Masu Sushi & Robata MOA Sushi and sake for while she's shopping

Mall food usually isn't anything to write home about, and also, why would you send a letter from the mall anyway? Have you seen how many awesomely high-tech communiqué devices there are at Brookstone? The point is: masterful Masu Sushi & Robata is now at the Mall of America... so maybe tweet that at your house from a massaging earpiece wine opener or something.

Perched on the third floor of the mammoth malltopia, Masu MOA's sporting the same totally understated look as their much-lauded Northeast flagship (Pachinko machines! blazing colors! geisha murals!), with a front cocktail bar and a back sushi bar designed to "flow together", which begs the question: if two inanimate objects can do it, why couldn't Biggie and Tupac? The award-winning sushi you already know and love's all there, then there's meat-stuffs like a pork shoulder robata, and the same acclaimed izakaya-style apps, like tuna tataki and a dish of assorted Japanese pickles, which actually occur quite frequently over there... they play a lot of small-ball. Drink-wise, six drafts (from Kirin to Rush River Small Axe) ground a two-page sake list that runs the gamut of styles, from honjozo, to junmai, to nigori, so... umm, ask for "the cold one".

And then there's the great stuff: an absolutely filthy selection of craft cocktails like "Gummi Shochu Sours" (made with actual Gummi Bears), and a yuzu ginger gin martini with cherry Pimm's called "Alive With Pleasure", marking the first time anyone above 12's felt that at MOA, not counting those sitting in vibrating, surround-sounding recliner-bars (with built-in meat thermometers!).