All Drew Can Eat Sushi

A Halloween lunch should be spooky theorizes Drew, but when his publisher invites him to lunch Drew does not quibble about the atmosphere or lack of gastronomic ghoulishness. "Sushi or Thai?" asks Sean.

"I'm good with either," replies Drew. "With a slight preference for sushi today."

"Sushi it is," says Sean.

They meet at Masa Sushi, 15 Charles St E, for the all you can eat sushi luncheon. At first Drew is sceptical, years ago he ate often at this location and mainly because it was filling and cheap, not because of quality. In those bygone days the offerings were arranged in a buffet which always leads to the temptation of filling up on noodles. Walking into Masa, Drew is pleased to see that there has been a full renovation. Instead of a dark almost-cafeteria ambience (which actually would have been more suitable to Halloween) everything is bright, golden and faux-Buddhist palace. And there is no longer a buffet, one orders from a menu and everything is prepared fresh and delivered to the table.

And the price is still great: $11.95 per person.

Sean orders a lot of food and Drew adds a few items to the order: Sean is extremely health-conscious but Drew has a passion for all things shrimp and deep-fried, so Dynamite Rolls have to be included. The sushi is fresh, tasty and copious - Sean and Drew didn't realize that each order included six to eight pieces. However the food does all disappear. Only the tempura disappoints as it just a little greasy.

For $11.95 one can't expect sashimi and that is Raul's big grudge against sushi restaurants in general. "It's impossible to eat $11.95 worth of rice," he notes. "So it's almost never a bargain. I'll get some sushi-grade tuna and make us a feast for half the price."

"Fine by me," says Drew who is too stuffed and content to care. His only pressing concern is how he will find room for Halloween candy.

Teriyaki Shrimp on Garlic Rice with Vegetables and Mango Salad

While out and about their individual days R&D acquire more kitchen accessories. Raul scours a thrift store to find a $1 Parmesan cheese grater and small mason jars, 49 cents each, ideal for filling with spices (an entire cupboard is filled with spices and condiments in varying packaging and with even more erratic forms of identification). Drew finds an authentic Japanese knife sharpening stone (made in China) to hone the edges of their hodge-podge selection of cutting and chopping implements. The night before R&D had been reminiscing about the not-so-distant time when the older man towing a knife sharpener had worked the streets by ringing a bell. Rather than replacing the knives R&D own, a motley but high quality collection, they can now, well now Raul can, turn their blades into razor sharp slicing tools. "It really makes a difference," enthuses Raul after a YouTube tutorial on the proper technique of utilizing the stone. "And it's actually safer if the knife is sharp and cuts instantly into the object instead of slipping and severing a finger."

Drew is busy googling street knife sharpeners, wondering where he has gone and what he used to charge, "Is the $11 for the stone actually a bargain?"

Once the knives are ninja-worthy, Raul begins to repackage the spices and reorganize the cupboard. "What is this?" he asks holding up a metal container. "It's called 'The Ultimate Garlic Seasoning for Rice & Pasta' from a company called The Garlic Box."

"That was a Christmas gift from my niece and nephew," says Drew. "They know I love garlic. It's spices that mix with rice or make a rub."

"We'll have to try it," says Raul. "What should we have with it?"

"It's summery today. Something light. Shrimp? Tandoori shrimp?"

"Tamarind shrimp sounds too sweet."

"Tandoori," says Drew while googling. "Here, tandoori shrimp with mango salad, there's about 30 variations but there's a jar of tandoori sauce in the fridge somewhere."

"I just reorganized the spice cupboard," notes Raul. "We'll have shrimp but the spicing will be from scratch."

Raul marinates the shrimp in a mixture of soya sauce, Hoisin sauce and a touch of green Thai curry. The rice goes in the rice cooker with two teaspoons of The Ultimate Garlic Seasoning. He slices a mango, the newly sharpened knife vivisects the pulpy fruit with ease, and sprinkles it with diced red peppers, diced green onion and coriander from the balcony garden. The vegetables are of the frozen variety but the steaming is done with TLC. Once everything else is prepared the shrimp are dropped in a pre-heated cast iron skillet for a minute each side.

"Delicious!" enthuses Drew.

"What I love about it is all the different flavours mixing flawlessly," says Raul. "And now that the spices are organized and accessible we can experiment. I don't know why we don't have tarragon though. Maybe tomorrow while I'm out and about I'll pick some up"

"Or we can grow some on the balcony," muses Drew.

"There is no more room on the balcony," asserts Raul. "One more pot, one more gnome, and it will explode."

"The gnomes protect the plants from the squirrels!"

"That should be Mickey's job," reminds Raul. "You wouldn't want me to not be able to get to the barbecue . . ."

"We'll get a little jar of tarragon," acquiesces Drew. "There's room in the cupboard now."

Tuna, Garbanzo Bean and Potato Salad

"It's time to get off the meat trail," says Raul as he ponders what to concoct on yet another grey weather day. As the sun suddenly cuts through the clouds, inspiration strikes. "I do need to use up those leftover Greek potatoes . . ."

To Mickey's great disappointment the sound of the can opener being applied only leads to tuna and he decides to crawl back into bed - he has already eaten close to his own weight in actual dog food - until the dish is finished when he can be sure to scrounge something tastier.

Into a bowl goes the tuna, the Greek potatoes chopped into mouth-size bites, half a can of garbanzo beans, yellow pepper slices, diced celery, olive slices and cherry tomatoes. A quick toss with olive oil, lemon juice and black pepper and the results are ready to be laid out on a bed of greens.

"Sometimes it's just easier to go simple," says Raul apologetically.

"Sometimes it's just too delicious to even save a bite for the dog," says Drew between mouthfuls.