{ jamieann dot net } » Blog Archive » Project Try Not to Eat Like a 6 Year Old

In effort to be serious about this whole expanding my food horizons thing and trying new things, I accepted an invitation. Earlier this week I attended a dinner for Cruzan Rum at Sushi Samba here in Chicago.

I’m not going to lie, the “sushi” in the name of the restaurant kinda intimidated me and I almost said no. But then they were all, RUM cocktails paired with every course and then I couldn’t refuse. Hell, if the food sucked and they refused to serve me chicken fingers, at least I could probably get drunk.

Then I got there and was a little confused. All the others who were attending were big Chicago bloggers, like Gapers Block or Chicago Foodies. Here I am surrounded by food bloggers and club/bar owners and answering the “oh your part of the media?” question with “Hi, I’m Jamie. I have a blog called Oh! How Lovely! and I write about my puppy, fictional vampires, Lady Gaga’s ass and hating sushi”. I really doubt I was the only one a tad bit confused by that.

But whatever, I ran with it.

Our table was covered with glasses. There were probably at least three different drinks at my table setting at once. It was kind of ridiculous but I was NOT about to give up my raspberry mojito until I was done with it, dammit.

And the food? Well, I tried lots of things I never had before.

Here’s a breakdown of the courses that I yanked from the chef’s twitter account. Yes, he tweeted the courses as they came out with photos. Pretty neat, huh?

Cruzan rum dinner scallops watermelon chili (pic)
Rum dinner tuna sevieche malaguta coconut and key lime (pic)
Blackstrap glazed salmon (pic)
Beef short rib and single barrel demi arepa roasted corn (pic)
Chocolate banana cake. Banana rum ice cream. Maple and plantain chip. (pic)

As for what I thought:

The scallops were kind of salty. They were okay but I’m not a huge fan. I definitely did not like the sevieche. The cold, the coconut and the tuna just did not work for me. The salmon was okay. I’m not a huge fish person so whatever but it was good. The short rib was fantastic! If they hadn’t of given us huge portions of each course, I easily could have finished this but I was stuffed. The dessert was nice. I liked the ice cream a lot. I’m not a huge chocolate cake fan and it was pretty rich but it was good if you’re a chocolate cake kind of person.

All in all, my first step into being more adventurous with my eating went well. I’m proud of myself that I least tried everything, even if it looked or sounded weird because I didn’t know what the hell was in it. Maybe I can bump myself up to eating like an 8 year old now.

I’m now taking recommendations for my next Chicago spot to try.

Preferably a place with raspberry mojitos.

19 Comments so far

I’m so proud of you for being more adventurous. And I’d like that cake now for breakfast.

[Reply]

Good for you! I have the tastes of a 6yo, too. I find that I generally don’t like a food the first 3-4 times I have it…but that’s a lot of eating of food that I don’t particularly like!

So proud of you! It’s hard taking that step. I’m working on doing so as well, especially with things that swim.

Oooh chocolate cake, I love it. They should sponsor more bloggers to review foods down here. *tummypurrs

Good job! I’m very picky… don’t eat pork or seafood, so eating becomes a challenge sometimes. Especially b/c all of my friends love sushi. I’m also allergic to a lot of fruit which is a pain in the arse! Good luck with your next food adventure. I want to hear about it!

It’s great that you’re trying to get out of your comfort zone when it comes to food. That cake sounds amazing! I’m a huge chocolate cake person, so this is right up my alley.

Very brave of you! Sushi = YUCK. I think I have to be drunk before I try sushi again.

I am so proud of you! We should go on many dates like this together because I’d have eaten ALL of the fishy stuff and given you the shortrib (since I don’t do the beef thing). AND I’m more of a cake person than an ice cream person, so you know. Perfect.

But I’d have fought you for the drinks.

Bitch.

Good for you! I kind of eat like a 6 year old as well…maybe 5 year old. I should probably expand my horizons.

oh man all of that sounds amazing!! yay for being adventurous.

Excellent for the fact that I do terribly enjoy chocolate, I would’ve likely had the same commentary. I am not a fish person, whatsoever.

But yay to eating more grown-up. I’m trying to do so, too. Jeez, last night I bought some chicken strips at the grocery store and portioned them when arriving home so I could make three separate, one-person meals. I felt so adult!

Mmm I love this! I started something similar two years ago when I first tried sushi… now it is my FAVOURITE thing to eat! I’m also in love with Thai, Vietnamese and Indian foods. Just be brave–don’t say no!

I sort of like sushi, without the raw fish.
I know that’s the point, but still.

Also, I don’t like the seaweed so I pick that part out.

Nice review! Sushi intimidated me until I had it. Now, yum.

Raspberry Mojitos are my absolute favorite!! If you’re ever in NY, you should make a trip to Poughkeepsie (just outside of the city) to this place called Shadows On The Hudson. Their food is fantastic, but they serve a drink called the Raspberry Mojave which is the mother of all raspberry mojitos!

Yayyyy food! And mojitos. The ones at the Blue Line under the blue line Damen stop were surprisingly good and affordable for an otherwise meh kind of place. The mango. Oh, the mango.

There are so many food places I love to recommend, oh my goodness, I don’t know where to start. Also, I will always eat with you, lady.

I’m glad that being more adventurous worked out for you! Those dishes all sound interesting, and I would love to go out for a dinner like that. Unfortunately, we don’t have places like that here. However, we do have some kickass pizza, barbecue and Creole/New Orleans-y places that are awesome.

Way to go out on a limb! Everything you ate sounds delicious!

It's great that you're trying to get out of your comfort zone when it comes to food. That cake sounds amazing! I'm a huge chocolate cake person, so this is right up my alley.

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