.

The crostini were incredible. These nearly bite size slices of bread were oven-grilled, slathered with butter and topped with Parmesan cheese. I couldn't help, but eat them all.

The salad was just as simple mix of greens with croutons, Parmesan cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. The balsamic was sweeter than what I'm used to and I was surprised to find myself eating the whole salad.

The salmon was grilled perfectly, but not quite as fresh as I would like. Plus with only one sliver of a lemon slice, I wanted more lemon and really I could've used a tartar sauce. It was served with a red sauce Atlantic puts on nearly every dish, but it just didn't quite go together.

Erin had the steak kebab and I'm pretty sure she loved it. She ate enough so she felt like she couldn't move after we finished. Not that I was going anywhere.

I ordered the chicken kebab to go for Ava. She stayed home because she wasn't feeling well. Once she had her chicken she seemed to like it. I'm pretty sure Ava's ordered this before and I think it's one of her favorite things from Atlantic's menu.

All in all, dinner came to just over $40. It was more than I expected, but I'm going to chalk that up to the additional cost of beer. Yay! Utah!

As always, Atlantic is worth the trip especially if you're every feeling nostalgic for Europe. My favorite is still the margherita pizza.

Eva

This is a great new place in Downtown. The small plate diner has been open for a couple months now. They say they serve Mediterranean food, but they seemed more strictly Italian to me.

The restaurant is fabulous! They have really cool, modern tables and chairs. Plus, some awesome artwork on the walls. I'm pretty sure it's from a local artist. The bright neon colors of the work bring in some much needed contrast with the dark wood of the tables, chairs and floor. The small space could easily be put to the test on a busy night, but there were only few tables when I was there so I had plenty of room.

Our server was a little shy, but she was great. She knew the menu really well and answered all our questions. She was helpful and made good recommendations. I wish I could remember her name.

For our appetizers we ordered calamari and french fries. The aioli was great! I'm pretty sure aioli is only code for fry sauce, but either way it was delicious. The calamari was fried perfectly nice and crispy breading surrounding a soft squid. Yummy! The fries had rosemary on them which is a stroke of genius. I must try this at home.

I ordered the octopus ravioli for my entree mostly because I'd never had octopus. It ended up being surprisingly good. Octopus is a little chewy, but the fried skin was nice and crispy. The texture paired really well with the artichoke pasta. I'm fairly certain the pasta was fresh and made by hand. It was fantastic! I would've been happy with just the ravioli and the sauce. The adventure of the octopus was just a plus.

Ava and Erin also had pasta entrees. I can't remember what they were, but I remember being impressed by the consistency of the dishes. All three were delicious! Like I said, homemade pasta.

When Ava, Erin and I were there last week they were still working on their alcohol menu so we had sodas instead.

All in all, I'm guessing our bill came under $50. I'm not sure because the fabulous Miss Ava bought us dinner. She is AMAZING! Oh yeah, and she has sexy, new hair to match.

If you're Downtown and want a quiet place for a sophisticated dinner, Eva would be a wonderful place. I hope you love it as much as I did!

Murphy's

They say they're a step down in social clubs. It's a clever play on the fact that their bar is indeed a few steps down from the sidewalk.

On the day, I learned I'm editor for next year's student paper at Westminster, Ava was sweet enough to take me out celebrating. She really likes Murphy's and had been there before with some work friends.

Murphys has some cool stuff. For one thing, it never got too crowded so I always felt like I had plenty of space. They also have a dart board. I totally suck at the aiming and throwing thing. Luckily when I'm the right amount of buzzed, I throw it and hit something.

The Long Islands I had were incredibly strong. The bartender used tequila instead of vodka. They were yummy, but at $8.50 each I probably should've stuck to drinking just one.

Ava ordered a Cape Cod and a Newcastle. I'm not a big fan of Cape Cod's, but as far as I know these are her favorite. The Newcastle is an English beer. It's heavier than most the beer I drink, but it's so smooth you wouldn't know the difference. I wonder if there's a different place to buy it.

For dinner, I had a hamburger and french fries. The food was okay. Pretty much what you would expect from a bar. The hamburger was well-done and I don't think you get to choose. Although it was served open-face there was no mayonnaise, so the bread was a little dry.

The fries were NOT fresh cut. Why do people even bother with these? Seriously, fries are so much better when you cut them. I'm pretty sure they're just as cheap and they make my tummy happier. I was very disappointed by the fries and the lack of fry sauce.

So next time I want to throw back a few drinks and play some darts I probably will go to Murphy's. I'll just have dinner someplace else.

Lunch in Europe

Atlantic Cafe
325 S. Main St.

Hours:
Monday--Thursday
10 a.m.--10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday
10 a.m.--midnight
Sunday
Closed

I've posted about this downtown cafe before, but Ava and I went by on Saturday for another fantastic lunch. We were starving and about two in the afternoon there were only a few other customers in the cafe. For the first time, we sat inside instead of on the patio. Spring is so close, but not quite here. *sigh*

I ordered the Margarita pizza and soda. Ava ordered coffee and the parma prosciutto panini. Our waitress was friendly and spoke in a mix of English and a language I didn't recognize. I've heard the owners are Bosnian so maybe she was speaking Croatian? Like all my experiences with Atlantic the service is prompt and very polite.

As always my pizza was delicious. Atlantic makes an obvious effort to use the freshest and best ingredients in their food. The mozzarella was high quality and melted to just the right amount of stringy. The basil and tomatoes were fresh and flavorful. The pizza really is big enough to serve as lunch for two, but it's so yummy I ate most of it on my own.

Ava's fries were yummy. They are very thin shoe-string french fries cooked just right. I like these fries best with some salt and pepper. Ava prefers them with ketchup. Also Ava is absolutely in love with their coffee. It was served in a very adorable saucer and cup and apparently is some of the best coffee in the city.

The panini was delicious. It was probably big enough to serve as lunch for two, but when the food is that good it's no surprise Ava ate the whole thing. Congrats! It was an amazing feat of tummy stretching.

My favorite part about Atlantic is for a moment you believe you are in a cafe in Europe. The staff is speaking a foreign language, the extra virgin olive oil label is in Arabic, there are chocolates you've never seen before and the other patrons are a wonderful mix of locals and tourists. The atmosphere is very warm and inviting.

In all for a pizza, panini, soda and coffee it came to just under $25. I believe Atlantic has raised their prices since I was there last September. However, they are still reasonably priced for the quality of the food, the portions and the overall experience.

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?

Squatters

Squatters
147 West Broadway

So uhh...I want to start by saying I do not enjoy giving negative reviews. In fact, if you read any my previous reviews you'll probably notice I am easily impressed and amused. So most places I go I enjoy. Squatters is an exception to this rule.

Maybe it was the expectations. I've heard many good things about Squatters. The beer is good and blah, blah, blah. Yeah, these people lie. Here's the real story.

#1 Squatters is a male dominated world. I grew up with five boys, I'm used to the room being testosterone heavy. But Squatters is overwhelming in the number of middle-aged men. Not being of the middle-aged and male persuasion, it was not my pint of beer.

#2 Service is slow. Although we were seated immediately and our drink orders taken quickly. I was forced to give the stare down to a busboy and our waitress to get the check. It's a pet peeve I have. Otherwise, Missy was a decent server and answered all my usual obnoxious questions about most popular/favorite dishes.

#3 The food is mediocre. Seriously, not very good. I ordered a burger with fries ($9). The fries are the frozen then fried kind, which I'm not a big fan of. Amazingly Squatters is a Utah restaurant that doesn't serve fry sauce. Instead they offer a chipotle aioli. It was way yummy and made me feel better about the whole not-fresh fries situation.

The bun was way too big for the burger. I ordered my burger well-done and by the time I finally found the center it was somewhere between well-done and medium rare. Did you know there was a middle stage to the grilling?

Me either.

To be fair, Ava did enjoy her chicken chimichanga ($12-ish). "I'm really lovin' this rice," she said. The rice was tender and fluffy with a nice amount of seasoning. The bite I had of chimichanga wasn't overly impressive, but it was good.

#4 The beer. I know this is the big one, the reason people go to Squatters. I ordered the Full Suspension ($4.79 on tap), which is not a good choice for a woman who would rather drink a cocktail. It's a bitter beer and left a very acidic after taste in the back of my throat.

On the other hand, the Provo Girl Ava ordered was very yummy. It was smooth and "good for what ales you" without Ava or me making yucky faces.

I apologize if you are a middle-aged man who loves Squatters. Maybe someday when I am a middle-aged man we can all love Squatters together. Until then, happy eating.

Market Street Grill

Seafood, anyone? Market Street Grill offers a variety of seafood with a menu that is updated daily. Judging from the prices I would say they fly the fish in fresh from California. Judging from the flavor they don't fly it in on Fridays.

Market Street has gone to the effort making the interior of their restaurant as sea-friendly as possible. The white paneling coupled with the dark wood accents makes me think of Boston. They've also put up fake fish with neon back lighting, it's a little different, but fits the place.

I should also note the soft background music wasn't total crap. It wasn't my favorite music, but I remember hearing three songs in a row I actually liked. Pretty amazing for a chain restaurant.

Our waiter was competent. Although, she was friendly I was surprised by the bantering between her and the other wait staff on the floor. I felt like she forgot we were there whenever she commented about how much she had in tips and what a slow day it was to other waiters. Maybe, it's slow because people know they will be treated like they don't exist there. On another note, for some inexplicable reason they had six or so waiters for Friday lunch on a cold snowy day.

The menu is expensive. I would even say more expensive than their quality of food merits. I ordered the crab and artichoke dip as an appetizer for about $10. The dip was very yummy. If you like crab and artichoke it's delicious. It was creamy and hot with a nice bread crumble across the top. If you don't like crab or artichoke you probably won't like it.

They also serve a complimentary loaf of sour dough bread. The bread was nice and crusty. It was sourdough without being too sour. I'm not usually a big fan of sourdough, but this was fantastic! I loved the bread. As did Ava, I think it's safe to say that if we ever go back we will most anticipate the bread.

For our entrees Ava ordered Cajun Seafood Pasta for about $23 and I ordered the Fisherman's Platter for about $20. Both entrees were served with a side salad. The salad essentially ended up being greens, three tomatoes and three slices of onion. Umm...I know it's a side salad, but are the tomatoes supposed to be the side to the salad?

Our entrees soon came looking delicious. The Cajun pasta was supposed to be served with a fettucine pasta, but came with spaghetti pasta instead. The fisherman's platter came with everything deep-fried (how could I resist?) scallops, calamari, halibut and shrimp along with a side of cheesy potatoes. At this point both Ava and I were stuffed.

So I ended up sampling my dish. In the end, calamari is chewy, but good. Scallops are better when they aren't deep-fried, I could deep fry my own shrimp and they would be just as good and the halibut was not the level I expected it to be. But the potatoes were delicious. Not just because I love potatoes either. They were nicely seasoned, covered with cheese and had plenty of parsley to contrast with the cheddar. Seriously, good.

Ava's pasta was a little spicier than she had bargained for, but it looked great. And from her efforts to eat it I'm going to say it was good. Of course, she can let you know in the comments. It had andouille sausage along with the usual scallops and shrimp seafood.

So in all lunch was about $60. Way, way too much for what it was. Even though we ate a ton of food I don't think lunch should ever be that expensive. Luckily, I had a $50 gift card so it only cost me $10. It was definitely worth the ten bucks.

Here's the bottom line. If you go to Market Street Grill, pray for a decent waiter, skip the appetizer and only order entrees. And to save money, ask the nice people you know hook you up with a gift card.

Big City Soup

Chicken Curry Soup
Who knew chicken curry would make such a wonderful soup? Not me. But apparently the guys at Big City were already knew it would be an excellent combination of flavor and texture.

My experience at Big City Soup was at the original location (235 South 400 West) proved to me why I love Salt Lake Lake City and food. Big City is just around the corner from my office and an easy walking distance in four inch heels. Always, a giant plus!

The staff was very friendly and more than helpful. Once I explained I had never been there before the server was more than happy to give me free samples of all the soups available. As soon as I sampled the chicken curry I knew it was the soup I wanted.

Layered with flavors including curry, scallions and chicken. The soup was full of delicious chunks of chicken, onion and carrot. I can't get over how delicious this soup was. I'm having difficulty coming up with the words to describe the blend of sweet, sour and spicy, but it was there and it was perfect.

The one downfall of the food was the ciabatta roll. Umm...I'm not sure, but even for ciabatta it seemed stale and hard. Plus it was definitely lacking flavor. I'll admit I haven't eaten a whole lot of ciabatta in my time. And I don't think I'll be eating a whole lot more in the future.

Oh and did I mention gift certificates? That's right. Oh yeah, it was free to me! YAY! Does a place get any better? I was lucky enough to have a $10 gift certificate from my work so I was happy to pay their $6.50 for the soup and bread.

In all honesty I thought it was a little expensive, but completely worth it. The soup was amazing! The help was incredible! And being so close to my office I will definitely be back.

After all, I still have $3.50 on my gift card. What are you soup stories?

Sushi, sushi, sushi

Recently, I've been craving sushi. I love the melody of flavors in sushi, the dedication to the freshest ingredients and the beautiful presentation. Our craving for fresh, beautiful sushi led Mrs. Michael Scofield and I have to test out Salt Lake's sushi scene.

Sapporo
The first place we went to was Sapporo. They have no Internet presence that I can find, but they have great sushi. The restaurant is on Broadway (300 South) right next to the Broadway Theater. The restaurant has never appeared very busy to me and it certainly wasn't the night we stopped by. There was a couple at the sushi bar with us and another couple joined the four of us later.

The sushi chef was pretty young. (My guess is 17-ish.) But he was friendly and talked to us as he prepared our rolls. So while the chef didn't know what Kobe beef was, I have to give him props for making some excellent sushi. I really enjoyed the bar, the other guests were friendly and the chef did a great job of involving everyone in the conversation. Our waitress was very good. She saw immediately when drinks needed refilled and carefully made sure everyone was happy.

The sushi itself was incredible! I was stuffed after four pieces, but it was so good I had to keep eating. The ingredients were all fresh and everything went together so nicely. Plus, it was the most beautiful sushi I have seen.

I really enjoyed Sapporo and am looking forward to a return visit. For two sodas and two sushi rolls it was about $25. All the fish was incredibly fresh and even the pickled ginger looked amazing! It's definitely worth a visit.

Tsunami
I've posted about Tsunami before, so I'll be brief. They serve some of the best, freshest sushi in the valley. The Tokyo Cowboy is an excellent sushi roll and the prices are great for what you get. But I can't get over the atmosphere. The Sugar House location just isn't as friendly and warm as I would expect from any restaurant. The servers also seem a little stand-offish. I will go back to this place...if someone else is paying!

I Love Sushi
The last place we visited in our sushi sovereign was this little shop in Downtown. The place is known for excellent prices and great sushi. Mrs. Scofield and I have been meaning to go here forever and we finally made it with Jess.

Jess, Ava and I each ordered a sushi roll. They were a little thinner than the rolls served a Tsunami and Sabbarro, but with more pieces. The smaller pieces were easier to eat because they fit in my mouth easily.

I ordered something with yellow tail. The yellow tail was very fresh and flavorful. Unfortunately, the vegetables were not as fresh as I expected. The chef added some sauce and sesame seeds to the top. It made for an interesting texture and a fun presentation, but all the flavor didn't quite go together. I think a little too much was happening for a single roll

The atmosphere here was great. I felt like we were in the home of a good friend and was perfectly at ease to ignore my non-chop stick skills and eat with my fingers. It's a little bit of a sushi diner, restaurant implies no whiteboards with the daily special listed.

Our server was friendly and made great dessert recommendations for the green tea and plum ice cream. The deep-fried banana was great. Tempura does very well on fruit. I loved the green tea ice cream and will definitely eat more in the future.

Three sushi rolls, two desserts and three sodas later the bill came to about $35. Not bad, for all that food. Next time, I will try their bento boxes and branch out into other Japanese foods like ramen.

While there's a lot to love about each of these locations. The first sushi stop is my first love. It has great sushi, a great chef, fun decor and comfortable prices.

What are your favorite Salt Lake sushi places?

Is it just me?

Or has food gone downhill in quality lately. But really? How hard is it to make a good sandwich? And where can you find this horrible sandwich I had the joy of tasting?

Why at East Coast Subs in Downtown Salt Lake City! I spent a gorgeous afternoon strolling the streets of Downtown taking photos. When I was hungry, I found myself faced with East Coast Subs or crossing the street and going to Esther's. I had never been to either so I chose convenience and went inside East Coast.

I should have been warned by the sole table of two at one in the afternoon. A sandwich shop on a weekday with two customers just shortly after regular lunch time is not a good sign. But, I put my faith in the woman behind the counter and the easy to read menu.

Between greeting the woman at the counter (I assume she is the owner) and placing my order, the owner passed me off to an employee. She was friendly and waited patiently as I read the menu.

I ordered a small BLT sandwich, a small fountain drink and a small side of onion rings. The easy-to-read menu lead me to believe the meal would cost about $7 plus tax, it was closer to $10. Apparently, the addition of a combo for $2.79 only applies if you get medium size, but the girl behind the counter failed to mention it, as does the menu, when she asked what I wanted with my sandwich.

$10 is more than I ever want to pay for lunch, especially a sandwich. But I figure if you make it good enough you can charge a little more and I won't mind. So my expectations were raised with the price tag.

My order was ready to go in about 5 minutes. I decided to eat over at Gallivan Plaza next to the fountains. The setting was great. My first bite was the exact opposite. It went something like this: bite, chew, chew, umm, is that stale bread?, eww!

Yes, people. Not only was the sandwich constructed in such a way that the first mouthful was entirely bread it was also stale bread. The contents of the sandwich didn't fare much better in freshness.

The lettuce was browned and the tomato looked extra smooshed, like it had sat at the bottom of a container of tomatoes for a few too many hours. No condiments were given, so I had no mayonnaise. The bacon was the best part of the sandwich. It had been taken off the grill just seconds before topping my stale bread. So while, it may have been a lower quality meat it was a least edible.

I turned to the onion rings, hoping to recover some of my faith in sandwich shops. What I found were freshly baked onion rings straight from your grocer's freezer. You know, the Ore-Ida kind you grab when you have kids and want to make dinner in a hurry.

If that's what they really serve on the East Coast, I'm moving farther west. Sorry East Coast Subs, next time I'm crossing the street to Esther's.

Atlantic Cafe

Mmm...sums this place up. I've been to the Atlantic Cafe a few times now. And I love it. My favorite is their margarita pizza. They use mozzarella fresh, sweet tomato sauce, sweet fresh basil and plenty of fresh garlic. The sandwiches are delicious. Roxanne really enjoyed the chicken dish she ordered last time. (I think it was a gyro.)

Although, the cafe has a large menu it isn't overwhelming. The prices are excellent. A downtown location where you can get lunch for under $10 is tough to find. But, Atlantic is the answer.

Atlantic Cafe boasts one of my favorite patios. The patio is covered with trees making it cozy while still being spacious enough you don't elbow strangers. I've never even bothered with an indoor table at this place.

The restaurant is very clean. They always have an open table, so you never wait to be seated. Plus, they will never rush you out the door. Be warned: you will need to take your ticket inside to pay when you're ready to leave.

The atmosphere is very relaxed. Unfortunately this means, the service isn't as prompt as I typically expect. The server may take a few extra minutes to notice you. The servers' friendliness and the foods' yumminess make it worth the extra wait.

The owners are passionate about food and people. It shows in their cafe. The food is great and it is apparent the servers want you to enjoy yourself. The owners are always working in the restaurant. I've been checked on every time by them. My table is always having a good time and enjoying the food.

This place always has many different people with many different accents. The decor and market make it feel like you've left Salt Lake for just a few minutes and are eating at a Mediterranean cafe.

If you're looking for an excellent meal that is as relaxing as a spa, Atlantic Cafe is for you. This cafe is always worth the trip, time and dime.