Sushi Mania

I was swimming in a sea of swarming colors. Light bands of every color imaginable were outstretched to me, and I could feel my body begin to gravitate towards their beauty. They were arranged in a spiral pattern so that eventually they all met in the center. As I approached I felt my entire being coalesce into a rainbow ball of greatness. Suddenly it was all ripped away from me as the hostess shouted, "Norvell, party of two?" I was vaguely disappointed that nothing of what I had just visualized was a part of reality. My girlfriend and I had waited so long to be seated that we each dozed off and began to daydream! As we began to separate fact from fiction, our surroundings began to make sense. We were in a local sushi restaurant aptly named Sushi Mania, and the restaurant's decorations were breath taking. Bamboo shoots were growing in pots that were subtly placed around the room, and flower decorations could be seen everywhere. The room was dimly lit, and in the background soothing oriental music was being played. It created an effect so surreal that it seemed completely natural to have just undergone such a euphoric dream.

As the hostess led us to our seat, we passed the sushi bar. There seemed to be an air of mystery clouding it and, I needed to get a closer look. Like the rest of the restaurant, it was neatly decorated. It contained an elaborate assortment of spices and sauces that I never even knew existed, and behind it two chefs were busily preparing sushi for their customers. I was enthralled as I watched them gracefully create sushi masterpieces. Their knives sung in the air as they masterfully carved the fish into bite-sized morsels. I found myself drifting towards the bar and I almost took a seat there of my own accord, but our hostess had other plans. She slung us into the corner, gave us some menus, and then abandoned us. I was disappointed at our location, but then it occurred to me that we were somewhat underdressed. We were in casual attire and clearly did not fit in with the rest of the restaurants guests.

A lone chef at the sushi bar inside Sushi Mania.

Shortly after the hostess departed, our waitress arrived. She took our drink orders and in a split second she was back with the drinks, and asking if we were ready to order. We told her that we were not, and she gave us some time to look over the menu. Neither of us ate sushi very often, and we had trouble deciding what we would gorge ourselves with that night. We didn't want to end up with something that we found revolting. When we had finally made up our minds about what we wanted to eat, we called the waitress over. She was not the least bit perturbed that we had kept her waiting so long, and she was extremely polite. We gave her our orders; I went with a dish dubbed The Kiss of Fire. What that amounted to being was a California roll covered with tuna, tomato, and Sushi Mania's "special sauce." Lindsey, my girlfriend, ordered the M-80. This one consisted of tuna, yellowtail, salmon, and cream cheese. This marvelous combination of flavors was further enhanced by being baked with scallops, and then deep fried.

Our food was promptly served, and our glass never below half full. What happened next was a matter of night and day. Lindsey's dish was fried and came out hot and sizzling. six ornate sushi rolls circumscribed the square dish. Soy sauce was drizzled on the bottom of the plate and the meal looked ready to be gobbled up. Mine on the other hand was a cold served meal. The California roll that I had ordered was no where to be seen, because sitting on top of it was a red blob of what looked like vomit. In actuality, this was the tuna and tomato topping it was given. However, it was slopped onto the plate, and not given a second thought; I almost felt bad for my meal. The phrase "You can not judge a book by its cover," came to mind and I cautiously sampled it. The topping did not taste as bad as it looked, but the tuna was very bland, and had almost no flavor. The "special sauce" that was mixed in with it was vaguely spicy hence the name The Kiss of Fire, but it was nothing notable. However, buried in this topping of regurgitated tuna lied a hidden treasure. The California roll concealed below was profound. The avocado and cucumber it contained went very nicely together and soon there was nothing remaining of my entree, save the topping. About the time I had finished my entire meal, Lindsey was done with only two of her rolls, and decided she was full. She offered me the rest of her entree and I gladly accepted. Honestly, I had been eyeing it throughout the duration of the meal. It looked so much more appetizing than mine and I was envious of her choice. We traded plates, and so commenced my second meal.

As I slid the first roll into my mouth with my lackluster chop stick skills, I briefly entered the same state of euphoria I experienced in my day dream. Much like the colors in my dream, the various flavors in the M-80 swirled in my mouth. Each one complimented the next, and as a whole they coalesced into a sushi ball of greatness. The roll itself was topped with scallops, and on the inside tuna, yellowtail, salmon, and cream cheese. Sadly my amateur palette was not worthy of this meal, and I could not even distinguish between the three types of fish that it contained. While the meat was exceptionally tasty, what made this meal so stunning was the cream cheese. It is the glue that holds all of the flavors together; it causes the roll to literally melt into your mouth. Before I knew it, I was finishing up the last sushi roll, and the euphoric sensation was subsiding. I took a moment to reflect on what had just occurred, and realized that something very special had just happened. The sushi that I had just eaten was a masterpiece. A combination of various flavors and textures blended together so that as a whole they make something much better than any of them could hope to be alone. It requires a clever chef indeed to make something so breathtaking.

After paying for the meal, we trekked towards the door reluctantly. We enjoyed our meal immensely, and it was a shame to depart from such an inviting atmosphere. The sadness of our departure was lessened as the waitresses and hostess bid us farewell, and asked us earnestly if we would return. I whole heartedly plan on it. My time at Sushi Mania was greatly enjoyed. From the moment you walk into the door, you can see that the atmosphere is fun and inviting. However, we were late in being seated, and the hostess did seem terse with us. Even though the night started off looking grim, things were not destined to stay that way. Once we were seated things picked up tremendously. The service was exceptional, our waitress was polite, and the food was wonderful—if you order the right thing at least. Sushi Mania does have its fair share of flaws, but overall it is a certainly a positive dining experience.

Sushi Mania

★★★