Sushi, sushi and more sushi

For someone who enjoys cooking and dining out, living in Moscow turned out to be quite a challenge! Importing exotic ingredients and spices became my habit! Dining out was never cheap and food shopping became a nuisance. Despite the fact that Moscow has become a 'hip' destination in the past few years with new restaurants springing up allover town, I still think their culinary scene is years behind most major cities. I know I am being harsh because decades of communism has probably changed people's eating habits and tastes (though this theory does not seem to apply to China). I don't want to generalise but I honestly don't think the Russians are that passionate about food. Perhaps it is to do with their history, culture, geographic location, climate and political issues, but seeing a sushi menu inside an upmarket Indian restaurant was just too shocking for me!

I still haven't figured out why Muscovites love sushi so much? Is it simply a fad or do they really enjoy eating raw fish that are not so fresh? Being landlocked, all seafood has to be imported, so fresh fish is scarce and a luxury in Moscow. But shockingly, almost all restaurants in town (including Chinese, Indian, Russian, European, Georgian, American sports bars and even German beer hall) would serve sushi! From my observation, salmon with cream cheese roll seems to be quite a popular choice. I had sushi a few times in Moscow and it made me realised that Yo! Sushi is actually not that bad!! I don't want to sound like a snob, but what is the point of eating raw fish if it is not fresh? Besides the fish, soggy seaweed and cold, hard rice are not acceptable either! Japanese restaurants with inconsistent standards are all over town, but nothing can be worse than seeing a list of sushi on the back of an Indian restaurant menu! I just wish there is a law to stop people from serving sushi outside of a Japanese restaurant!!!!!