Your're welcome!    Nice to have an excuse to go there.

Just takes practice. Years ago I spent 6 months eating with nothing else. I got pretty good at it. And yeah, I'd eat it if it tasted good.

Nope.  Wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.  I don't know why, but I hate Chinese food.  It's something about the sauces that throw me each time.  But then, I'm pretty much the pickiest eater in the universe.

Bad cook at that place Tex!  Not just the color but it looks unappetising!  Momijiki - that looks tasty, I love Chinese and Japanese food!  I've cooked with cucumber before, and I usually add it last minute so that it isn't soggy, it is really good in some dishes.

The place I went to has been in a lot of magazines and on some TV shows.  Food is a really big topic here.  There are at least 3 weekly magazines devoted to restaurants to try out.  The best part about this place is that it's good and really reasonable. We ordered two three dishes, rice and a beer and it came out to about 20 dollars each.  Hitoshi was stuffed after dinner and that's saying something.  The decor isn't much, but the food is really good.  I think a lot of people would walk by the place if they hadn't heard about it.

FS--what other hot dishes have you put cucumber in?  I've done some Thai stuff but basically it was cold food or a cold garnish on noodles (usually cold, too)