I've come to the conclusion that certain foods shouldn't be the main part of a meal.  For example, a meal or dish shouldn't be centered around scallops.  I made this mistake last night at a hibachi place.  It wasn't a really bad mistake; it just wasn't that great of a meal.  And it's because scallops aren't a great food.  They're a good filler or complimentary item, like rice or couscous.  But they're certainly not on the same playing field as steak or chicken or even shrimp. 

Sushi is another example.  It's "cool" to like sushi, so I'm occasionally tempted to eat it just to be cool (it's a sad state of affairs when eating uncooked meat is deemed "cool").  But the one time I went to a sushi "place", I was thoroughly repulsed.  A meal isn't just an extended snack.  You can't eat 200 peanuts and 15 cookies and call it a meal.  In the same way, you can't eat a bunch of raw meat rolled in rice and seaweed, wash it down with some tofu soup (which, by the way, almost made me vomit), and call it a meal.  It's a snack.  And hardly a snack at that. #food