Sushi Itto, Cancun

I went to Sushi Itto on May 15th, 2006. As a long-time chef and certified sushi chef myself, I was really excited and had no apprehensions on eating sushi in Mexico (bad mistake). I have never, until this experience, written a bad report on any restaurant. Let me begin my true tale: I ordered edamame as my appetizer and it arrived neither hot nor warm - It was actually thawed and then served to me. THAWED!!! Thawed for God Sakes!?!?!?!? It had the rubbery texture attributed to vegetables that are NOT supposed to be thawed but dropped in hot water immediately, still frozen. They hadn't even bothered to drop it in hot water! Still I took it to be a mistake of a new kitchen worker that was not knowledgeable of Japanese cuisine and probably not well-trained. I was still in a great mood, tolerant and very understanding. I then received my order of various sashimi. I don't remember the name of the plate but it was the biggest sashimi they had on the menu that was a variety. It was around $140 pesos - I thought, "Wow, that's pretty cheap in comparison to the US." I was beginning to salivate thinking of my close proximity to the sea and the wondrous things that I was soon to feast on - The reason for that was it was less than half the amount served in the US for more than half the price. There were 4 thin pieces of 3 types of fish. I figured I am in Playa! Great, fresh seafood that I would taste in its absolute naked splendor even if a small portion. WRONG!!! The sashimi came out warmer than my edamame. Still understanding (I blamed myself for choosing sushi in Mexico) but quickly losing my patience I asked where is the roe that is normally served in all sashimi variety plates? They brought some out that tasted as if it had been sitting in a broken, rancid refrigerator. And by Golly, It had!!! How did I figure out their walk-in had been broken from the night before? As if the previous turd of a meal did not give it away, it was when 2 friends of mine dropped by unexpectedly and coming off a long walk asked for 2 glasses of water - with ice. Why did they do that? The staff took over 10 minutes to get to the table and when I inquired, around the 7th-8th minute, if they were chipping the ice and shipping the water directly from the northern glaciers, they said they had no more ice and were trying to get some. In all fairness they did finally find some from the Cuban place 2 doors down. Suddenly it all made sense. Being in Paradise contained me from behaving like the ignorant American and the brash NYer, I could be. Instead my cerebral Hellenic heritage and Japanese training kicked in and told me I should behave in a bigger way than I was treated. So instead of overturning the table and choking all in front of me, I documented, instead, my experience on a 2 page complaint and handed it to the manager, paid my bill in full(!) with 20% gratuity, to make a point (this was not a funky American trying to get away without paying the bill) and informed the owner in the addressed complaint, that he should have NEVER opened his restaurant knowing his fridges were out of order. What a malaka this person is and what a true disregard for public safety! I have seen restaurants close for much less than that. I included my email address and phone number and never the smallest note of an apology. Not a nada. The staff (including the manager) acknowledged all my accusations and apologized profusely, they were not to blame. Pure unadulterated greed is. Not 15 minutes after I left this [lovely] establishment I could not leave the bathroom. And so went my experience at Sushi Itto.