10 Jan, 2009
Sarah talks about her favourite food
Posted by andrea tomkins in: Multimedia experiments|Recipes and Food
The video above was taken before we went to 1000 Sushi Islands on Carling Avenue here in Ottawa. It’s been Sarah’s deepest desire to go there for some time, You see, they have these special hand rolls called Temaki (or Temike), which aren’t available at our regular sushi place. Sarah’s favourite temaki is made from a sheet of seaweed (nori) that’s wrapped in a cone shape, filled with rice, tempura shrimp, and cucumber. (They look like this.) It’s a perfect meal for kids (especially ones who don’t know how to use chopsticks) because they can hold it in their hands without making a huge mess like they would with ordinary sushi.
Despite the lure of temaki, Mark and I have decided never to return to 1000 Sushi, or any all-you-can-eat sushi places. We like sushi TOO MUCH to go to any of them ever again. (There are three in Ottawa now. )
The AYCE sushi concept is really only good for the kind of people who:
- a) who know exactly what to order
- b) don’t care and/or are willing to compromise on quality
- c) don’t know where to get the good stuff
- d) all of the above
At first I was excited by the AYCE sushi concept, but I’ve realized the quality of the sushi suffers at these kinds of eateries, as does the service and the general attitude all ’round.
Sarah’s special hand rolls looked okay (she ate two and said she liked them) but most of the sushi we ordered was just mediocre. It may have been the kinds we ordered. They were heavy with fried bits of tempura and whatever they use as mayo for the spicy ones.
The service was indifferent, to say the least. We were greeted near the door by a young woman wearing a heavy down parka.
“You got a reservation?”
It was only about 5:15. I peered behind her at a restaurant which was nearly empty. “Ah, no, we don’t.”
Young servers stood around in groups of three or four, chatting right near where we ate. The feeling I got from it was this: we don’t care about you.
Melamine cups of lukewarm green tea, lack of refills (why not just leave the pot?), warm ginger ale, mediocre sushi plunked down in front of us without care or explanation, plastic spoons (!) for our scoops of mango ice cream, the waitress who stood near our table and just stared off into space while we waited for our bill… all reasons never to return.
Check out what other people had to say about 1000 Sushi Islands at Ottawa Foodies.
We’re sticking with MHK from now on (there’s one here in Westboro!). We’ve learned our lesson. We get our money’s worth here, and the food is savoury, fresh and delicious, and it’s made and served with the kind of care that makes us happy we spent our money.
