This past Friday I spent the evening at Hot Woks Cool Sushi on Adams Street making my own maki rolls and sampling some of the chef’s own creations. Although I had never been to this restaurant before, I didn’t think twice about purchasing this Groupon when I came across it a few weeks ago.
Groupon, for those who don’t know, is a website that offers vouchers at largely discounted prices for local restaurants, events and various goods. Some of the discounts seem too good to be true, but I was pleasantly surprised with my most recent Groupon purchase for the sushi making event downtown.
My date and I showed up to the restaurant at 7pm and we were just two of about 50 others who were participating in the event. The super friendly owners greeted us upstairs and gave a brief overview of the restaurant and the history of sushi. Quickly after, the master sushi chef brought out our ingredients that we handpicked for our maki rolls and we started right away.
Along with the class, each person got to take home a complementary sushi rolling mat and sake shot glass. The chefs included a meticulous rice recipe specific to the restaurant so we could try making it at home…if we are brave enough.
Learning how to roll sushi is a skill I have wanted to gain for quite some time now, so the experience of doing it with my date and a bunch of strangers was a lot of fun. Groupon offers incredible deals located right downtown that are often accommodating to busy students because they have numerous flexible dates. This was actually my first Groupon event purchased and I was pleasantly surprised at how well the event was put on and especially at how the Hot Woks Cool Sushi staff was so concerned with everyone having a great time.
So next time you’re aimlessly surfing the web, be sure to sign up for a Groupon account and check out all of the awesome deals they have for Chicago. Winter quarter is without a question the toughest quarter, but with a little help from Groupon and a few friends, you can definitely beat the blues and do something fun downtown!