Sushi for Beginners

Today was my 28th birthday and a day that I thought, well, why not tackle a food fear. I don't have too many of them left, but there are a few. One of them is (drumroll) sushi. I'm not talking about california rolls you get at the grocery store. I'm talking about real sushi, made by fast guys with sharp knives. My amiga Melissa agreed to be my guide to the world of sushi and so we went to Jade here in South Charlotte. Let me tell you, it is not often I will give over control of my meal to anyone, no questions asked. But I trust her. I thought she might start me out easy, with some nigiri sushi, maybe a crab roll. Ha. Ha.
We started with the Philly roll as Melissa explains the ins and outs of sushi eating. All the pieces come on a big platter and you use the chopsticks to get your piece off that platter. You are supposed to eat all of one roll, then use the pickled ginger to cleanse your palate, and then move on to the next roll. We move on to the Red Snapper Sashimi. Which is more or less raw fish, sliced thin and put on your plate. I have heard people say that sashimi is sweet, fresh, clean tasting...I chewed thoughtfully for a moment, it tastes like...bait. Pass.
The Eel Roll was very good, mild and tasty, the Crunchy Salmon Roll was suffering from an overdose of cream cheese. I don't know why they need cream cheese in it, but it did nothing for me.
We ordered a few other things, just to round out the menu. Some chicken Gyoza (Japanese pot stickers), dim sum, and some duck, but that got sent back because it was awful. Tasted like Twizzlers. I hate Twizzlers.

Bottom line is this: I ate the sushi and nobody died. I'm not a fan of sashimi so far, but have a healthy respect for rolls. Avoid the cream cheese. Don't fear the sushi, several million Japanese folks can't be wrong.