Adventures in Food: Japanese Style

My best friend Faith thinks I'm a picky eater. I've never really thought of myself as a picky eater, there are just some things I refuse to eat: seafood, mayonnaise (and anything made with it), hard boiled eggs, fake cheese (American Cheese is a national disgrace), canned vegetables (why turn a perfectly yummy vegetable into a mushy metallic-tasting horror), anything pickled, mustard, tomato soup, tofu, anything spongy, and hot dogs (mmm...mechanically separated parts). Although the act of listing my dislikes makes me realize that I am only proving my friend's theory/myth about me.

Anyway, Faith decided a while ago that she is going to turn me from a whitebread Utah suburbanite into a cosmopolitan foodie (isn't it cute that she actually thinks that is possible!). So we started a monthly ethnic lunch—she originally proposed calling it the "let's make Kristin eat like a big girl" monthly lunch). So far we've had Indian and Thai food. I had tried both of these years before so I wasn't completely unprepared for the experiences. I've discovered I do like Indian food but not Thai food. While I generally liked the flavor of the Thai, I had a hard time with the texture.

For May, we decided (correction: Faith decided) to go to a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar. I didn't see the point in having a Japanese lunch because I love teriyaki and tepanyaki style meat, but I guess that wasn't good enough. So about a week ago we went to a local Japanese restaurant (I'm not going to give the name of the place because I think it would be unfair for me to rate their food). Even though Faith promised me beforehand that she would not make me eat any seafood, I was still nervous. While I have always found Japanese food to be beautifully presented, I've never thought it looked that appetizing.

We started off with a Tempura sampler (basically fried vegetables, calamari and shrimp). I was definitely underwhelmed by the tempura veggies. I thought they tasted fine but would have actually liked them better without the deep frying. Next it was miso soup. I thought it was pretty yummy except I kept getting distracted by the nasty floating cubes of tofu. For the main entree I ordered the Tonkatsu lunch special. Tonkatsu is a breaded pork loin cut into thin strips. I couldn't decide whether I liked it or not because the meat was very tough (Faith said that is not normal); I'm pretty sure I would have enjoyed the flavor more if I hadn't had to work so hard to chew the meat. Fortunately, the Tonkatsu was served in a bento box (like the picture above) with rice, California rolls, pot stickers, and slightly pickled cucumbers. I like rice and pot stickers so they were safe. I was not a fan of the cucumbers (remember my abhorrence of all things pickled). Finally, I had to eat the California rolls (essentially an inside-out sushi roll with imitation crab meat). I gingerly placed one in my mouth and discovered within .5 seconds that I HATE fake seafood as much as real seafood. It was all I could do to swallow it and not spew it all over my cute bento box. A few minutes later I decided to try the California roll again so I could say that I really did make an effort. My second attempt was no better than the first. I boxed up the leftovers from my lunch (and there were plenty) and took them home with the idea to try the food again in the privacy of my own kitchen. Basically, I had the same reaction to the California roll at home as I did at the restaurant except I was able to spit out the half-chewed glob into my sink.

So here are my conclusions. Do I like Japanese food? Yes and no. Would I ever choose to go to a Japanese restaurant? Absolutely not. Would I ever go to a Japanese restaurant again if friends wanted to? Yes, but I'd stay clear of the tofu, seafood (fake and real) and California rolls unless our table was unusually close to the bathroom.

(Note to Faith: thank you for trying to improve my palette and expand my culinary horizons. While I am not having as much success as either of us wants I do appreciate your help.)