This weekend we decided to break the eating out fast and get some sushi. I have fallen in love with sushi since moving here. I am so grateful for the Japanese influence in our neck of the woods. In a smaller town without much food variety it breaks the monotony of red meat and rice.
My favorite place, Tatibana, was closed for several months for remodeling. I didn’t think they were ever going to finish what they were doing in there, but they finally opened back up a few weeks ago.
So we spent Saturday night sipping sake and lingering through a few courses. I love the Brazilian twist on sushi. I am not one for the raw stuff, but I find that there are plenty of options to fill me up. I’ll eat the raw fish in the rolls, but don’t like the texture of just a slab of it like with sashimi.
We typically start out with miso soup and then move on to Hot Philadelphia. Then comes the Brazilian twist. The California rolls come with cucumber, kani (imitation crab) and mango. They even have a dessert variety that comes with cream cheese, goiabada (which is like a guava jam) and strawberry. Romeu e Julieta is the name for all foods here that come with goiabada and cheese – dessert pizza, ice cream, and this case dessert sushi.
We skipped that option this time and tried the fried ice cream. I can’t say I’ve ever had fried ice cream at a Japanese restaurant. I’ve always associated it with Mexican food. My most fond memories are of the fried ice cream at Chi Chi’s Mexican Restaurant. That thing was the best! Unfortunately it is gone for good though.
This version was basically an ice cream ball wrapped in a crepe and heated up. Not a bad combination, except for the ice cream. I am a big fan of the fresh ice cream we can get at the scoop-your-own kilo places, but when it comes to packaged ice cream here it is just not good. Everything tastes very sweet and artificially flavored. I probably should have known better before ordering it, but at least the crepe was good.
One thing about dining out that makes me laugh and makes me feel bad at the same time is how we can often freak people out. Once some servers realize we are not from Brazil they get incredibly nervous around us, expecting us not to understand anything.
We’ve gone to Tatibana numerous times and never had a single problem ordering. It was always a great experience. Well, this weekend was pretty rocky. It looked like they had some new servers and they were a bit nervous around the gringos.
As soon as she asked us if we were foreigners it was as if she thought we wouldn’t know anything. A couple times they even had a cashier come out and ask us questions in English regarding our order expecting us not to speak the language. I mean, my Portuguese sucks but after a year here I can tell you if I want chocolate, morango or creme ice cream.
It was good for a laugh, but at the same time it looked like we really stressed our waitress out. She probably breathed a sigh of relief when we finally paid and left
7 comments:
I have had the same experience at restaurants even in the States, when I am with Portuguese speakers, and people get really nervous. Now a days what happens more is people asking me whether my son speaks (or understands) Portuguese, since I only speak to him in English. People just don´t understand why I would speak to him in English if I speak Portuguese!
My husband and I have also fallen in love with sushi since moving to Brasil. Although I had tried a sushi roll or two in the US, we never went all out and gave it a try. One of our Brasilian friends invited us out for sushi shortly after arriving here. We were skeptical, but absolutely loved it! It is one of our favorite treats now when we go out to eat! And like you said, a nice break from the rice, beans, meat routine!
I fell in love with sushi because I fell in love with my boyfriend. He grew up in Japan and loves all fresh things that once swam in the sea. He's more daring than I am. He eats octupus and eel and other slightly frightening looking things.
I stick with tuna and salmon and am quite happy. Whenever we go out to eat, I check my wallet and then I yell, "Sushi!"
Melody Platz
www.melodythehappywanderer.com
corinne - I've often thought of that when i've seen you mention your family. Do you speak to him in English to make sure he practices since he probably speaks Portuguese in school?
emily - We were the same way. It was always around in the States, but we never really made the point to explore it there.
Melody - How great! I'd love to have the real think in Japan sometime. However, I am cautious that I might be a little surprised at the what the real thing entails. :) I love trying new things, but I can be a wimp sometimes.
Actually my son is just starting to speak - he is 22 months old. I am raising him bilingual with the OPOL (one parent, one language) technique, which means I speak exclusively in English to him and Daddy speaks in Portuguese (which is fine, since Daddy does not speak English!!). My mom lives with us too so he gets English from her too, but Portuguese everywhere else. Righ now he understands both languages but speaks a mix, usually some words in English (milk, cookie) and others in Portuguese (agua, colo). It is a blast!!
I love sushi too - was harder to give up during my pregnancy than the booze!!
oh my gosh that dessert sushi looks freaking amazing!
I don't eat fish (yes, I know, it's good for me, but I just don't like it) but I do love vegetarian sushi. Unfortunately that doesn't give me a ton of options at most places.
corinne - That is so cool! It has to be so much fun to watch and help him learn both languages! I've always wondered how people manage to teach their kids two languages. That is great!
Yeah I have a a feeling if we have kids there are going to be a lot of things I miss. :)
kyle - It is great. If you make it to Brazil, try to find it. It sounds weird, but it is actually great when put in the soy sauce. There is something good about the salty sweet combo.
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