Edo VIP

I still haven't found a sushi place here that gives me the same warm and happy feeling that Edo does, and especially one where you can eat so much for so little (money-wise). Five years ago, there only used to be two main sushi restaurants in Kuwait - Sakura and Kai. If you were a real sushi person, then you were a devoted customer of either one or the other (barely anyone I know liked both). We used to spend all our time at Sakura back in those days. Then Maki opened and everyone went nuts (although I never caught the Maki bug). And then Edo opened, and our lives changed forever. The original Edo gang that first started going there like every other night, from when it first opened, was just me and two others, S and A (part of the old Sakura gang). I can't remember what year it was - I think it was around 2003 (when everyone else was still all hyped up about Maki). We were the original Edo regulars - in fact, S and I were the first customers to ever sit outside in the garden. We used to go all the time and on most nights it was totally empty and I remember at the beginning we were scared that it was going to shut down - I guess now that Edo has become so popular that is no longer a problem. Now our table for three or four has turned into a table for 10 or 15! Edo was the place where we first converted JC to sushi-ism...he used to hate it before we came along! Aaaahhh the good old days. While I'm glad Edo has become so popular and they're doing so well, I do sometimes miss the old days. The beauty of Edo was that you'd go and barely ever see anyone you knew. Now, on most nights I walk in and literally know at least one person from nearly every single table in the joint. But I guess, at the end of the day, it's still ours...

How do you know if you're an Edo VIP? If you call to make a reservation or take-away order and the guy who answers the phone immediately knows who you are by name from the sound of your voice; if the waitress comes to your table (or your side of the table if you're in a big group) without a pen and pad; if you get a free meal before leaving town; if the valet guys let you park your car there even if you're going to the café next door (usually because he knows you'll end your night there anyway); if you go to another sushi restaurant in Kuwait (which will remain nameless) just to 'try something new' (and leave disappointed wishing you'd just gone to Edo), and the manager there knows you from back in the day when he used to be the manager of Edo; if you can personally request who you want to be your waitress when you call to make a reservation or when you first walk in; if you knew the waitress that got scared out of her mind for forgetting to put a lemon in a Diet Pepsi. So, are you an Edo VIP?