Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The greatest sushi in Utah?

The greatest sushi in Utah?  It just might be!  Debbie and I drove down to Ogden today to try a meal at Tona Sushi.  It's a 52 minute drive for us, about the same as the drive from our old home in Jamul to our favorite sushi there (Hana Sushi in El Cajon).  How was it?  Awesome!

The fish was by far the best we've had in Utah.  In fact, it was better than most of the fish we got at Hana Sushi, our previous “gold standard”.  Even better: the quality was consistent across every selection we made.  I ordered the sashimi combination, with six different fishes that the chef selected.  I also got two orders of nigiri sushi selected by the chef.  All eight kinds of fish were simply superb.  Debbie got two different kinds of rolls, and reports that both of them were top-notch.  We had “bacon bubblegum” as an appetizer: bacon-wrapped fried mochi.  Delicious, but a bit heavy for my tastes as an appetizer to a repast of raw fish.

Tona has a selection of delicious-sounding desserts (unusual for a sushi restaurant), so we decided to try them.  Debbie got the chocolate mousse, and I got the semifreddo: semi-frozen mascarpone, Oreo “soil”, Myer lemon citrus preserves, and berries.  Debbie made happy noises the entire time she was eating her mousse, and for most of the trip home.  My semifreddo?  Let me put it like this: I will never visit Tona without ordering it.  Never!  It's a dessert perfectly suited to my tastes: creamy, not overly sweet, with tart fruit and delicious dribbled sauces.

We didn't think to ask whether they had fresh wasabi until we were ready to leave.  The answer?  Certainly – just ask when ordering.  That makes Tona only the second sushi restaurant we've run into with fresh wasabi.

You can probably guess that we'll be coming back here whenever we need a sushi fix...

Wind-carved sandstone...

Wind-carved sandstone ... in Michigan (more photos here)...

Mukbang...

Mukbang...  This is really weird.  I know several Koreans; I need to ask them what on earth the appeal is here...

Thundersnow...

Thundersnow...  And this weatherman (Jim Cantore) is very excited about it :)

Acoustic jamming...


Acoustic jamming...  Scientists have shown that the long tails of some moth species confuse the echo-location senses of predating bats.  Basically, they're an acoustic jamming system.  The bats end up targeting the moths' tails instead of their bodies, thus saving the moth from becoming a meal for the bat.

I remember first reading about a completely separate defensive mechanism in some moths: they've evolved the ability to hear the bat's “sonar” squeaks, allowing them to take evasive action before the bat can eat them.  This new jamming mechanism with the long tails is a separately evolved defensive mechanism, in different species.  From what I've read, it appears that no single moth species has both defensive mechanisms...