I found Fish Market on Yelp as a budget-priced option for sushi in Allston, and it didn’t disappoint. Prices are very reasonable – $3.75-6 for standard maki and $7.50-15 for “special” maki. The interior is cutesily modern: lime green chairs and light wood, with a merely 5 tables or so plus a sushi bar. Since I was surrounded by Asian staff, I suddenly wanted to burst out in my restaurant Chinese… but here, they all speak English.
The real standout of the night was the baked spicy scallop maki ($8). Oh. My. God. See bottom right – the topping is still-warm scallop, crabstick, and scallop with spicy mayo, complementing the super fresh, creamy avocado roll underneath. If you like your sushi occasionally uber-creamy and decadent, this is the roll for you.
I had dinner with a friend, now a consultant for Oliver Wyman, and his roommate, a professional poker player. Really. The poker player was planning a jaunt out to Vegas at some point and mused about a game in London that required a $20,000 buy in. He also did an admirable job of explaining how to count cards in blackjack: basically, as the game wears on, the deck is rated on a 1-12 scale as light (mostly low cards) or heavy (mostly high cards). Then bets can be made accordingly, although it’s still not a certain win. “It’s not worth it,” he concluded, with the wins from poker far better. He also knew a 16 year old also played the poker circuit, making and losing hundreds of thousands.
It seems like quite the lifestyle: “I’d drop $200 on dinner everyday,” he admitted, also throwing cash at bottle service in clubs. (Club girls were trashy, suprise!) He called the yellowtail out on being sliced too thickly:
“What’s the most you’ve ever earned in a single night?” I asked him.
“About $70,000,” he said.
I suddenly wanted to learn how to play poker.
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Awesome pics! What kind of camera do you use? The lighting and colors are really great in these :)
Posted by Christina | October 1, 2009, 1:05 amPretty cool blog, I read through a lot of it today. I am probably a lot less “baller” than most people think though. Nice meeting you, and anytime you need someone to help review food with you, let me know!
Jason
Posted by Jason | October 1, 2009, 5:42 amChristina: I use a point-and-shoot Nikon, nothing fancy, plus I do some sharpening/saturation editing in Picasa. Cheating is always the best part about photography, haha.
Jason: Thanks so much! Anyone who can make a living playing poker has got it made, I think.
Posted by admin | October 1, 2009, 12:03 pm