Sushi Sushi Sushi

Sushi!  Probably the first thing people think of when they think of Japan.  But let me tell you, sushi here is not that common.  Well you can probably find a sushi joint while walking down the street if you so wished, but it's not a staple in the Japanese diet.  

My first sushi experience whilst living here in Tokyo was at a local sushi bar in Okusawa.  A bunch of us were supposed to go out for kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi, but some decided not to go in the end, so it was just me and Michael again.  We decided not to go too far, but we were still in search of sushi.  After wandering around our neighbourhood for a while we found a really modern looking sushi bar.  We knew it was sushi because the name on the outside said sushi in Hiragana...

So we ventured in, and the chef and one waiter greeted us warmly.  Me and Michael were the only patrons there that night...I think it was a Tuesday night.  Oh well.

We were given menus and I ordered an Asahi and Michael ordered some sort of Suntory beer.  The beers came in really big bottles, and we had little glasses to drink from.  We were seated at the bar right in front of the chef.  It was a little daunting at first since my Japanese is still horrible, and we didn't really know what to do.  We took a look at the very simple menu...I think it was a one pager.  It was either omakase or set menus.  I opted for the cheaper set menu that was about 3600 yen while Michael got the more expensive omakase at around 5200 yen.  It's not cheap, but I think in the end it was worth it.

We started off with just some simple nigiri.  All sorts of fish, like maguro (tuna), o-toro (tuna belly), tai maybe...I don't really remember them all, but they were super delicious.  It's traditional to have wasabi only on the rice underneath the fish for nigiri.  I resisted the urge to mix wasabi in with my soya sauce.  It was easy because wasabi is not given to you...

Very fresh pickled ginger

Maguro sushi

Very fatty looking piece of o-toro.  SUPER OISHII

I believe this is saba.  One of my favs

Towards the end of the meal, out came this delectable looking piece of sushi.  It was another piece of o-toro, but this time the fish was grilled a bit, giving it a charred texture and flavour.  When this was brought out, the aroma was amazing.  It smelled of charcoal and the taste was very smoky.

Grilled o-toro

Ikura on rice

This ikura was really omoshiroi - interesting.  The eggs are pretty big and they were as fresh as can be.  The eggs burst in your mouth, you don't even have to chew.  You can smell and taste the sea from whence they came.  It tasted like the ocean it was so fresh!  It was a bit salty as well, so it went really nicely with rice.  It definitely cannot compare to anything we have in Vancouver, where the fish eggs are rubbery, and tastes like nothing.

Maguro I believe

A very nice bowl of miso soup

I don't remember what this is, but it tasted delicious

The chef was really nice, we chatted for a bit.  His name is Ichiro Watanabe, and he's only been to Hawaii.  He and the waiter said my Japanese was really good! ^^  I think they were being nice though, haha.

I left this place super stuffed, but maybe it had something to do with eating a bit beforehand.  I don't know if I will come back to this place in the future, but it was a great experience. 

My other sushi experience was at a kaiten sushi, finally.  I went with my friend from the dorm, Raphael, this time.  He is a student that has been here for a semester already, so he's well seasoned in the kaiten sushi scene.  He took me to this place just outside of a train station.  This was just a small joint, with all bar seats.  It could probably fit 20-25 people.  Mostly businessmen getting off work.  

Sumimasen, I don't have any pictures of this place.  Next time I go, I'll post some pictures, because I will definitely go again.

Kaiten sushi is really fun.  Whatever comes your way you have a 10 second window to decide if you want it or not.  I ended up with 9 empty plates, each costing 130 yen for 2 pieces of sushi.  Not a bad deal.  I was pretty satisfied.

What I found to be really cool was that ocha is always right at your fingertips!  Next to the pickled ginger jar is ocha powder.  You put some of that into your cup, and then get some hot water from the tap that's mounted onto the bar.  SUGOI!  This was so convenient!  I just want to pour myself tea all the time.

Here's a video of how the ocha thing works

For those people that don't like human interaction, this is the place for you.  You grab your own food, get your own cutleries and condiments, and your own hot water or tea.  Great for those otakus I'm guessing, eh?

I can't wait to go for another sushi adventure!