WAAAAASAAAAABI!!!!!

Sushi, Sushi, Sushi ... Eat Them Up Yum!!!

Jay and I were the fortunate recipients of a gift certificate to a local sushi joint called Wasabi this past Christmas season and we finally decided to put it to good use. They have more than one location in St. Louis but the closest one to our stinky homestead is in Clayton - a harrowing thirty-mile drive over the river and through the stench-filled haze that surrounds the city.

To get back into practice for our upcoming WDW trip we snapped a self portrait.

Say Fisheeeeeez!


For some reason we expected Wasabi to be much larger than it actually was ... I guess we've just become too accustomed to dining in places outside of Stinktown that are designed to serve multitudes of guests at the same time. This is not meant to be a criticism, just an observation. Luckily Jay and I arrived shortly after they opened for dinner so they weren't very crowded; by the time we left the place was filling up fast (and we were able to ogle other peoples' sushi on our way out). Despite the relative smallness of the restaurant Jay and I actually liked Wasabi's decor, which was clean and simple and welcoming.

Sushi Bar


To start our evening off properly we ordered some Nigori Sake, a variation of which we first tried last fall at WDW (where else, right?). We enjoyed this sake, but both agreed that we've tried a couple of others that were better - the problem with this statement is that neither of us can remember the names of the other two Nigoris that we prefer to this one. Now that's a special kind of stupid.

A bucket with your Sake?


These plates need sushi, STAT!


Alright ... lemme tell you what we ordered before I share the cool presentation with you:

Nigiri:

2 pieces of Bluefin Tuna
2 pieces of Sake (Salmon)
1 piece of Smoked Salmon
1 piece of Hotate (Scallop)
1 piece of Maguro (Yellowfin Tuna)
1 piece of Unagi (Freshwater Eel)

Rolls:

1 Crazy Roll - tuna, salmon, yellowtail, cucumber, avocado, and spicy sauce.
1 Rainbow Roll - inside out California Roll with five kinds of mysterious fish.
1 Caterpillar Roll - unagi, smoked salmon, cucumber, avocado, and massago.
1 Terry Roll - fresh Scotland salmon, cucumber, crunch (roe), and spicy mayo wrapped in soy bean paper.

It's a boatload of fish!!!

Is that or is that not the coolest sushi delivery you've ever seen? Some patrons of a less gluttonous nature than Jay and me had their sushi presented on little arched bridges similar to those you might see stretching over a lily pond. We thought that was pretty neat and we also cracked ourselves up by suggesting that it should be mandatory presentation for patrons who order unagi so that they can call it the Bridge Over the River Unagi.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Bluefin & Salmon Nigiri

Salmon and Unagi Nigiri

Smoked Salmon and Yellowfin Nigiri

Hotate Nigiri

So, what did we think? It was lovely and light and tasty ... the best sushi we've had since leaving Florida last October. The nigiri surprise of the night for me was that I liked the eel and thought the scallop was disgusting. The eel was no different than eating meat - a little chewy but with a mild flavor that the soy sauce really enhanced. The scallop, on the other hand, had the consistency of slimy, chewy mucous - kind of rubbery with a texture that made my digestive gears threaten to slam into reverse faster than I could yell, "where's the barf bag!?"

And then it was time to dive into the rolls we ordered. I started with a piece of the Terry Roll and the Crazy Roll, which ended up being my two favorites of the evening. The Terry Roll was light and crunchy and I really liked that it was rolled with soy bean paper, which was light and crisp and a nice change from seaweed, which can sometimes bother the Crohn goblin. And the crazy roll was a wonderful mix of tasty fish with just a hint of spice - the seaweed made it a little chewy at times but overall it was a definite winner.

Terry Roll and Crazy Roll

My next choice was a piece of Rainbow Roll, which in this case is a California Roll with various fishies draped over the top. This was OK - not as good as I had hoped it would be, but I think that mentally I was comparing this to the Rainbow Roll we first tried at Wolfgang Puck's in October. And who in Stinktown can possibly compete with the god-like fishlieness of the Puck???

Rainbow Roll with Tuna ...

Jay and I were a little disappointed in the presentation of the Caterpillar Roll only because on the menu they actually show it presented as a bug, with eyes and attenae and a green wrap. I guess it looked a little buggy, but because it was tucked into the middle of our sushi boat the whole effect was lost. The caterpillar was my least favorite of all the rolls we ordered - I thought it had too much sauce and a distinctly smoky flavor, both of which are things that turn me off. Jay made a good point and that was this: there was a lot of stuff going on in that roll and the texture was a little odd, so it's not really a surprise that I didn't like it as much as some of the others. With sushi, as with many other food joys that I've discovered over the years, I like things simple and clean whenever possible.

Caterpillar Roll & Terry Roll

Terry, Crazy, and Rainbow Rolls

Our overall impression was strongly favorable - not only would we go back to Wasabi but we would recommend it to all of our friendies. They actually have quite an extensive menu that includes appetizers, entrees, combination meals, and tempura but on this visit we only had eyes for sushi.

On the drive home I told Jay that I really wanted some Dairy Queen for dessert ... a place we haven't paid a visit to in years. My lovey hubby obligingly stopped at the DQ drive-through just a few minutes from our house and I ordered an Oreo / Brownie Sundae type thing and Jay chose a Peanut Buster Parfait (or as my mom always calls it ... a barfait).

Here I am getting ready to inhale both desserts ... one for each hip!

So hungreeeee...

Oreo-Brownie Caloric Overload

Mmmm, that's good barfait


Our desserts really hit the spot .... light, airy, cold, white-flavored soft serve drowning in hot fudge and / or peanut buttery goodness. Ahhhh, who doesn't like a Saturday evening sugar rush like this?

Now, I promised you guys a funny story about Dairy Queen and I'm going to make good on that - unless you don't think this is remotely amusing, but I can't do anything about that. ;-)

Many, many years ago when Jay and I were dating we would occasionally venture over to a DQ near my parents house and indulge in a frosty treat or two. Even then, which was pre-Crohns diagnosis, I avoided certain foods because I knew they bothered me even though I didn't know why. Among those foods were nuts of all shapes and sizes. So one evening when Jay and I placed our order I requested my Hot Fudge Brownie Delight sans nuts - normally they would sprinkle almonds or some other nut over the top of the dessert, but I always requested that mine be served plain.

Jay's barfait arrived at the counter in short order but for some reason it seemed to be taking my brownie delight a verrrry long time to make an appearance. It's not a difficult dessert to make: add soft serve to container; open pre-made brownie, split in half, tuck into soft serve on either side of said container; add two pumps of hot fudge and a spritz of whipped cream; present to customer and have a nice day.

I noticed suddenly that the young lady who had taken my order was standing over a trash can with what appeared to be one of the brownies for my dessert. I squinted for a moment and then clapped a hand over my mouth to smother the shriek of laughter that was bubbling up from my belly. I turned away from the counter and started giggling, motioning to Jay to come closer so that I could share my discovery with him.

The poor girl had taken my request for a nut-free dessert so literally that she was patiently picking bits of nut out of the brownie and flicking them into the trash with her fingernails.

It took several minutes for both Jay and me to compose ourselves to the point where we could speak intelligibly. And then I immediately told her that I didn't mean that she had to de-nut the brownie, I only wanted to be sure that she didn't sprinkle nuts over the top of the dessert after she was done making it. She looked like I'd just given her the best present ever and much to my relief tossed the brownie into the trash can and started making my dessert all over again ... without picking the brownie to pieces in the process.

The lesson is: be careful what you ask for, especially at Dairy Queen!!!