2014 Kickoff Party @ Drunken Fish

Great party, lots of food, and an excellent way to spend my first time at a Unilocal event.
The sushi was endless, the atmosphere was lively, and the entertainment was… well, very entertaining. Everything was great, so why only 4 stars? The Mr. Miyagi cocktail. It was VERY sweet. Like when we were kids and made kool-​aid but used too much mix and only little bit of water. Wax off!
But my only advice is to avoid this cocktail at Drunken fish because everything else was very good. There were so many different kinds of sushi, and it truly was endless — and you’ll always win me over with good sushi. Even the desert sushi was good (tastes like pie), but I couldn’t finish it because I think the Mr. Miyagi put me at my sugar limit for the week.
Thanks for the event Aaron! Lots of fun!

Aaron, you spoil me! Another amazing event at a place I haven’t been.
I was a bad Unilocaler — showed up late, only talked to people I knew, and left after the second karaōke song. I’ll do better next time, I promise.
While I was there, I did manage to try all of the food and both of the drinks. I preferred the Madame Butterfly but they were both inventive. I will also jump on the edamame hummus bandwagon — two things I love in one dish! Their sushi, gyoza, and rice were good. Nothing outstanding in a good or bad way.
The staff made the night though — they were all really helpful and eager to make the event wonderful for us, and they did! Smiles were seen, drinks were served, dishes were cleared, questions were answered without missing a beat.
Hats off to Aaron and the Drunken Fish team! I’ll be back to try some of their other offerings and get an edamame hummus fix!

They really kept the food flowing this night, and I came hungry! I am also not the biggest fan of Drunken Fish but they did great with the quality this night and the fried rice really good, ate a bunch of that and yes, the edamame hummus was excellent, worthy of a happy hour stop sometime for sure, maybe even get some to go. I think I overate on that, couldn’t stop.
The wait staff was very attentive and was right on with their service. The event itself was nice having upstairs just for the Unilocal crowd and plenty of room to spread out. The only thing I would suggest is something that gets everyone involved with each other, meet new faces. I will talk to new people but I don’t always feel comfortable breaking into a group that is settled with people they know and this was a pretty large crowd, big enough that would be hard for anyone to keep up with and check in with.
Aaron has great energy, perfect for a Unilocal CM.

I find it amazing that this place only had 3 stars with almost 200 reviews. I can’t comment on how they roll (no pun intended) for the general population but hot damn did they take great care of us at this event. All of the offerings were delicious and I loved that they brought out a new creation which was delicious… who would have thought edamame would be so easily converted to hummus?
Aaron — you definitely added another notch to your Unilocal belt with this one! Great time, great company, great food — I really like these events! I will acknowledge that I did a miserable job of socializing with the new for 2014 elites and will try to do better next time around.
Final thought — I really appreciated how much the staff of this place put into the event. It was really obvious from chatting with them that they were primed to make it a great night for us. I can think of no better way to reciprocate then to pledge that I will be back to try their restaurant as a paying customer!

Hats off to Aaron. This is actually my first Elite event I have attended under Aaron’s new reign as CM and it was fantastic. I was a little wary as the invitation stated «Karaōke» but to my relief you didn’t have to sing to eat sushi!
The entire second floor was reserved for this event and we were provided 2 coupons for a Madame Butterfly and Mr. Miyagi drink. Tables were plentiful so everyone seemed to have a place to sit.
Now to the food. There was edamame hummus, vegetarian fried rice, gyoza and an assortment of sushi, that included California rolls, Philadelphia roll, White Tiger Roll, and Spicy Tuna.
My favorites were the Edamame hummus and the White Tiger roll.
The evening finished up with Karaōke, which I did not partake in. I didn’t want to torture everyone there but there were some Unilocalers that jumped right in (after a little liquid courage I’m sure) and belted some nice tunes.
It was nice to meet fellow Elite Unilocalers and I am looking forward to the next event!
Overall a wonderful evening. Thank you Aaron! It had been a while since dining at Drunken Fish but given my experience I will have to check it out again sometime in the near future.

I am not an elite Unilocal member yet – but sure hope I will be – and this was my first Unilocal elite party I was able to attend, and my oh my what a blast it was!
My significant other took me, as she recently achieved an elite status. We had such a wonderful time! When we walked in, there was the community manager Aaron right in front to welcome us and give us name tags. We were directed to the upstairs floor of the Drunken Fish, where there were 2 private bars and a FEAST of appetizers laid out for us.
There were seasoned crisps served with freshly made hummus, vegetable fried rice, potstickers/​dumplings, and a bunch of different types of sushi! These were all quite delicious, particularly the sushi. My favorite of the sushi was the spicy salmon one. Also everyone could redeem 2 free drink tickets for mixed drinks, one a little on the sour side (Mr Miyagi) and the other on the sweeter side (Madame Butterfly). Both were pretty good – I think the Madame Butterfly, a red martini, was slightly better. The desserts were really good and included a yummy small cheesecake serving.
The atmosphere for the night was really impressive; lots of time to meet-​and-​greet, take pictures, and see friends. The staff of the Drunken Fish, as well as the Unilocal staff, were super friendly and very informative with any questions we had.
And then at the end… There was the weekly karaōke! Though my girlfriend and I did not sing, there were a lot of people who participated and did a great job. This was a great way to cap the night! Well done Unilocalers!

I hope all the events in 2014 are this delicious. My favorite part was the liquor, the two drinks they had were superb and better than just about every drink I have had at an elite event thus far. I think the Mr. Miyagi was the best because it was so sweet and smooth going down. Either way for a guy who doesn’t drink these elite events are makin me into lush.
The food was really good and there was so much I wish I hadn’t eaten beforehand. The dumplings or Gyoza as I am reading that they are called, were my favorite eats. I like sushi but the Gyoza took the proverbial cake.
I really had a great time and got to talk to some new people. Thanks to the Drunken Fish and Aaron for setting this up. The service was excellent and the atmosphere was really great. I liked that it didn’t take 10 minutes to get drinks like some events I have been to.
You could tell that the management of this establishment was invested in making their restaurant a success. I will be back to get some more drinks and Gyoza’s. I am looking forward to an awesome 2014 on Unilocal

Karaōke was such a wicked idea! I was so impressed by all of the Unilocal talent — some really good singers, a few dancers, and dammmmmnn, Unilocalers can rap?! It was so fun to watch (I wasn’t nearly drunk enough to get on that mic) and I agree with Vik — whoever that guy was that sang 4 Non Blondes had me rollin’!!! truly inspiration styling…
The food was really good and just everywhere — it would appear on our tables and we were constantly checked on — Drunken Fish staff were just on their A-​game! Of course Aaron B. was checkin’ up on us all night too — props to him for keeping things fresh and interesting at events — you’re setting the bar really high for this year, honey!
I don’t wanna be a big old «B», but I think we all should be tipping our bartenders :)

Huge shout out to Aaron and Drunken Fish for such a fun and delicious Monday night! I had such an awesome time meeting new Unilocal Elites and reconnecting with old pals.
The drinks were bombdiggity, but my favorite was the Mr. Miyagi! It was the perfect mix of sour and sweet. I was a fan of all the sushi and can’t wait to come back for more! The staff was super friendly, knowledgeable and made me feel really welcomed!
Overall, it was a great event with great people and GREAT karaōke! Thanks again Unilocal

It’s official, the 2014 Elite season has begun!
Thanks to the Drunken Fish for hosting our event and thanks to Aaron for all the planning you did to have a flawless event.
When my +1 and I arrived we were greeted by Aaron as well as a fellow Unilocaler (I believe her name was Angela) and we were asked to put on our name tags. Once we did that, we were given our drink tickets and directed upstairs for the actual event. When we arrived upstairs it looked like a party! I went to the bar first to grab a drink and then we found a table to sit at. Thanks to some other Unilocalers we managed to have a pretty fun table which consisted of; Amanda H., Jason H., Amanda K., her BF Alex, and Hao X. along with my boyfriend and me. Once we put our coats down we decided to go grab some food.
The food line wasn’t bad at all and Drunken Fish had so much to choose from! Of course, other Unilocalers have already given the details on the food so all I have to say is that it was all delicious. Drunken fish was not kidding around with the food at the event as they kept adding more items whenever things were running low; kudos to you for that.
Eventually Aaron gave his speech and the general manager made a few comments as well and I thought it was pretty great that he mentioned the collaboration piece; that is so important. He also gave a shout-​out to all of the bartenders, servers, and other workers for their hard work that night-​we really appreciated the customer service!
By the time Karaōke was about to start they were passing out desert; wow! It was so good, I have never had their dessert before so it was a welcomed addition. I enjoyed every bite.
We watched Karaōke for a while and cheered on some of the singers. Josh R. kicked off the night with a little Johnny Cash; great job. He was followed by some other Unilocalers; Christian, Vik & Josh, Sarah, Dani & Jenny, Emily, and a few others. They all did a great job-​Karoke is always so much fun to listen to and enjoy.
Overall, the night was great and I am so glad Aaron planned such a fun Monday night event. Thanks again for being such a great CM; STL is lucky to have you!
I can’t wait to see what the rest of 2014 has to offer!

Blur says, «Woo-​hoo!»
2014 has been a hoot thus far. However, it just isn’t a new year until Unilocal throws it Kickoff Party. And what a party it was!
Drunken Fish CWE was the destination for this year’s party, and the folks there did not disappoint. I have never seen so much sushi in my entire life. At first, they started with just some sample plates and other assorted appetizers. By the end of the night, the sushi was coming out in bulk! From spicy to savory, Drunken Fish’s sushi rocked the casbah!
And what goes better with sushi than some signature cocktails? They started with the Mr. Miyagi, a vodka drink that borders on piña colada. I was a fan! The next selection was Madame Butterfly, a very raspberry cocktail. The drink packed a punch, so I just sipped it. However, it was still quite enjoyable.
How about some karaōke? At the end of the night, Unilocalers enjoyed about half a dozen performances by fellow Unilocalers. The best two received private tours for ten to Schlafly Tap Room. The people sang their hearts out and strutted their stuff, but there could only be two. Definitely a neat promotion.
Of course, Aaron B. is no stranger to the Unilocal event. However, he is in charge now and put on a great event on Monday night. Great work, young man!
2014, you have officially been kicked-​off!

This event was ROCKIN’ & SUSHI ROLL’N’!! I absolutely had a blast! There was so much that made this event ROCK!
Right from the start the greeting was awesome, Not only from Aaron and our Unilocalers but from the workers at the Drunken Fish. The workers really helped make this event happen, as they catered to our every need promptly and with smiles for every request. All around the servers, bartenders, and owner were some of the best staff I have ever met. We had the whole upstairs for our party and they had some amazing food including a dip, fried pot stickers, fried rice, and a variety of sushi laid out for us to take as we pleased, but along with that, the servers were walking around giving out plates of sushi as well. There was never a moment when, if I wanted, did I not have a plate of delicious sushi in front of me! it was sooo YUMMM!
They also had the drinks flowin’, and we received a ticket to try both of the tasty drinks they offered, one was a blue curacao drink with pineapple juice and some other liquor and the other was rasberry liquor, not as sweet, but still very good. I really enjoyed both of them and would order them the next time I am there.
Then they hit us with the Karaōke, which really made for a fun event, I wasn’t able to perform due to lack of consumed alcohol, which shouldn’t have been a problem because there was plenty, next time for sure!
Towards the end of the evening they brought plates of desert sushi which were really tasty as well and really finished off the night leaving me really stuffed! They gave us a apple pie type sushi, and the other was a strawberry piece with chocolate sauce on top, they were both pretty good, but I enjoyed the apple pie sushi a little more.
I had so much fun, and really look forward to more events in the near future, as they come! Thank you Aaron and Drunken Fish for making this happen!

I had such a great time last night at the drunken fish for my first Unilocal elite event! thank you Aaron and the rest of the team who really put together a sizzling night that let me forget my winter blues for a little while.
When we arrived we were greeted by many friendly managers, marketers and servers at Drunken Fish who were more than happy to explain the menu and drink items. I tried the Mr. Miyagi first which I’ve had before at the drunken fish and it was just as good as I remember– sour and sweet in a trendy blue hue.
Next we tried the edamame hummus with fried wonton strips which was delicious and creamy, the fried rice and potstickers and all the sushi. I thought I was full and yet I kept eating more rolls because they kept on coming… and coming. My favorites were the spicy salmon, philly roll and the tiger roll. but seriously, it was so good. I am definitely coming back for their happy hour specials pronto!
The dessert was artfully decorated and it was pretty good, but I just didn’t love the tempura coating. I did LOVE the karaōke contest, however, and it was so fun seeing everyone perform. I was going to sign up for a Nicki Menaj song but after one of the contestants sang Carrie Underwood, I lost the will. But I am definitely coming back to sing that song another time at the drunken fish.
All in all a fantastic time! And so wonderful to meet some of the Unilocalers! Can’t wait till the next one!

Thanks Aaron and the Drunken Fish for this fantastic event!
The food was plentiful and the drinks amazing. I loved the edamame hummus, the two drinks (Mr Miyagi and Madam Butterfly), and all the sushi rolls! Both drinks were sweet and fruity and delicious. I’ll probably have to drag a friend here to try these too!
The upstairs space at the Drunken Fish is pretty fantastic too! It has a nice view of the busy CWE street corner so that I could people watch if i wanted to (which I didn’t because there were so many awesome Unilocalers in attendance).

Thanks Aaron & Drunken Fish for the perfect extension to my gluttonous weekend as this event was the closest and best thing I could get to declaring the day after the Super Bowl a national holiday. Of the mix of various Elite events I have been to, last night’s kickoff party at Drunken Fish ranks among the more casual and light-​hearted especially with the karaōke. P. S. Salt n Peppa girl, I hope you take the win for that contest because nothing is more impressive than a sweet brunette spittin rhymes like she’s secretly from the hood.
The sushi roll samplings were delicious, with my favorite being the white tiger roll. 4-​piece sampler plates handed out by servers made the buffet line a breeze to get through. The edamame hummus was a nice green alternative to your run of the mill chickpea variation. The Madame Butterfly Signature Martini was tasty and fresh with mango purée and pineapple juice. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Mr. Miyagi though as it was a bit cloyingly sweet. One bartender told us that he’s had a lady order 7 of them in one night though so blue and fruity must be popular with sweeter-​toothed palates.
It was nice to meet some of the newly minted 2014 elites and I’ll def be looking forward to what the rest of the year has to bring. Thanks again Aaron!

What a great event! My umami taste buds were definitely tingling with all that sushi, gyoza, and fried rice. The sweet fruity cocktails provided a great contrast to the food.
Thanks to Drunken Fish for hosting this event. The manager of the restaurant gave a speech and seems to really value the Unilocal community. Also, there’s a check-​in offer (free shot of sake!) so I’d suggest stopping in for a bite some time.
The karaōke was a lot of fun, and not surprisingly, we have some super talented singers (and rappers!) amongst the Unilocal elite. Props to the guy who did «What’s Goin’ On» by 4 Non Blondes. He completely went for it… and it was pretty glorious. Apparently they are having karaōke every Monday night.
Big thanks to Aaron for putting this all together.

Thanks Aaron B. and Drunken Fish for a delicious way to start my week! Highlights of tonight included the yummy fruity Madame Butterfly Signature Martini made of mango purée, raspberry Smirnoff, raspberry liqueur, and pineapple juice; gyoza, edamame hummus, a variety of sushi, and fried rice! I actually really enjoyed the martini’s mango and pineapple flavor and how it wasn’t too strong for me! And I don’t usually rave about the gyoza at restaurants but they were very tender and flavorful and juicy tonight, reminescent of my mother’s homemade dumplings. And finally, of course, the sushi – I tried a piece of the white tiger roll and a piece of the spicy salmon roll which were both very fresh. I’ve never tried edamame hummus or even heard of it before so that was a fun thing for me to taste tonight.
I wanted to try the karaōke but was too scared to be the first one to burst out singing in the microphone… need to come back here with a big group of friends some other time to check out their karaōke!
Thanks again for organizing this event, Aaron!

OH MANNN– My very first Unilocal event did not disappoint, not one bit!
I can’t wait to come back to Drunken Fish and gorge on that delish edamame hummus on wonton chips, gyozas, white tiger roll, and spicy tuna roll!
Also the drinks were fab– I had the Mr. Miyagi, which was a cool blue sugar rush.
Unfortunately, I had to leave before the karaōke got started but hope everyone there enjoyed!
Looking forward to attending more events and meeting more of my fellow Unilocalers!

Aaron, what a great job! This was definitely one of the best Mondays I have had in a looooonnng time. I absolutely loved how well planned this was. I love Drunken Fish (so I obviously had really high expectations of this event) and it was way better than I would have thought it was.
I loved the edamame hummus. It was so creamy and absolutely delicious! The sushi was great too! I really appreciated the small sampler plates they had out at the beginning of the event with four different pieces on the same plate. I always want to try a little bit of everything. But it’s so hard because it’s often just way too much food. I really liked being able to try a few more rolls that I hadn’t gotten to yet.
I really wish I had the courage to try Karaōke, but I’m just not a confident singer. Ahh well maybe next time? I might drag more friends who can actually sing so I can hide in the back and just lip-​sync. Anyways, what a splendid job, Aaron! I definitely had a great evening.

Definitely a great Unilocal party! I’ll be honest, I have never been a huge fan of Drunken Fish but I’ll make it a point to stop in again for the Edamame hummus. What a great dish! Well done to the people who decided to add it to the menu!
The drinks were delicious and as always the company was divine. Glad to see my Unilocal friends and have a fun night out!