First off, if you do not have a Groupon account – click here and get one today. It is totally free. Once a day you get an offer for a local deal in your area. Read the details before you buy, but some amazing stuff and there are only a limited number of each of them – so be quick. Anyhoo, I purchased a Groupon for Megumi Restaurant for $20 which covered $40 worth of food and drink. Some do not include drink, so again….read before you buy. I like trying new places and has a husband who is Mr. Meat and Potatoes, so this was my trick to get him to go somewhere different (evil laugh inserted here). Megumi has 2 locations close to my house, so I emailed my favorite Northshore sushi connoisseur, Karen to decide which location was best for Saturday night. She suggested the Highway 22 location in Mandeville.

The atmosphere is very family oriented. This was our date night and because neither of us had ever been before, were a slightly disappointed it was not a little cozier for a date. Well, who cares – kids were not with us and a good time to enjoy ourselves. They have a HUGE menu with lots of cooked dinners in addition to their ENORMOUS sushi menu. It was actually overwhelming. I can’t remember the both of use ever taking that long to decide!!! It may have been helpful if some were starred as favorites or something, so I could have narrowed it down a little quicker. Instead, I started looking around and asked one table what they had (ya – you know me too well)! Clear soup with noodles served to us as soon as we sat down. A little odd, I would have liked to wait a few minutes for that – or at least until I ordered a drink. We decided on tempura calamari and shrimp dumpling for appetizers while still mulling over the menu. I would have gone for sashimi, but after seeing all the gorgeous displays of rolls served, I knew I had to get one! Hubby does not do sushi and I was starving – so I ordered the Geisha roll, which the waiter said was a good choice. It had tuna, salmon, rice, sesame seeds, asparagus and chives. It was phenomenal. Hubby had a grilled shrimp dish and Yakatori skewed beef and Kirin beer. He was perfectly happy and loved everything. This will be a place I will come back to with friends or maybe the kids. I might be able to even twist hubby’s arm to return too:)

On the way home we decided to stop for a drink. Obelisk is a local wine bar/art gallery and though I pass it every day, never ventured in. It was absolutely perfect inside – great atmosphere, perfect use of space, unique lighting, couches, spaciously spaced tables and a big beautiful bar and to make hubby happy – television with the football game on! The bartender (d’oh did not get his name) was awesome and we arrived during 2 for one Martinis. Hubby got your basic dirty one and I got the Flerutini with raspberries. It was a perfect drink – not too sweet, but sweet enough. The artwork being displayed was of Cindi Guillot, who actually invited me to her opening there but I could not attend. Her stuff is simply amazing! Here is her personal website. We left before the band started playing (had to get home to the kiddos), but will certainly return there! The patrons and the bartender educated us about all that goes on there and the history of the place – a great find for us!