Op-ed: Baby Octopus and You: Trying New Seafood
Food is better from under the sea! There is absolutely no creature featured in Finding Nemo that wouldn’t go great with butter, here’s why.
I always loved shrimp but now I was diving a little deeper. In high school, I dined at Kawa restaurant in Chicago. My in-depth seafood journey began with shrimp tempura sushi and baby octopus. Despite my mom’s disapproving glances, I really enjoyed everything on my plate. Shrimp tempura is fried shrimp wrapped in seaweed and white rice. It has a certain crunch to it. And the taste is savory with a touch of sweetness. I enjoy dipping every piece into soy sauce which is the saltiest thing I’ve ever tasted short of actual salt. The baby octopus sauce offered is what makes the dish. The sauce is sweet, savory and with just the slightest spiciness to give it that extra kick. I do not enjoy spicy food. I do not think food should physically hurt to eat. (Don’t get me started on pineapples, serious love/hate relationship there!) The appearance of the baby octopus probably might be the factor that would turn many people off from trying it - it looks exactly like what it is - a tiny baby octopus. The texture is also just how it seems, it is a bit rubbery, smooth and slick. This texture may not be for everyone, but fortunately the texture was a welcomed change to what I was used to.
After that day, I always try new seafood options and various combinations at different locations. All-you-can-eat sushi places quickly became my best friend. Two of my favorite all you can eat sushi restaurants are Royal Sushi and Mizu Sushi House. What really makes these two restaurants special and they both share in common is the atmosphere. My first time dining at Royal Sushi was a very pleasant experience. My group was able to sit right away, and we were given our pencils and menus quickly. It was lunch time so we made our selections in the lunch time section. All of the drinks were given to us quickly by a friendly server. The atmosphere was lively and fun. It was not very crowded. The seating arrangements were comfortable as in groups were well spaced apart from each other.
My first dine in experience at Mizu Sushi House was absolutely incredible! It was my very first time at an all-you-can-eat sushi place and I had the best time. I ordered many unusual combinations like sushi with peanuts in it, some with pieces of apple and not all were my favorite (I had to force the sushi with peanuts down, but the sushi with apple pieces I would be delighted to order it again.) It was dinner time at Mizu Sushi House and I would estimate it was at 75 percent capacity. The atmosphere as soon as you walk in is very relaxed and there is a lot of dark wood in the design so it looks like a cool hangout spot that would feel like a hidden gem to show all of my friends. The wait staff was maybe a bit slow on passing out new menus and pencils to order more. However, I was recently told by a friend the reason for that is so that hopefully diners will become full during the wait and will then not order as much. The reason for this is sushi is expensive and requires much labor to make. So this is an effort to try and make as much money as possible. It’s a very nice dynamic. It feels kind of like a battle, but when I go, I feel that majority of the time I get my moneys’ worth. I could not believe I could order anything I wanted and have as much of it as I wanted so I ate to the point of being overfull. At the time, it was my favorite restaurant but in terms of the taste of the sushi, I would probably be in favor of Royal Sushi. Not to say Mizu is not tasty, it is very tasty, but I believe Royal Sushi is tastier.
Alaska, Philadelphia, and mystery roll at all you can eat restaurant Umami Sushi located at 4626 N Cumberland Ave, Chicago, IL 60656.
The way all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants usually works is first the server will give you a menu and a pencil. Next, you can select the items you want along with any drink you order and the server will bring your selections to you. My advice would be to not overload on your first round because at some restaurants you will be charged extra for the pieces you do not finish. So remember, slow and steady wins the race. Take your time, try new things like different rolls and then progressing to more exotic things, and if you want to share with a friend, try not to make it obvious, this may be discouraged at some locations because of the aforementioned policy of the upcharge. These policies can be highlighted in the following article,
Here are some of my favorite dishes from restaurants from around Chicago as well as the neighboring suburbs.
With options ranging so widely, the odds of not finding something to your liking is inconceivable. The biggest obstacle, all in all, is finding the courage to try your first baby octopus.