I hope that was salmon

Earlier tonight, a friend of mine asked me out to dinner. We both agreed on sushi, but we couldn't agree on a place because neither of us had been to a sushi restaurant in our area. We picked the two closest restaurants and decided to check them out. The first one looked kind of ghetto, so we went to the second one.

We walked into a tiny little restaurant with a sushi bar, tables scattered around, and three long tables with grills in the middle. If judging by atmosphere and decor alone, we probably would've walked back out. However, in my experience, I've had some of the best sushi in the small, minimally decorated restaurants, versus the fancy, upscale ones. We decided to stay and a tiny Japanese lady seated us.

After much deliberation, we decided on what to order. We amused ourselves by watching the Japanese ladies run around, attempting to speak English to the customers. Our sushi platters came out pretty quickly and we dug in. Halfway through our meal, we heard squeaking. It was coming from the vents above our heads. The squeaking continued and as it got louder, we recognized the sound.........rats! My friend and I looked at each other in disbelief. I immediately put my chopsticks down in disgust. I kept a careful eye on the ceiling, thinking one would poop through the vent on to our table. We finished what we could as quickly as possible, all the while listening to the creepy rat squeaks above our heads and cringing. Within five minutes, our bill was paid and we were out of there.

Lesson learned: first impressions are usually accurate...especially when it comes to eating establishments. At least now I know which restaurant to NOT step foot in ever again. At least the sushi wasn't half bad...if that's what it really was. Cue the queasy stomach.