Cheap Eats
Was a time when sushi was an experience in dining: a highly refined process that produced beautiful, edible art. Now, the ubiquitous packages of California rolls can be found in every grocery store or deli-be it Nebraska or Alaska.
An entirely new segment of Japanese cuisine has been reformatted for easy consumption: Samurai Sam's offers all that Japanese carnival food that tastes so good precisely because it's designed to make you happy. Choose a Teriyaki Bowl with a choice of chicken, veggie or steak ($3.49-$5.99) or the Yaki Soba Bowl ($4.49-$5.99), the same concept but the white or brown rice is replaced with dry, cold buckwheat noodles. Probably the ultimate crime to Japanese cuisine occurs when the rice/veggie/meat concoction is stuffed inside a wheat tortilla to make a teriyaki wrap ($3.99-$5.49). The one cute effect that seems right at home is the bubble tea "hut" where the beverage is available ($3.25-$3.50) for anyone on-the-go without time to brave Chinatown.
Maybe it's silly to be shocked by such ersatz Japanese dining; it's been our natural inclination to take something we enjoy for its complexity and then dumb it down for world consumption to turn a fast buck. But when the real thing is available in most parts of the city, why choose an inferior substitute? Oh right, because you're in a hurry.
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