MFSushiBar

In Gourmet Magazine earlier this year there was a supplement listing the hottest and best restaurants in every city. When I finally got to the Atlanta section, I was surprised to see--sandwiched between the Ritz Carlton and Seeger's--a restaurant Lauren often waxed lyrical about: MFSushi."It's the best sushi ever," Lauren would say. "It's amazing. Like nothing you've ever had."This always seemed suspicious to me. Sushi is sushi. All raw fish tastes the same.So tonight, when my friend Jimmy and I were making plans he said he was in the mood for sushi and I said: "How about MFSushi?"Jimmy paused and said: "Yes, actually, that's a good idea."Usually, sushi-goers in my circle of friends will sushi-go at RuSan's, a perfectly respectable sushi joint with locations in Midtown and Buckhead. But tonight was special. Tonight we would eat the best of the best. I made the reservation for 8:30 and began my preparations. These entailed belting "Old Man River" at my piano and eating some Blackout guacamole.Finally, the witching hour arrives. I drive down Ponce until I see the awning I have driven past so many times. I turn left and encounter a mess of a valet parking situation. I sit in the car for 10 minutes before someone finally takes my keys. (*As an interesting side bar, I have a weird thing where before the valet gets in my car I turn my CD off or put on the radio so they don't judge my taste in music. You'd do the same thing if you had my taste in music.)Walking up to the restaurant, I snap picture of the awning:I sneak in the door and Jimmy is waiting inside."Were you waiting long?" I ask."No," he answers. "But good thing you made a reservation. There's an hour and a half wait!"The hostesss leads us to our table. Here's what the place looks like:As you can see, the interior is very fashionable. Atlanta's crem-de-crem are noshing on raw fish, and Jimmy and I fit right in.Well, maybe we don't fit right in, but we scrape by under the radar. The menus are brought and we begin our gameplanning."Do you want to get two rolls each and share them?" asks Jimmy.I find this plan rather worrisome since what if I don't like what he orders? So I ask the waitress for advice."Well," she says kindly, "I suggest that you order two rolls each and share them!""Brilliant!" I say.Jimmy shakes his head.So Jimmy orders the crunchy roll and the rainbow roll. I order the shrimp tempura roll and the tuna roll. But first, we order a ginger salad.I really like ginger salad. Or ginger salad dressing. When my friend Dana and I went to NYU for a summer, we were obsessed with the ginger-carrot dressing at this place called DoJo. So tonight, I really enjoyed my ginger salad."This is a good ginger salad," says Jimmy.The salads are taken away. Time passes. I think too much time passes."It's been a while," I say."No it hasn't," says Jimmy, pointing out that the people next to us, who just got their food, had been there before us. Before I can refute him, our food is brought.Here is mine:Here is Jimmy's:The verdict?"This is really good sushi," I say."Yes," Jimmy agrees.We scarf down 8 rolls from our plates and then swap."This is really good sushi," I say, eating from Jimmy's plate."Yes," Jimmy agrees, eating from mine.The sushi is gone.Was this the best sushi of my life? Yes, most certainly yes.But, to be honest, after tonight I realize that I'm not so much a sushi person. I like eating it, but I would never go out of my way to eat it. And I would never pay an exorbitant amount of money for the world's best sushi. I'd rather have a really good steak.The waitress, reading over my shoulder, begins to cry."There there, sushi waitress," I say. "I didn't mean it in a mean way."She scurries off with our credit cards."That was a good meal," says Jimmy."Yes," I say.I stare at the empty plate."It certainly was."****** Please forgive this strange ending. It is 3 AM and I have no idea how to end this. Thank you.