Chixe

Sushi is good, I also like roast veg, bread and various smaller dishes - comfort food you can eat together and pick a bit from each bowl is good. Chinese food is also good for this - an intimate chinese resturant and a nice table.

Baby back ribs and soda from a troth.

fried chicken smothered in hot sauce!!

Sushi does have a rather negative effect on your breath though; with or without the Gari. I think straight up Japanese is good though. Almost always guaranteed to be "chopsticks" food , beautiful and memorable. Show me the way to Beef Batayaki!

Foods to avoid: chicken wings - hard to look cute tearing into those. Salad - I think should be avoided too - get the damn thing on the fork - chew * chomp * chew.

Best thing: Soup (as long as the guys don't slurp it :0) and any boneless meat!

Just put a privacy screen in the middle of the table and have all the delicious, messy food you want!

I think Karamatosed is along the right lines - things you can share are definitely the way forward. And a relaxed setting.

Personally I'd vote for tapas or dim sum. Tapas of course has the advantage that you don't need to be any good with chopsticks and therefore don't run the risk of dropping it down your top. Flaw of tapas is usually the garlic content...

Sushi or dim sum.. No questions asked. The only food choices which will allow you to safely make a fool / mess of yourself blaming it on your lack of chopstick handling skills.

@Chris: If you want your date to go even better, be sure to use a DM Screen. Bonus points if it involves THACO.

There are three ways to make good dating food:

1. Self made (tasting good)
2. What your date likes
3. What you can safely feed to your date (nice bites, not drips, ...)

I'd stay away from anything that is messy. No spaghetti sauce on my shirt.