Cash Only

Wednesday took me to Flushing, NY, a neighborhood in the Queens borough with a heavy Asian population. Always one up for a challenge, I set out to find lunch that met the criteria of local, tasty and something I knew I could eat.

I landed at a super-busy Asian food cluster situated under the train tracks. Packed with plenty of locals, I figured the food and prices both to be good.

I found a sushi stand near the back of the market (think open-air market, something like a Fisherman's Wharf), complete with a sushi-chef hand rolling every order.

Thankfully, there was a menu printed with English prompts next to all of the Japanese characters, so I found a couple of rolls that sounded good and stepped up to order. I'm not going to lie. The small Japanese woman kind of scared me with her very aggressive "what do you want?"

I blurted my order, took out my ATM card and was again startled by this tiny-but-frightening little business owner. "Cash only!!". I dutifully fished out a $10 and a single. My scary friend then said, "Next time you call.." She even made the universal 'call-me' sign with her hand. I nodded, took my sushi and ran.

I did enjoy my made-to-order, hand-rolled spicy tuna and tempura shrimp rolls. I may be jumpy and a little on edge, but it was good sushi.