Matt finally got his sushi craving satisfied and I’m happy to say it was a surprising treat. I’m tentative about sushi from an unknown place. I need my sushi to be recommended by someone. I’ll only try a new place if I’ve heard from a valid source that it got their stamp of approval. We can’t really do that here, so we had to wing it.
To Matt’s relief, Dominical Sushi wasn’t closed for the rainy season as some other places are. It’s always been closed because we’ve been checking at the wrong times. It’s only open for dinner starting at 6pm. We’ve determined this must be because it’s owned by a young Costa Rican couple with day jobs. Their sushi was pricy but I doubted it could support them and their eight year old son (I was proud of my ability to understand the Spanish exchange between the owner and a customer that asked his age). They might be able to swing it had their restaurant been able to hold more than eight customers at a time.
We liked the intimate, cozy atmosphere though. It was the size of a sunroom in a house in the US and had a purple velvet cushioned bench that lined two walls accessorized by throw pillows and tree trunk tables. They set the mood with table tea lights and a few funky hanging lamps. It had a small bar area behind which was their kitchen with a regular four burner stove, countertop and cabinets that housed sushi plates and sake sets. They played background music from their cell phone. Our server, a pretty young Costa Rican woman, was also our chef. Now I was even more skeptical. I realized I’m kind of a sushi snob and expect that sushi should be made only by those of the same culture in which it originated.
I was extremely glad to find that I was very wrong. She made large rolls of sweet rice and tender seaweed filled with fresh salmon and tuna, cream cheese and cucumbers. Her sushi not only mirrored that of any Japanese sushi chef’s skills I’ve sampled, she also added a flare of Costa Rica with some unique extras like jalapeno and mango. Let’s just say it not only satisfied our desire for sushi but made us immediately want to eat there again tomorrow. And the day after. And the next day.
In the meantime, I’m still working on perfecting some more Costa Rican cuisine. Patacones (fried unsweetened plantains) are coming out alright – they taste exactly like the ones we've ordered at various restaurants but aren’t as pretty…kind of deformed. Mike attributes it to not having the right cooking utensils. When it calls for a rolling pin to flatten them, I’m smooshing 'em with an empty wine bottle. Hey, I do what I can.
The most recent house favorite is a rice mixture with palmito (Heart of Palm). This rice blend of mushroom soup, seasoned white rice, heart of palm and a few other ingredients make the best rice dish we’ve had here (and it wasn’t even served in a restaurant). As Matt said, it’s “banging.” His stamp of approval has been on every meal so far seeing as he hasn’t thrown up once, not even a gag, and he’s actually finished everything on his plate, even going back for seconds.
My next attempt is ambitious – homemade sushi. I was inspired by this Tica. She made me realize that I don’t have to be of Asian descent to be able to make a mean roll. I may have found the inspiration but I’m not sure I’ll be able to find the ingredients. Now that’s gonna be the real challenge.
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