For most people, Sunday brunch usually brings to mind your basic breakfast foods: eggs, some sort of breakfast potatoes, maybe pancakes or waffles, some bacon or a slab of scrapple if you’re feeling saucy and maybe a Bloody Mary or two. Most minds don’t wander to a variety of sushi and sashimi, a flight of sake and two men weighing a combined 700 pounds wrestling in very little clothing, very close to the crowd. Such was LivingSocial’s Sumo + Sushi Experience, which took place at Helium Comedy Club this past weekend.
The event began at 11 a.m. on Sunday, with Dasiwa sushi café starting guests with an appetizer tray of edamame, chicken gyoza (steamed dumplings) and Asian nachos—the clear highlight of the food. As attendees munched their first course, we were walked through a quick guided tasting of three sakes care of Banzai Beverage. The first, and easily the best, was their slightly sweet and surprisingly smooth BUNNY Blueberry sake, made with fresh blueberries grown outside the brewery. Following this were a clear sake and an unfiltered, milky-white sake that tasted surprisingly akin to a wheat beer.
Between courses, guests were treated to USA Sumo’s founder and president Andrew Freund explaining the rules of sumo. The day’s two wrestlers, Byamba Ulambayar and Soslan Gagloev, demonstrated the ritual that opens each match and a few moves to familiarize the sumo novices with what they should be watching. As we dug into our next course—sashimi of tuna, hamachi and salmon; California and spicy tuna sushi rolls; an Asian cabbage slaw; and strips of pork cutlet with a sweet ponzu-like sauce—Byamba and Soslan began a series of five matches.
The competition was surprisingly entertaining, and each wrestler—Byamba at 370 pounds and Soslan at 340—were unbelievably nimble and agile. Moving around the makeshift ring in the center of the comedy club floor, the two sumo wrestlers pushed and prodded, trying their best to get the other either out of the ring or onto the floor—the two ways to win a match. The two men often came close to the crowd, which were only a few feet from the ring, and once ran into the tall barricade we were seated behind. Between each match, Freund fielded questions from the crowd, enlightening us all on the age-old traditions and rules of sumo.
After it was all said and done, what we thought would be at worst a terrible time and at best an interesting amalgam of Japanese culture for brunch turned out to be entertaining, informative and an all-around fun time. We were all able to learn more about a sport that has many more layers than I think anyone expected, and we were taught in an engaging and enjoyable fashion. While the quality of the food could have been improved, the focus here was clearly introducing a sport to many more people who wouldn’t usually experience it, and they did a fantastic job. My wife and I left impressed with the time we’d had, and I would definitely think twice before skipping over sumo on television if the opportunity ever arises.
If you’d like to learn more about the Sumo + Sushi Experience or find out which events are on deck, check out LivingSocial’s website for more information.
Photo credits: Ryan Hudak.
