That’s great, thanks for correcting me! I saw it used as 拉面 in a ramen restaurant and it translated to ramen when I used Google translate so I just sort of put it into my head and never looked into it further. They must have been using the mandarin characters in the restaurant, because it does indeed mean noodle in mandarin.
Small nitpick: Mandarin is the name of the spoken language. The written language you are talking about is called simplified Chinese, as opposed to traditional Chinese used in Taiwan (who also speak Mandarin).
So I most like getting salmon belly sashimi with a side bowl of rice. That is how I can construct my favorite sushi experience. I can vary the amount of fish, rice, and sauce to make every bite the best.
However, that doesn't really seem to be an option, and I am sure there is a good reason? If it's just to respect the chef, I really really dislike Wasabi, it's like soapy cilantro but sharp and destroys all other flavors.
I feel ordering nigiri without Wasabi is offending the chef because the amount they put on is part of that art, and I respect artists, my tastes just don't always jive with them. I see ordering sashimi and a side of rice as not offending the chef, but am I actually being more offensive??