… and she swam the seven seas,
And some folks called her Susie-Q or Susan if you please,
And some called her Susannah like the Steven Foster song,
But those who called her Sushi weren’t her friends for very long.
The sushi-boat camera link from the last post gave me a craving, so I went twice to my sushi-boat place this week. Madness! But its last day is June 24, so I have a deadline to finally try all the scary little things I’ve been too chicken to.*
One of the reasons I like it is how quick it is (no waiting, at least for a single seat by the boats), the fact that I can be making decisions about my lunch right up until it’s time to pay**, and just how pretty all the little plates are going ‘round. Salmon roe in particular is just beautiful.
I’m pretty sure this “How to Eat at a Sushi Bar” is not completely serious.
Because of the massive construction, there aren’t many shops left in my immediate area. As their leases expire, they’re all moving out. I am pessimistic about what will replace them in the new downtown incarnation; the old area was one of those sort of past-its-prime strip malls*** with a great collection of really eclectic shops. Coins and stamps, fish and aquarium supplies, watch repair, a pawn shop, a couple of shoe repair places, a drycleaner, an optometrist, a furniture store, clothing, a bunch of non-chain restaurants…
Oh well. Change happens, especially around here.
* Except for maybe the baby octopuses. They just look so sad. I don’t think they’re very popular to eat, so they just keep going ‘round and ‘round, looking more and more disconsolate. Sometimes their little tentacles drag in the water, like a languishing Victorian lady in a canoe.
** It's like dim-sum; you take as many plates as you have a mind to, and the server just tallies them up at the end. The plates are colour-coded by price.
*** Well, not really a strip mall. A downtown area, designed for pedestrians, where each block is one big building full of little shops, but each has a separate entrance and the sidewalks are all sheltered by the eaves of the building… OK, maybe it is a strip mall. But I sort of like it. Oh, hey, here’s a picture.
Re: "I’m pretty sure this “How to Eat at a Sushi Bar” is not completely serious."
Ya think?
Takako said "Paulie, people DO realize this is joke????" after she stopped laughing.
The shop looks rather expensive but 100% accurate, the rest is about 40% BS and 60% true. The English subtitles are correct.
Mmmmmm...... Forbidden sushi....
If anyone cares, the camera-on-belt video comment said it was in "Asakasa", a common misspelling of Asakusa and a popular tourist area.
35.710924N 139.796331E puts you right in front of Nakamise Arcade.
Paul: It's unfortunate that sarcasm is difficult to convey electronically. I did realize that the video was a joke (the precise angular placement of the hand on the curtain was a pretty big clue) but like you said, it had enough truth to keep you on your toes. But judging from the YouTube comments, some people didn't get it.
Oh, I caught the sarcasm and added some of my own :-) I agree it's tough to put the right tone in writing. But I thought people might want to know how accurate the video was.
Sometimes, reading comments on places like YouTube makes me despair at the future of our species.
The bit with the salt at the end was hilarious - it's really an evil spirits protection offering of sorts.
Ah, thank you for the clarification about the salt... I did not know the story behind that (I've never seen it here; maybe the sushi places are too Westernized).