A thin line between love and hate!

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In the last two years, I spent living in SoCal ( Southern California).  Being a New Yorker, born and raised, living in SoCal was very different for me. I left my family and friends behind and ventured on my own. I recently moved back and a close friend of mine decided that we should have brunch at one of my favorite places.....Sushi Samba. I was more than excited to have brunch with him. I was looking forward to catching up on all that I had been absent from. Truth be told, I was more than excited to eat at Sushi  Samba. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love a good sushi roll accompanied by some warm Saki, which is Japanese liquor.



 Sushi Samba is a unique blend of Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cuisine, music and design. Prior to that afternoon, I had only been to Sushi Samba twice but fell in love instantly within my first encounter. My elder brother treated me to dinner and insisted that we good to the one located on Park ave. The Hostess was exceptionally friendly, the waiter was charming and the entire ambiance was one that made me feel as if I were in another country experiencing their food for the first time. 



Sushi Samba on 7th ave was much smaller and intimate, but again, the hostess was polite and our waiter was exceptionally charming. I never had brunch here so I was a bit hesitant with what I wanted. I asked our waiter what he would recommend and eventually I ended up with Shrimp Polenta and a La Playa as my drink. 



Many of us eat with our eyes before anything else. When our waiter approached us with our food, I was instantly intrigued with how my brunch had been presented. My well seasoned and cooked shrimp laid on a beautiful bed of "al dente" cooked polenta (very much like grits). On top was an organic poached egg showered with manchego (cheese from Spain). Visually, I was excited and pleased. I figured that a dish this beautiful would match up taste wise. That was not quite the case. 



I'm usually not a fan of runny eggs, but living on the west coast helped expand my taste buds. So with that being said I was ready to break my egg open and have it run over into the rest of my dish. I suppose I expected too much. The first couple of bites had me in culinary bliss, but soon after, the entire richness of the dish overwhelmed me. I just felt like it was too much going on. the fact that I ordered a La Playa (mango and lime juices, white wine, vodka, cucumber, ginger, tabasco) did not help me at all. I honestly struggled to finish my dish. Not because it was awful, but for me personally, it was too much going on for my taste buds. 



Would I still recommend Sushi Samba. Yes. I encourage people to travel outside of their norm. Experience the world around you and what it has to offer. And a great way to start that journey is to try new cuisines. If you like it then Great! If not then simply move on to the next "plate".  I personally will continue to indulge myself in what Sushi Samba has to offer me because I absolutely Love the outcome of their unique venture. 



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