We practically skipped lunch today as we were running late for a meeting. No, four bites of a sandwich purchased from a convenience store doesn’t count as lunch in my book. I was starving. So when it came to a sushi dinner, I enthusiastically pronounced, “I’ll eat anything.” My colleagues at the Conexant Japan office took that quite literally. The sushi combo platter seemed innocent enough – I accepted the offer. Other things were ordered unbeknownst to me. We started with a salad dressed with crab liver. Uh-oh. This was quickly becoming a “let’s see what’s the grossest thing hungry Mike will eat” contest . This is not a game I can win. I eat the salad, the Uni (sea urchin) on the sushi combo (see left middle) and the rest of the combo: things with legs, things with heads and things with legs and heads. They break me with the a dish that looks like fish brains covered in fuschia tapenade. They said it is “roe”. “But I ate roe on the sushi combo and it doesn’t look like this,” I reply (see right middle). “Ah, that was female roe…this is male roe,” they counter. Quick fact check – roe is fish egg. Females lay eggs so male roe…is something I don’t care to eat much less have explained to me. My appetite is kaputt. I hit the sake hard.
Addendum: Suzuki-san adds something to the effect of, “I’ve never eaten monkey brains but those who have tell me the taste [of male roe] is similar.” I was thinking of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when the dish was served but I never really believed people ate monkey brains. Suzuki-san is serious – people really do eat monkey brains. WTF is wrong with this place?