Bushi Japanese and Asian Restaurant, Tucson

My Celiac test results came back negative, and I want to celebrate.  Another reason to celebrate:  My husband and I had our 9th anniversary yesterday!  But, we postponed our date night because it was also my son's 17th birthday.  We were originally going to go to the theater, but the Saturday shows are sold out.  Plan "B":  Dinner date. 

My allergy status has been reduced from "always avoid" to "eat what you can handle."  If that sounds strange, I'll briefly explain:  If you are not severely allergic and you can manage a reasonable level of ingestion of your food allergens, your doctor might (check first) recommend that you continue to eat these foods to maintain your current tolerance level.  If I completely stop eating peanuts, I may have an anaphylactic reaction the next time I eat them.  For now I snack on peanuts in the shell (shelling them slows me down), and when I feel the first hint of an itch, I stop.  You can build up tolerance with allergy shots, but even better is to maintain your tolerance if you can.  What this means for me is that eating at restaurants is much easier now!

Many locales are having summer specials. "This summer Bushi is featuring two specials: Any roll and a bottle of TyKu Sake for $20.11 and any appetizer, any Teriyaki dish and a bottle of Bokbunjajoo for $20.11."  Bushi was also recently featured on the news.  Advertising works really well on me. We're going to give them a try this weekend.

I know that soy, peanuts and gluten (my top three allergens) are common ingredients in Asian food, so why did I choose a Japanese restaurant out of all of my options in Tucson?  With a forecast over 100° I'm also not in the mood for a heavy meal.  Light, cold food sounds pretty good to me. 

I downloaded the menu (which I always do if I know I'm eating out) and I quickly found some delicious choices.  I doubt they can guarantee anything gluten-free, but the rest of the menu seems to have plenty of options to work around other allergens.  I will try to talk to the staff about their stance on food allergies and report back after the weekend.

My preliminary choices:

Appetizer:
Sashimi Salad
Your Choice of Yellowtail, Tuna or Salmon (8 pc) resting upon bed of Spring Mix Greens

~or~

California Roll
Cucumber, crab, avocado, rice, seaweed


Dinner:
Curry Grilled Shrimp
Grilled Shrimp w/ Red Thai Curry sauce and Cilantro
Served with edamame, miso soup, rice and salad
(I can pass on the edamame and miso)

~with~

Sake Martini
Sake, Vodka, garnished w/ Cucumber and Ginger

Dessert:
Fruit Kurimu
Assorted Fruit w/ Coconut Honey White Chocolate Cream sauce topped w/ Almond Granola
(hold the granola for mine)