While I was on vacation, Dodo got the best kittysitter ever: Vanessa!

Vanessa is the natural choice, because she and I were briefly roommates so she and Dodo were already familiar; she and I met in jujitsu so I know if/when shit hits the fan, she can defend Dodo with killer debilitating moves on any would-be (c)a(t)ssassin, she works very close to our house, she’s highly dependable, AND she’s easily bribeable with Yama Sushi (yes, that is the lakeside sushi joint I’m always blogging about). =D She came over the Friday evening before I left for Florida. Can you believe this is how Vanessa looks after a long day of work?! So unfair.

We had our sushi chef prepare an omakase premium sashimi platter — basically, whatever is the fresh recommended fish of the day, price is no object!

Here is the completed masterpiece, for about $100:

Ama-ebi (sweet shrimp), hamachi toro (yellowtail belly, the “filet mignon” of yellowtail cuts), ahi (yellowfin tuna, also in the “filet mignon” quality of cut), Tobiko red roe (flying fish caviar), black roe (can’t recall what fish these are from), hotate-gai (fresh scallops from Japan), ono (wahoo — the fish, not the involuntary scream of excitement nearly impossible to contain when one observes such a platter of delectations), hirame (halibut, which I understand is really “ohyo” in Japanese so I don’t know why every sushi restaurant I’ve been to says “hirame” [flounder] is “halibut”), and some other stuff I no longer remember and can’t identify from my cameraphone photo alone. Vanessa called this “some damn good sushi” in her post.

We asked the chef to pick a roll for us, something different, so he came up with this flash-fried rice-based roll with spicy sauce, avocado, fresh tomatoes, some spicy fish that I can’t even remember now.

It was my first time trying an oshi sushi roll (sushi made from rice pressed in a box or mold), and I just remember it was delicious.
Having seen photos of the quail egg sushi on my blog from my outing with Diana, Vanessa wanted to try quail egg for her first time, so we had this: salmon with masago (smelt caviar), topped with some chopped scallions and a quail egg. Plus special sauce.

Vanessa was very pleased, and showed her gratitude for dinner with excellent Dodo-sitting service. (I’m just kidding, Vanessa, I know you would’ve done it anyway, but the dinner was a thank-you.)

And that, ladies and gentleman, was the last good sushi meal I had before the absolute worse sushi meal I’ve ever, EVER had in my life, which horrible meal happened in Florida. (That’s called foreshadowing.) And unfortunately, I dragged a victim into the pits of raw fish sewage hell with me. Coming up soon.