er...
I happen to like eating VERY much.
There. Fixed that.
Anyway, fortunately for me and my well earned spot on the food chain, Japan is awash in 'eatable' things. And...most wonderful of these things in my eyes happens to be a delightfully vegan-innapropriate dish callled sushi. If you aren't a sushi fan already, I admit that the concept of eating raw or mostly raw fish is a strange one at first.
Allow me to present a simple analogy to convince you to join the side of truth and flavour:
If you order a very expensive steak, would you order it well done?
I thought not. And...if you said "yes" or "maybe"... then you need to re-examine your life.
Anyway, much like keeping the centre of a steak pink (bloody) means better flavour, the same is true for eating fish. Eating fish raw is just taking that rationalle to the nth degree.
In any case, recently, I had the pleasure of enjoying the greatest sushi in the world.
I know that this is a bold claim, and I still have much exploration to do... but... let me put things in perspective: I paid 400 yen for a single piece of tuna, and felt that I got my money's worth. Every single yen. And I'm going back.
This is a picture of the "basic" tuna nigiri, with a crab nigiri on the same plate. In the background, you can see a combo of fish that have been quickly seared with a blowtorch. This seems a bit strange for a place that specializes in NOT cooking its fish, but searing the fat for a second reallllly brings out the flavour.
YUM.
Tokyoites: The place is called Midori Zushi, and its in on the west side of Tokyo.
From Shinjuku, take the Odakyu line to Umegaoka. Take the north exit (ironically, with the McDonalds Sign), hang a left, then veer off to the right when the street splits. Walk a few minutes down the street until you see the line of hungry people wrapped around the building. Get in the line. Expect to wait between 15 and 30 minutes or so, and expect the place to be worth every minute.
For Baka Gaijin: Go to Umegaoka. Start harassing fearful locals with "SUE ME MASS SEN!!! Midori Zushi wa DO-KO dessss kahh?" until someone points you to the big line. Wait in it. Eat. Smile. Pay. "SUE ME MASS SEN!!!" your way back to the station.
Overall, the price is actually quite reasonable for what you get. I dropped about 3000 overall...but you could easily stay under that or go WAY over, depending on what you eat. For example, eating lots of the "Ultimate Fatty Tuna" will tip your bill northward.
For non-tokyoites:
Well, visit me. Or drool at the picture.
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Brent's handy "difficult english explanation section:
the nth degree. : from math. To the maximum/to go on forever.
awash: "swimming in" ... To be awash in money = to have lots of money.
eatable: I'm making your life difficult again - this isn't really a word. In this case, it means "things you can eat". Adding -able to a verb means "you can do this"... eg "machine washable" clothing can be washed in a machine. Or... "Convertable" Convert - to change. Thus, the car that changes from having a roof to not having a roof; A Convertable.
The correct word is actually "edible".
tip your bill northward: Tip - make it lean towards. North - up. So, push your bill up. ---> make it more expensive.
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