Let the festivities begin

Hi kiddies. Get prepared for a glutinous weekend of eats before I jet off to Mexico. No exams, no classes and no homework (at least nothing due for another 10 days) means major foodiness and blogging. After failing to deliver on those ramen pictures, I decided I needed to go back to Doma and get some shots of the artistic looking food. It just so happened that I wound up going two days in a row...no complaints there.

First night: sushi dinner with another hardcore sushi lover. Doma reminds me of the Japanese restaurant I used to work in high school especially the menu from which features a plethora of specialty rolls, eclectic and creative appetizers and even the salmon tempura appetizer they give to all their guests. Doma's interior is also pleasantly austere with quaint bubbles holding candles hung on the ceiling.

Medusa Roll: shrimp tempura, avocado spicy sprouts, spicy mayo (o) lump crab salad, wasabi mayo, red tobiko scallion.
Island Roll: salmon, spicy aioli, tempura crunch, (o) salmon, mango, wasabi tobiko.

Sashimi sundae with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, avocado and spicy mayo. My friend asked me what is in spicy mayo and I told her it was mayo and sirrachi. For some reason people are always surprised to hear that there is mayo in spicy mayo. huh.

 Second night: Birthday lunch with my big and twin :)

Hamachi Crudo sliced yellowtail, jalapeno, cilantro and yuzu sauce.  Jumbo Ebi Shumai steamed jumbo shrimp dumpling served with ginger soy vinaigrette.  Stuffed Jalapeno Tempura tuna, cream cheese, scallion, lightly battered topped with sweet glaze and chili sauce.

Omakase 6 individually prepared maki pieces with chef's selection of fish and assorted toppings of the day.

Tempura Udon.

Needless to say, dinner and lunch were both absolutely amazing. We followed up our crazy lunch with tea and eclairs at Nook, a coffee shop on 20th street. Dinner tonight however was a completely different story. Groupon had a deal for Max Brenners a few weeks back and I snagged a coupon thinking it'd be a fun place to go for dinner.

So tonight my roommate and I went over to the Bald Man's eatery on a girl date but the food was definitely not worth the trip. We went with the savory choices (probably should have just gotten the chocolate waffle. sigh.) but the food was sub-par coupled and service was terrible. Plus even my tea can't soothe my unhappy stomach right now. Of course, it was still an adventure but this has cemented my view that franchise restaurants are never worth it. No more American food either. Waffle fries may be good but they're not that good, especially when I get a bowl of noodle soup instead. Oh well, lesson learned.