Mom's first sushi

Sushi spread at Sushi Mon in Lincoln Park

I'm so proud of my mom! A couple of weekends ago, she finally took the plunge and fully embraced sushi. And not just California rolls and spicy tuna rolls. She went off the deep end and tried a dragon roll, a cucumber roll with raw tuna and a salmon appetizer, also raw.

We took her to Sushi Mon in Lincoln Park, a quaint BYOB place with some of the freshest, most affordable sushi in the city. Z and I stop by at least a couple of times a month and have never been disappointed. (Our favorite is the fresh gold uni they often carry.)

We started with miso soup and green salad, followed by the salmon appetizer--a piece of raw salmon wrapped around cucumber, avocado and crab meat.  Next came the crunchy California roll, which turned out to be Mom's favorite and contrary to her customary position of refusing shellfish or "bottom feeders" as she calls them.

We finished up with a Dragon roll of the pressed variety, another Sushi Mon specialty, a Vienna roll and a Viola roll.

Mom before her Vienna roll

And after! Yum!