My husband has abandoned me. To go sailing at Airlie Beach to be precise. So what choice do I have but to fill my schedule with dinners and outings with friends so that I don’t feel completely socially isolated. Tonight, I’m catching up with Queen Viv and Miss America at nearby Sushi Samurai in Neutral Bay where there are several Japanese restaurants located. It’s a place that has been recommended to me several times, for the freshness of their sushi and sashimi, huge serves and reasonable prices. And like most places that are popular, you need to make a booking, which we are slightly late for.

There are tables outside in the cold as well as tables inside the warmly lit dark wood furnished room (thanks must go to Queen Viv for the photography assistance in the dark room!). It’s packed to the brim with customers and tables feel quite tight and close together. It takes a while to get drinks and give our order as the staff fly furiously fast past the tables carrying all manner of enticing looking dishes.

Appetitser: deep fried wholemeal pasta spiral: a bad start

The night starts with an odd note, deep fried uncooked wholemeal pasta spirals with seasoning comes with our drinks. It’s like eating crunchy string and we leave this behind hoping that it’s not a sign of things to come.

We choose mainly from the specials menu as they look the most unusual and enticing although Miss America baulks at the whole stuffed squid grilled sushi. I’m glad to see Tokyo favourites like Oden and Nankotsu appearing on the menu. It’s all incredibly good value with a sashimi platter for 3-4 people at only $25 and the only thing we have difficulty with is narrowing down our choices. There are little Japanese touches on the menu like signs pointing to dishes that are “So Yummy!”, “Good Value!” and “Our Best!”.

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