Quality shows. Dad & I had a taste for Japanese food, and the traffic north was horrid. So we traveled south of Mill Valley to Sausalito to Sweet Ginger. I've reviewed it briefly in 2005, and then more throughly last September. It's lasted long enough in this location for the greenery to partially obscure its sign, but it's easily identifiable on the corner of Caledonia and Litho.

The first sign of quality is that the California roll is made with real crab, no tsurimi with choice of upgrade to real. Not pictured is the complimentary edamame that comes soon after you sit, nor the miso soup served with most meals.

Dad tried the fish katsu which he was delighted with -- he especially enjoyed that it was made in finger sized pieces he could dip in the tonkatsu sauce and not worry about the chopsticks.

I ordered my favorite dish at this restaurant, and one of my all-time favorites in Marin. The grilled salmon over garlic tossed soba noodles with tender sauteed sweet pea shoots sandwiched in between. Not only is this delicious, it is so healthful.

Dad wanted to try the chocolate mousse, and they brought an extra spoon, so I can say that it was very good. More like a mousse pie (dense) than a mousse (airy) but still nice textured with lots of chocolate flavor.

I had lunch at Avatar's yesterday. The proprietor is such an amazing natural with making people feel welcome. And I've never heard anyone describe a dessert in terms of tasting like the most beautiful dream you've ever had, such that you don't ever want to wake up. You can bet I tried that one! (But several visits ago, and I can still remember the expressive way he said this).

My friend Paul unluckily has a 3rd degree sprain of his ankle, but borrowed a housemate's car (he can't drive his stick shift) to come take me to dinner and catch up. We started watching Blood Diamond from OnDemand at my place afterwards, but noticing that I was completely so 'gone' from all the violence just in the first six minutes, he kindly changed it to Casino Royale which I hadn't caught when it was in the theater. Yesterday was a completely full day!