a new sushi dive

oh ye of sushi desire!

did we ever find the dive to long for!

yesterday at mid happy hour, anthony called us to see what we were doing for dinner. donna worked last night at parent's night and he'd been in the yard all day and was ready for some grub and personal interaction, i guess.

so we raced to the bistro for hh. he'd never been, and it was a good intro as the bar was our very own and the bartender steven we had to ourselves. steven made me a mexican martini up (tequila, cointreau, a splash of cranberry juice and another spash of rose's lime) and after a while we ordered sauteed calamari.

we decided sushi was in order, and had decided on takosushi around the corner when a server we've known since the now-defunct cafe du teau days started talking about his (and steven chimed in) favorite spot, something like kinja.

we are definitely taking loved ones there. it was the old guy from mikoto behind the sushi bar. man! the atmosphere was not the reason to go. it was in the area of shannon's, behind applebee's on washington road, in a strip that had to be the cheapest rent within ten miles. and they clearly had no startup money. the tables were ugly, so were the chairs, and i didn't see any flowers or tableclothes.

but the sushi! among the specials were "wasabi shrimp dumplings" and talk about wonderful. they were not fried, but a shrimp paste surrounded by layers of wasabi leaves and steamed. anthony ordered a number of rolls (california, tuna, etc) which were all great and then another special and piece de resistance, spicy lobster hand roll.

get this: jamie will love to know: everything cost 3.95 each! we all had tons of food, and each a large beer or sake, for $54.

yessir. we're going back.