so i went out to santa monica tonight to meet up w/viv and check out sushi roku on ocean boulevard. this is definitely one of those places that i've passed by a bazillion times and wanted to try. and tonight was the night! joanne had mentioned it being really pricey, but i suppose she just never knew how much i'd spend on food, b/c the prices were actually pretty fair for a nice sushi place right by the water. i mean, that's some serious real estate.
while i was waiting for viv (who was stuck in traffic), i hung out at the bar. which i generally never do b/c i feel weird not drinking. thankfully, i was at a sushi place and it was chilly outside, so ordering a hot green tea didn't seem out of the ordinary. plus the bartender mentioned it being happy hour -- how providential! and seeing that i was semi-starving, i ordered some calamari to tide me over. to be honest, it was *way* salty. thankfully, it was just a few pieces for $3, but my goodness. it's like they salted the calamari, breaded it, and then salted it some more. as i was telling viv later, i'd much prefer to have something bland so i can salt it myself, rather than have it come way too salty and i somehow still have to swallow it. yuck!
btw, let it be known that this place is pretty strict about reservations. the hostess wouldn't seat me till viv got there. and as soon as it hit 6:15, she asked me whether i wanted to give up the table. thankfully, a few minutes after i'd politely told the waitress NO, viv showed up. of course, she'd been distracted by seeing john mayer and cameron diaz strolling down ocean boulevard together, so i suppose i had to forgive her. it's weird how star sightings are so typical here.
the hostess seated us at a lovely table for 2 and we checked out the menus with ravenous appetites. (me a little less ravenous seeing as how i'd scarfed down the salty calamari and all.) as i'd checked out the menu online beforehand, my eye was already drawn to a few items. and while i'd wanted to eat light and stick to veggies, i really couldn't help myself. (that seems to be my MO recently -- *sigh*) we decided to get a bunch of small plates to share: fresh salmon daikon w/caviar, sizzling mushroom "toban-yaki" (i have no idea why this word was in quotes -- anyone have a clue?), seabass "harumaki" spring roll (again, no idea about the quotes -- help!), seaweed salad, foie gras wrapped yellowtail in black truffle soy, and a mixed sashimi plate. don't these all sound absolutely delish?!
well, here's the rundown: the fresh salmon daikon -- yummy. i suppose the price was due to the caviar, but the flavors and textures were pretty delish regardless. the sizzling mushrooms -- WAY salty, but the mix of mushrooms (and therefore textures) was fabulous. the seabass? BEST THING ORDERED. creative, not too salty, and perfect with a little bit of the herb citrus dip. the seaweed salad -- i find out later that i'd eaten all the spinach that viv had thought was missing and she'd eaten all the seaweed that i'd thought was missing (and which she'd gotten stuck in her teeth)! way to go for quality female communication, huh? (when do friends become psychics? anyone know?) the foie gras wrapped yellowtail -- pretty yummy in my opinion. ever so slightly bitter, which was good against the backdrop of endless salt we seemed to have throughout dinner. and the mixed sashimi plate -- ordered at the end of the meal and just the kind of super fresh protein goodness we needed to fill us up. all in all, i think we did pretty well! plus i thought it was lovely that our green teas came free of charge. i mean, it's so asian, no? ultimately, i'd love to come back to this place and try some more dishes. not necessarily the sashimi/sushi (b/c i think you can get fresh fish at other places for cheaper -- please feel free to disagree), but perhaps some of the interesting rolls. plus there was definitely quite a bit of creativity put into some of their hot appetizers. maybe tapas and small dishes are the new craze, but i love checking out new things and i love sharing, so a bunch of appetizers works way better for me than having a whole dish to myself. it's kinda like being non-committal. (also my MO.)
check it:
sushi roku
1401 ocean ave
santa monica, ca 90401
310.458.4771
http://www.sushiroku.com/sushiroku/index.htm
we raced out of the restaurant in time to catch "vincent" at the santa monica miles memorial playhouse. i won't say too much about it b/c i was generally unimpressed. while the venue itself was pretty cool and rustic, and the actor was pretty decent, i couldn't get into the one-man show or the character(s). i saw "edge" at the odyssey theatre and it was totally watchable b/c i could connect w/sylvia plath at several points throughout the play. not the case with vincent van gogh or his brother theo. the actor's expression was glazed over most of the time and i simply couldn't feel the emotion. i kept shifting around in my chair and i wished i could've taken a nap. i swear i could hear people yawning all around me. (or was that a figment of my imagination? i'm not sure.) well, as viv and i both confessed in the car, at least we were thinking how we didn't pay too much for the tickets!
http://www.theatreforasmallspace.com/
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