Exploring Unique Sushi Restaurants
Sushi restaurants are everywhere and they operate with different styles that a sushi lover should try and enjoy to the fullest. There are many types of sushi restaurants but the most distinct ones today are the sushi bars and the conveyor belt restaurants or the kaiten-sushi which are also called sushi-go-round and sushi train.
The Sushi Bar
The sushi bar usually has a counter like most bars except that on the other side you find not a bartender but a sushi chef. Most sushi bars are part of a Japanese restaurant with a regular section from where you can actually order your sushi and be seated at a regular dining table. But if you want to see how your sushi is being prepared then the sushi bar is the place for you.
The sushi bar allows you some interaction with the chef which is an experience in itself but it also somewhat makes it incumbent on you to follow certain basic guidelines on sushi etiquette. When you sit at the counter, it is considered good manners to acknowledge the chef with a greeting. You don’t have to say anything in Japanese although that would be appreciated; you can just say good afternoon or good evening with a nod.
If you are sure of what you want, you can go ahead order it but if you are ready to be a little adventurous, tell the chef it is up to him. Oriental culture dictates that the chef is then expected to give his best.
If you are seated at the counter of a sushi bar, you are expected to pay close attention to the sushi as it is served. You are to eat each piece as it is released from the chef. In turn he is supposed to start on your next sushi the moment you put the available piece in your mouth. This guarantees that the sushi is eaten right after it is made.
When you get your sushi, you may dip it in soy sauce with wasabi if you like but make sure you do not soak your pieces and drown out their distinctive flavor. In the strictest sushi bars, indiscriminately dipping sushi in soy sauce and wasabi is frowned upon as uncouth but the practice is so widespread outside of Japan most chefs no longer take offense when it is done. Eat your sushi in one bite if it is possible. If not, hold it with your chopsticks and take the second bite as soon as you have swallowed the first.
The sushi bar is not the same as a regular bar where, as clichés would have it, customers either mostly chat to one another or pour out their broken hearts to the bartender. The sushi bar is all about enjoying sushi in a place where the chef is the authority and the customer is king.
The Kaiten-zushi
The kaiten-zushi is also called sushi-go-round or sushi train. Of all sushi restaurants, the kaiten-zushi is extremely extraordinary because of the conveyor belt which goes around the counter where customers are seated. The sushi on the belt comes in single servings and diners can just take a plate as it passes by. Aside from sushi, the conveyor belt also holds soda, drinks, fruit and dessert.
Sushi lovers who want to have sushi for lunch or dinner but do not have time to go to a restaurant will opt for a conveyor restaurant instead. This is also the more economical choice and although it is not fine dining, it has a charm all its own. The really good conveyor restaurants are those that are quite busy because the food on their conveyor belts is always fresh. Diners in a conveyor restaurant customarily stack the plates of the food they have consumed so that they can be billed. For this reason, even drinks come with a plate.
Both the sushi bar and the conveyor restaurant are places that will give you sushi under two extremely incomparable settings. Anyone who loves sushi should try them and enjoy them as a unique experience that adds to the enjoyment of sushi.
