Wasabi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night we met up with our friends the Newman's for some drinks and dinner downtown. The night started at Old Broadway for drinks but then decided the atmosphere was not one to try and enjoy the company and food. They suggested going across the street to a good Thai/sushi joint they've eaten at a few times before.

Ben and I have never eaten real sushi before, the closest we got was the ahi tuna we had in KC a few years ago. If it had been our choice, we probably would have choosen the wood-fire grill or a burger joint - but we've been trying to expand our horizons and try new things.

The restaurant was called WASABI and specialized in sushi rolls. After twenty minutes of conferencing, we decided to all order something different and then pass our plates around to sample everything else on the table. Since we had already had a few drinks, we passed on the sake bombs and went for the pitchers of water.

For starters, we sampled a bowl of edamame which is cooked soybean pods seasoned with salt. I think we'll be visiting the section of the specialty grocery store for these every so often. They were wonderful - - maybe the best part of the meal.

Our meals came with a complimentary bowl of miso soup. It takes about as appetizing as it looks. It was filled with seaweed, tofu, green onion and broth. Ben and I obviously haven't ever tried tofu and now we know we haven't been missing out on much!

We ordered:

Corineah: Amego roll (jalepeno, cream cheese, crab, cilantro topped with shrimp salsa) and the spicy california roll (not sure, but it had raw fish and spicy mayonaise).

Ben: Crunch munch roll (spicy crab, asparagus, and crunch topped with shrimp and spicy mayo) and te philadelphia roll (fish, cream cheese and delicious). The picture is fairly similar to Ben's crunch munch roll. Next time I'm just going to order the same that he does, he always has an eye for the good dishes!!

The Newmans ordered the Alaska roll (salmon asparagus, crab, tempura fried then topped with avocado) and the beef bulgogi (marinated beef fried with garlic, mushrooms, green onion and bell peppers). The below picture is an Alaskan roll very similar to what we had last night.

The bulgogi, of course, was very very good. The boys liked my spicy california MUCH MUCH more than I did (one bite and I almost got sick to my stomach), but the other dishes were excellent.

We probably never would have chosen this place on our own, but we were very pleased with our meal. It was fun to try something new, especially with another couple that had quite a bit of sushi expertise! We'd definitely go back, four stars!