This post documents my experience on August 24, 2018.
Out at Detroit’s Eastern Market…
…I wasn’t the only one excited to attend the first annual Detroit Sushi Festival.
Patiently, I waited with hungry sushi lovers…
…as we made our way in with our $40 tickets…
…here to Shed 3.
Inside, we were given souvenir chopsticks and a start of 10 food tickets (valued at $1 each)…
…before being released into the open…
…to purchase sushi samples…
…(often served with plenty of condiments and extras)…
…from area restaurants that included Maru…
…Xushi Ko…
…and many, many more.
But even as the DJ kicked up the beat, many festival goers stalled because…
…there were so many vendors to choose from…
…there was no overall description/price menu listing (no handout or info on the website)…
…and there were long lines a-plenty.
Looking over the lines of people was definitely overwhelming…
…and while only a few vendors put menus out that were actually high enough to be seen…
…you didn’t know if you were going to get a little…
…a lot…
…or if you needed to run and purchase additional tickets beforehand.
And while some restaurants had some sushi prepared in advance…
…lines moved slowly.
Everything moved slowly.
Those who wanted a drink felt particular pain…
…as the line was very long and often with people who didn’t know that…
…beer was a completely different line…
…and drink tickets were required.
One trick I tried for finding sushi…
…was to visit the areas where people ate…
…so that I could see what was out there and then ask where it was from.
While this method didn’t pan out the first time with some mediocre sushi samples…
…it did lead me to these spicy tuna hand rolls from Sushi Town that I absolutely loved.
I just didn’t love it enough to wait in even more lines…
…as I had had it up to here.
And, as I left, even more people were making their way inside.