Sushi-go-round!

So I met up with Matt in Ueno and we headed to an amazing little conveyor belt sushi restaurant just across the street from the park. The name of the restaurant literally translates to "Original Sushi". My favorite part was that the subway was right above us and the lanterns and glasses would shake and wobble as the subway blazed overhead. Ueno kind of reminds me a bit of Brooklyn or Queens.




The most remarkable feature of conveyor belt sushi is the stream of plates winding through the restaurant. The bill is calculated by counting the number and type of plates of the consumed sushi. Plates with different colors, patterns, or shapes have different prices, usually ranging from 100 yen to 500 yen ($2-5 US). The cost of the different plates is shown on signboards or posters in the restaurant. In general, cheap items come on plain plates, and the level of plate decoration is related to the price.




Basically, I consumed about $50 worth of sushi for lunch. Matt helped me out somewhat but since this was my first time eating sushi in JAPAN, I fell in love with the silky deliciousness that is fresh sushi made and raised in the Sea of Japan. I don't think Matt realized how much sushi I could consume and I pretty much ate everything but crab paste (fish poop) that day. I had a bunch of plates of the nigiri-zushi (thin slices of fish, salmon, eel, toro (belly flesh of tuna), aji (scad), maguro (tuna), shimesaba (salted, vinegared mackerel), squid, kazunooko (salted herring roe), hotategai (scallop). I also had the crab soup, which was accented with the actual crab in the soup. I also enjoyed that the matcha tea powder was placed on the table and you can refill your teacup with hot water from the hot tea spout built into the table right in front of you.






After lunch, we needed to walk or I was going to turn into a sumo wrestler if I did not stop consuming more food. We walked all around Shinobazu-dori, Kototoi-dori, and Nakamachi-dori which is filled with open air markets selling fresh fish, fruits, vegetables, teas, and desserts. This district is an endless maze of cafes, bars and restaurants. It is a fantastic area and not super touristy.








Dessert. I love dessert. I don't really know what this is exactly but Matt explained to me that it is basically a sweet ball where you can add differnt toppings and fillings such as egg, fruit, fish, and fish flakes. I thought it was a christmas ornament. It just looks like a hot mess to me.




I opted for the pastry that is in the shape of a koi fish and is filled with sweet red bean paste. It was soooo delicious and was still nice and warm as I bit into it. Another wonderful thing about the open air markets is watching everything being made and prepared right in front of you.