Adventures in Asia Downtown
Last night after work, I decided to walk around downtown a bit and see if I could find the new sushi restaurant that I'd heard was down here somewhere. I wasn't hungry, but I figured it'd be good to know how far away it was for later.
I found it, a block further north than I'd looked the last time before giving up (d'oh), and I was considering heading back toward the train station when I noticed a curiosity shop of sorts a bit further up the block.
It was a branch of the store my cosmopolitan friend used to work in. Owned by this asshole who goes to south Asia several times a year and buys below museum-grade relics and odds and ends from temples that have been destroyed from destitute people who don't know any better and then brings them back to the States to sell them at a 3000% profit to stupid white people. Anyway, I knew all about the shop, but I'd never been in. I was hesitant to go in, but I thought maybe there was a reason I'd found it just then, you know? Considering all of the Hindu objects that were probably inside, I thought it was worth checking.
It took the lady behind the counter quite some time before she decided I was not a shoplifter. What seemed to convince her was when I knelt down on the hardwood floor for half an hour to browse their books. Used and in rotten shape, all of them. Horribly overpriced. But some interesting titles. Prayers for the Drowning was an especially interesting one. XD You gotta love Tibetan Buddhism. They think of everything.
I almost bought a little devotional book that discussed the many names of Krsna, but I changed my mind at the last minute. Plus, it was $9. wtf
I was about to leave when I noticed they had posters, so I ran over to dig through those, since the last few times I've visited my new age store, they were out of Hindu posters.
Everything was Saivist, oddly enough. Near the very bottom of the pile, I found one of youth!Krsna with his flute, so I had to get it. There was also a really lovely one of Siva with Nandin and Parvati looking hot as ever, so I got that one, too. Now I just hope I can get around to framing them before hell freezes over (I'm bad about letting posters sit forever).
By then I was almost vaguely hungry, so I decided to try the sushi place.
Bizarre decor. It was somewhere between tastefully creative and hokey (like the giant pillars covered in slats of bamboo). There were three sushi chefs behind the bar, which I found odd considering the place was utterly deserted (it's downtown for crying out loud. No one LIVES downtown except the homeless and dirt poor, who wouldn't eat raw fish even if they could afford it). There were a ton of waitresses, too. I have no idea how that place survives.
Anyway, I placed a sushi order and also got a tiny appetizer of tempura, figuring I could take any leftovers home. From the moment I ordered, the waitresses were a bit rude. I'm still not sure why. I know some East Asians object to a woman eating out by herself (my cosmopolitan friend, in fact, was once asked to leave a Chinese restaurant because she was by herself), but I don't think the rudeness was called for.
The tempura was excellent. Some of the best batter I've had. It was such a relief after that horrible tempura bastioned and I got in Houston. I still don't know what those bastards fried their tempura in. Stale Crisco with a hint of lard is what it tasted like. Clueless Texans.
Then the sushi came out...in a boat. Now, okay. I know that some places serve it like that. My favourite Japanese restaurant in town HAS the boat-things, but they never use them. It's just so hokey. But I decided to give them a chance.
The nigiri (I don't much care for makizushi or chirashi) was decently arranged on the boat, and the only other disappointment was that they had no halibut. I was a little suspicious of the mackerel, as there was a mound of shallots on it (which usually means it's borderline off), but it ended up being not too bad. The skin had been arranged very nicely. But the squid was an odd consistency and there was one other nigiri...the red snapper, maybe, that tasted fishy when it really shouldn't have.
All in all I came to the conclusion that the sushi was capably prepared (if not particularly artistically presented) but the fish itself was a bit old. Also, the bluefin tuna was messed. Instead of giving me a single piece, they'd molded two smaller pieces onto the square of rice. Um, dude? That's ghetto. Don't fucking do that to me. Especially not when I paid $4 for that one piece of sushi.
What really solidified my impression of the place, though, was the rudeness of the waitresses. One of them was fairly nice, but none of them were attentive to me until it came to clearing my plates away. When there was still food on the table, the rudest waitress actually reached in front of my face several times to clear away empty dishes and snatch up bits of paper. Then she took my chopsticks away. That was what really pissed me off. The fact I'd stopped eating by then was not the point. She didn't know that. My check was brought while I was still waiting for my second mug of tea to cool (I was there less than 45 minutes all together - what is this, fast food?)
One thing I'll say is that their tea mugs were gorgeous. Nicely-painted and thick thick porcelain in this really interesting shape. It was almost like drinking tea out of a cut stone. And the tea itself was good. But they heated the mugs too much. By the time the porcelain was cool enough to pick up and drink from, the tea inside was lukewarm. Poorly executed. It was easy to tell why the place wasn't full of Chinese and Japanese regular customers like my favourite local place always is.
I was so pissed at the rudeness of the waitress, I only tipped 15%. I always tip 20-25%, so that's really bad for me. When I left, no one thanked me or asked me to come again. It was unconscionably rude for a Japanese establishment. I was almost embarrassed for them.
I give the place another two months before it goes belly-up. You can't serve people raw fish that's that old. I would think the chefs would care more about that, but there are a lot of random jackasses around nowadays who think they are qualified sushi chefs just because they want to be. There's actually only one sushi chef in town who's licensed as a sushi chef in Japan (and he doesn't work at the restaurant I frequent, which has the sweetest, most charismatic, artistic sushi chef in town). He's one of the rudest people I've ever met. XD Not sure how he got stuck in this country, much less this city, but you can tell he's not happy about it.
Anyway, Wasabi on Washington. Don't bother with the sushi there, and be prepared for questionable service.
The thing is, I don't particularly mind a rude waitress depending on the reason behind the rudeness. The restaurant I go to for onabe (which is not my favourite place, either) has these cranky old women as waitresses (all friends of the manager), and they are a hoot. It's like being served by your arthritic aunt who's always bitching at you about your grades in school or something. Though they're not rude so much as invasive and cranky. I still remember when one of them told my cosmopolitan friend when she'd left a good bit of her oyakodon in the bowl "You're not so thin!" We never did figure out what that comment was supposed to imply. My best guess is, since she wasn't thin, she should've cleaned her plate. XD
The head waitress there has been rude to me before in the past when I've gone in alone, but she eventually got over it. I think the fact I sat quietly and politely by myself, occasionally watching (and understanding/enjoying) the Japanese tv the sushi chef puts on convinced her I was okay.
That place last night, though. Not remotely cool. Mochi ice or no, I won't be going back.
I found it, a block further north than I'd looked the last time before giving up (d'oh), and I was considering heading back toward the train station when I noticed a curiosity shop of sorts a bit further up the block.
It was a branch of the store my cosmopolitan friend used to work in. Owned by this asshole who goes to south Asia several times a year and buys below museum-grade relics and odds and ends from temples that have been destroyed from destitute people who don't know any better and then brings them back to the States to sell them at a 3000% profit to stupid white people. Anyway, I knew all about the shop, but I'd never been in. I was hesitant to go in, but I thought maybe there was a reason I'd found it just then, you know? Considering all of the Hindu objects that were probably inside, I thought it was worth checking.
It took the lady behind the counter quite some time before she decided I was not a shoplifter. What seemed to convince her was when I knelt down on the hardwood floor for half an hour to browse their books. Used and in rotten shape, all of them. Horribly overpriced. But some interesting titles. Prayers for the Drowning was an especially interesting one. XD You gotta love Tibetan Buddhism. They think of everything.
I almost bought a little devotional book that discussed the many names of Krsna, but I changed my mind at the last minute. Plus, it was $9. wtf
I was about to leave when I noticed they had posters, so I ran over to dig through those, since the last few times I've visited my new age store, they were out of Hindu posters.
Everything was Saivist, oddly enough. Near the very bottom of the pile, I found one of youth!Krsna with his flute, so I had to get it. There was also a really lovely one of Siva with Nandin and Parvati looking hot as ever, so I got that one, too. Now I just hope I can get around to framing them before hell freezes over (I'm bad about letting posters sit forever).
By then I was almost vaguely hungry, so I decided to try the sushi place.
Bizarre decor. It was somewhere between tastefully creative and hokey (like the giant pillars covered in slats of bamboo). There were three sushi chefs behind the bar, which I found odd considering the place was utterly deserted (it's downtown for crying out loud. No one LIVES downtown except the homeless and dirt poor, who wouldn't eat raw fish even if they could afford it). There were a ton of waitresses, too. I have no idea how that place survives.
Anyway, I placed a sushi order and also got a tiny appetizer of tempura, figuring I could take any leftovers home. From the moment I ordered, the waitresses were a bit rude. I'm still not sure why. I know some East Asians object to a woman eating out by herself (my cosmopolitan friend, in fact, was once asked to leave a Chinese restaurant because she was by herself), but I don't think the rudeness was called for.
The tempura was excellent. Some of the best batter I've had. It was such a relief after that horrible tempura bastioned and I got in Houston. I still don't know what those bastards fried their tempura in. Stale Crisco with a hint of lard is what it tasted like. Clueless Texans.
Then the sushi came out...in a boat. Now, okay. I know that some places serve it like that. My favourite Japanese restaurant in town HAS the boat-things, but they never use them. It's just so hokey. But I decided to give them a chance.
The nigiri (I don't much care for makizushi or chirashi) was decently arranged on the boat, and the only other disappointment was that they had no halibut. I was a little suspicious of the mackerel, as there was a mound of shallots on it (which usually means it's borderline off), but it ended up being not too bad. The skin had been arranged very nicely. But the squid was an odd consistency and there was one other nigiri...the red snapper, maybe, that tasted fishy when it really shouldn't have.
All in all I came to the conclusion that the sushi was capably prepared (if not particularly artistically presented) but the fish itself was a bit old. Also, the bluefin tuna was messed. Instead of giving me a single piece, they'd molded two smaller pieces onto the square of rice. Um, dude? That's ghetto. Don't fucking do that to me. Especially not when I paid $4 for that one piece of sushi.
What really solidified my impression of the place, though, was the rudeness of the waitresses. One of them was fairly nice, but none of them were attentive to me until it came to clearing my plates away. When there was still food on the table, the rudest waitress actually reached in front of my face several times to clear away empty dishes and snatch up bits of paper. Then she took my chopsticks away. That was what really pissed me off. The fact I'd stopped eating by then was not the point. She didn't know that. My check was brought while I was still waiting for my second mug of tea to cool (I was there less than 45 minutes all together - what is this, fast food?)
One thing I'll say is that their tea mugs were gorgeous. Nicely-painted and thick thick porcelain in this really interesting shape. It was almost like drinking tea out of a cut stone. And the tea itself was good. But they heated the mugs too much. By the time the porcelain was cool enough to pick up and drink from, the tea inside was lukewarm. Poorly executed. It was easy to tell why the place wasn't full of Chinese and Japanese regular customers like my favourite local place always is.
I was so pissed at the rudeness of the waitress, I only tipped 15%. I always tip 20-25%, so that's really bad for me. When I left, no one thanked me or asked me to come again. It was unconscionably rude for a Japanese establishment. I was almost embarrassed for them.
I give the place another two months before it goes belly-up. You can't serve people raw fish that's that old. I would think the chefs would care more about that, but there are a lot of random jackasses around nowadays who think they are qualified sushi chefs just because they want to be. There's actually only one sushi chef in town who's licensed as a sushi chef in Japan (and he doesn't work at the restaurant I frequent, which has the sweetest, most charismatic, artistic sushi chef in town). He's one of the rudest people I've ever met. XD Not sure how he got stuck in this country, much less this city, but you can tell he's not happy about it.
Anyway, Wasabi on Washington. Don't bother with the sushi there, and be prepared for questionable service.
The thing is, I don't particularly mind a rude waitress depending on the reason behind the rudeness. The restaurant I go to for onabe (which is not my favourite place, either) has these cranky old women as waitresses (all friends of the manager), and they are a hoot. It's like being served by your arthritic aunt who's always bitching at you about your grades in school or something. Though they're not rude so much as invasive and cranky. I still remember when one of them told my cosmopolitan friend when she'd left a good bit of her oyakodon in the bowl "You're not so thin!" We never did figure out what that comment was supposed to imply. My best guess is, since she wasn't thin, she should've cleaned her plate. XD
The head waitress there has been rude to me before in the past when I've gone in alone, but she eventually got over it. I think the fact I sat quietly and politely by myself, occasionally watching (and understanding/enjoying) the Japanese tv the sushi chef puts on convinced her I was okay.
That place last night, though. Not remotely cool. Mochi ice or no, I won't be going back.