We got carryout from a great local sushi restaurant today, and had to wolf it down quickly with our dinner guest, Mark's friend Eric from work. They were headed out tonight to Midwest Mountaineering for the Outdoor Adventure Expo – to hear U.S. expedition leader Mike Farris give a public presentation about the accidents on K2 earlier this year that killed 11 climbers. Anyway, they were in a hurry, so we got sushi, ate it, and sent them on their way.
I'm overfull. I used some of my strategies, but I made mistakes and learned from them too. Here's what went right and wrong.
- Right: I ordered two salads (a seaweed salad and a regular lettuce salad) and had them before I turned to the other stuff.
- Right: I brewed up some coffee to end the meal with. This is getting to be a regular tradition and it really helps me put the brakes on. But I really need to start the coffee before I sit down for the meal, so it's ready when I need it.
- Wrong: I should have had miso soup too. It's mostly water and might have slowed me down.
– Wrong: Mark suggested we eat "family style," with a lot of different things spread out on the table and everybody takes what looks good: spicy tuna roll, salmon avocado roll, "crazy roll" (which turned out to be tempura-fried), some udon noodles, katsu don, gyoza, etc. Note to self: THIS IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA. Obviously I should be able to take a reasonable amount and just stop there, right? Wrong. I had seconds. And thirds. I failed to anticipate that it would be hard to pass up the seconds and thirds.
– Wrong: I thought it didn't matter what kind of sushi we got. I really didn't need all that rice.
OK, I think I've learned my lesson. Next time, I opt out of the family style smorgasbord thing. Next time I order the two salads, or salad and miso, and *I order a single hand roll for ME.* I already know that a typical hand roll — this is different from the ordinary sushi rolls that are cut into chunks you eat with chopsticks, it's more an ice-cream-cone shaped thing – is about the right size for me. But when there is a big pile of maki on the table, I lose count of how many I've had.
Let everybody else eat family style. I need my dinner to be more circumscribed — literally, by the edge of my own plate.
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