Oh Taisho!

Last Friday, the Boy and I met up with some of his friends/old coworkers for dinner at Oh Taisho! in the Lower East Side. One of his old coworkers brought his London client along to dinner. Oh Taisho! is a very authentic Japanese (small portions, tight space) teppanyaki place with great food.

The Boy did most of the ordering. We started off with a pitcher of Asahi, but soon ordered another. The guys at our table found their manhood being challenged after noticing that the table of skinny Asian chicks nearby were outdrinking us. They had three to four pitchers of beer for five girls and only one guy, while our table had one pitcher of beer for four guys and two girls. But the other girl and I didn't drink beer. I ordered plum wine and she ordered a cocktail.

The Boy and I were the only Asians in our group, so everyone else was either impressed or completely grossed out by the Boy's selections. One of his choices was an assorted platter of skewers, including chicken, organs, fish balls (meat balls made with fish), chicken skins and smelt fish. The smelt look like anchovies on a stick, and you're meant to eat the whole thing. Unfortunately, this dish came first and grossed the other girl out so much that she refused to eat for the rest of the night. It didn't help that the guys were poking fun at the situation:

Russian: Are you supposed to eat all of it-spine, head and all? Look! The spine's falling out as I bite into it.
Boy: Yes, it's good. Trust me.
Russian: Ok, seriously. You and the Girl are not just laughing inside, thinking "Look at these stupid white people! They are very entertaining nevertheless!"
Me: No, you're supposed to eat all of it.
Russian: Alright, but I'm not eating the head.
English: I'm not eating it either.
Boy: The head's the best part. You're missing out.
Russian (to Irish): Alright, I'll try it. Are you eating the head?
Irish: Of course, I never refuse head.
Other Girl: Ahhh! Stop it! That's gross! I can't eat anymore.

When the soft shell crab came, a similar dialogue erupted. Alright, so some things might seem a bit gross when you know what it is and you're not used to eating it, but everyone who was adventurous enough to try it usually liked it. The Irish and Other Girl came back from Scotland recently where they tried haggis which is a very nasty sounding concoction of sheep's organs, oatmeal, and blood among other things. Yuck! I don't understand how someone can eat this and then get completely grossed out by smelt on a stick or tiny crab legs.

After dinner, we headed over to Veniero's for dessert, but made a pit stop at the Coyote Ugly bar for a shot. None of us had ever been in there, but it was along the way, and we thought that the Boy's friend's client from London might be interested in seeing it. It was kind of a rough looking bar. When I walked in, I saw the largest bra collection ever hanging on the walls and poles all over the place. We all had a shot and were out of there immediately after.

The other girl was so grossed out at dinner that she couldn't even eat dessert at Veniero's. Everyone ordered coffee and cake/pie/cannolis while she sipped on a glass of water with lemon. Was dinner really that bad? Maybe I'm just used to eating that type of stuff. After dessert, we called it a night and went home.