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There are loads of problems with "American sushi." My worst pet peeves are...

1 Real wasabi is always cut with a cheaper horseradish, if there is even any real wasabi at all. 2 Increasingly I see more and more chefs that are poorly trained, often not japanese, and don't have the expertise to talk about the food. I find that most sushi chefs are great at telling you whats good and giving you their chef's choice. The ones that say "everything is good" are the ones who don't know much. 3 Good fish is hard to come by and extremely expensive in America. You have many less options to begin with and the best fish costs you dearly (think at least $100/lb). 4 It's only going to get worse because good fresh wild fish is expensive, farmed fish is cheap, and fish farms kill off wild fish, which means wild fish gets even more expensive...

I read the post on Chinese Buffets when it came out and it's great!

Looks like it was quite a bit of disgusting things that got them closed down, but there is no shortage of great pizza. Right when Di Fara is back open thats probably the best time to grab some because they'll have to actually pass this time (right?). What irritates me is that DeMarco wasn't honest with us.

I'm all about Haagen-Dazs myself! They have more interesting flavors. Truthfully, I've never had anything of Ben & Jerry's before.

HD, HD, HD.... the whole spectrum from Rum Raisin to Vanilla Bean to "extra rich light" Dulce de Leche. Personal favorite is the discontinued Chocolate Turtle: chocolate with caramel and SALTY pecans. Damn that was good.

Now, i've heard that the B&J pistachio kicks butt for its whole and enormous pistachios, but I've yet to try it. And like the Cherry Garcia guy above, I think nothing on earth can compare to Chunky Monkey when it comes to a really brilliant combination.

Which leads me to HD's Black Walnut.... mmm. And then that leads me back to B&J's Oatmeal Cookie - a wonderful "junk" flavor.

And finally I finish up with B&J's recent (and discontinued?) most brillant flavor, simply because it was CHUNKLESS: Black & Tan. Boy, that was good - chocolate, malt, and stout ice creams with no other crap added. Anyone try that flavor and agree?

To choose one over the other for ever and ever, I'd still lose my bananas and go with Haagen Dazs.

Trevor Corson here.

Ed, I have to disagree with you. Part of the point I was trying to make in my article is that the stoicism of our sushi chefs isn't "hundreds of years of cultural breeding" at all. In Japan, the reputation of sushi chefs going back to their (relatively recent) beginnings in the 1800s is one of boisterous camaraderie with their customers, and that's certainly what I experienced in Japan. Their stoicism here in the U.S. has more to do with simple cultural arrogance, and I don't think it's unreasonable to ask them to change, and treat us as equals to their customers back home.

In fact, I'd go so far as to argue that we're perpetuating an unhelpful stereotype by arguing that sushi chefs are entitled to their stoicism.

Annien brings up a legitimate concern -- the language barrier. In my experience, chefs with a positive attitude are perfectly capable of making the effort to transcend the language barrier, even with limited English skills.