I was up early this morning after a great night's sleep in the very cushy bed at the Delta Suites. I spent a few hours just walking around the downtown area...that walk just confirming my earlier impressions that it's unusually clean for a big city and it's very very diverse.
For lunch, I was thinking dim sum...it's got to be great here. Several people recommended the restaurant, Floata, in Vancouver's Chinatown...so, off I went. It was a huge place, seating at least four hundred people...and it was packed! I ate a lot...beef-filled long noodle, pork-filled tofu skins, steamed pork buns, shrimp dumplings, and crispy duck slices...all washed down with a few Tsingtao beers...excellent!
After lunch, I went over to a sports bar, Malone's, right across the street from my hotel. Lucky me (or so I thought)...they had the UM/Utah game on the main television. So...I parked myself there for the next three hours to watch the game. Very disappointing...even though the final score was close, there was no doubt that Utah was the better team. Most of our players look bewildered out there, and it's clear that the offensive line is a weak spot...and equally clear that we do not have the right quarterbacks to run the "spread offense". And...it really felt strange watching a UM home game on television because it was only the third home game that I have not attended in the last thirty-one years.
After that whole debacle, I went back over to the Delta Suites and worked on my blog and caught up on some e-mails.
I was in the mood for sushi, and almost every publication and internet search result identified "Tojo's" as the place to go...they were all right...WOW! I took a cab to Tojo's and got there around 7:00PM...it was absolutely packed. There was zero chance for a seat at the sushi bar or a table, but I managed to get a seat at the sake bar. For the next two hours, I ate the best of what Chef Tojo had to offer...perfectly-fresh King Salmon, buttery Toro (Belly Tuna), thick slices of Yellowtail...then...a Spicy Tuna Hand Roll, a half order of Lobster Roll, and a half order of Crab Roll. Everything was simply prepared to let the quality of the ingredients take center stage. I was fortunate enough to have sushi at a restaurant right on the fringe of the Tokyo's main fish market several years ago. That has been the standard by which I have judged all of the sushi that I have had since. But, Tojo's is now the new standard, and that place has raised the bar awfully high. And, to cap off a perfect dining evening, Tojo's had great homemade coconut ice cream.
After all that food, I had to walk around for a couple of hours. So, I slowly made my way back to my hotel, stopping here and there for a glass of wine and a quick peek into the window of the local Lush Cosmetics Shop...until, at last, I returned to the Delta Suites. There, fully-satisfied and still full, I climbed into that big comfy bed and fell to sleep immediately.
No comments:
Post a Comment