I’ll eat sushi any way and chance I get. I end up eating a lot of take out simply because it’s easy and with two young children, it’s not always fun when the edamame starts getting tossed around. But I really like the experience of being in the restaurant, drinking my sake, listening to the hum of the other diners. It’s fun watching what other people eat and watching the expressions of the people next to you when you get the raw quail egg and slurp it down with gusto. Or start munching on the shrimp heads. These are not common occurrences in North America.

My favorite restaurant does a pretty brisk take-out business, I’ve asked them, and I get everything from my regulars to bowls of their salad dressing to keep me ‘fixed’ for a week. And while their sushi is always great, whether eaten here or there, there’s just something about the temperature of the food that seems really important to me. Sushi is not served room temperature. It’s usually slightly chilled (or warm if cooked like Unagi maki). And this makes a huge difference. By the time I get my take-out home, my food is room temperature and the avocado has often lost some of it’s texture and color. It’s just not the same. Even the same brand of sake just doesn’t taste the same at home. It sounds dumb, but it’s true.

While I always prefer take-out to no sushi at all, there’s something to be said for getting off my bum and heading over to the restaurant and hunkering down. The food is great, the dishes are cleaned for you and the tea is, well…. restaurant bancha is never great, but it’s all part of the experience. So when I can… I’ll be sticking around.

Warren
The Sushi Guy.

Warren Ransom

I have always been fascinated by the creation and culture of different foods, particularly sushi and sashimi in the modern era of Japanese cuisine. I am a classically trained chef and sushi connoisseur, also having operated a food service company and enjoy investigating and experimenting with food around the world.