Sushi Restaurants in Japan - How to Eat?

Do you know what sushi restaurants are like in Japan? Do you know the correct way to eat sushi? Are you planning to travel to Japan and don't want to embarrass yourself? In this article, we will talk about sushi restaurants and the correct way to eat at them.

Restaurants specializing in sushi are called Sushi ya. In most of these restaurants, you sit behind a counter and watch the sushi chef prepare your dish. There are many differences between restaurants in Japan and Brazil.

In Japan sushi is much cheaper, but it can also fetch a fortune. All this will depend on the place, the fish and the sushi chef. Usually TV reports generalize showing absurd prices of fine and expensive restaurants.

- Differences between sushi restaurants in Japan and Brazil 

We also recommend watching our short video about the different types of sushi:

Differences between Japanese and Brazilian sushi restaurants

Do you know the differences between sushi restaurants in Japan and sushi restaurants in Brazil? Well, many differences will be mentioned in the other subheadings of the article, but we can say that there are many differences, starting with the taste.

The quality of the sushi rice grain used in Japan is much superior compared to Brazil, which is usually made to fill the belly and eat less. Japanese ingredients and types of fish make Japan's sushi menu much richer.

Brazil also has its unique sushi. In Japan it is not common to throw strawberry and passion fruit full of cream cheese in sushi. not even the Hot Rolls are common in Japan, since discarded fish cuts are made in Brazil.

Still, there are thousands of different varieties of sushi in Japan that introduce you to a whole new world. Usually in a Japanese sushi restaurant, they also consume other dishes as a misoshiro.

Sushi restaurants in Japan - how to eat?

Kaiten-Zushi - Mat restaurant

The most common and cheapest sushi restaurants in Japan are called Kaiten-zushi [回転寿司], where you find a mat where the sushi plates walk, then you choose the one you like and take the plate to your table.

If you want to place an order, you will probably be given a screen to choose your sushi. Kaiten-zushi is an inexpensive restaurant, with prices usually ranging from 100 to 300 yen per plate. The types and colors of the plates determine the price of the sushi.

The video below from our daily Japan channel shows a little bit of the Kaiten-Zushi restaurant.

How to eat sushi in Japan?

At the restaurant the waiter will bring you a hot towel called Oshibori. You should use it to clean your hands and face and then you can put it on the table without bending it. Sushi is made to be eaten by hand and all in one bite.

It is very normal and even beautiful to use chopsticks to eat sushi, but generally the Nigiri sushi and Temaki are eaten by hand, to prevent them from being torn apart. If you are going to eat with chopsticks, remember the chopstick etiquette rules.

Normally the restaurant will offer green tea; you can also order a drink. When dipping the sushi in soy sauce, remember that the important thing is to moisten the fish and not the rice; avoid using too much soy sauce, or it will seem that the sushi only tastes good with soy sauce.

Sushi restaurants in Japan - how to eat?

The article is still halfway through, but we recommend also reading:

The best sushi restaurants in Japan

There are thousands of sushi restaurants in Japan, if you want to see the best and most famous in Tokyo, let's leave a ranked list below. Use your Google Maps to do a search, it may be that some have restaurants in cities other than Tokyo.

  1. Sushiryori Inose
  2. Yoshitake Sushi
  3. Uobei Shibuya Dogenzaka
  4. Ginza Seamon
  5. Sushi Bar Yasuda
  6. Katsu Midori SeibuShibuya
  7. Kyubey Ginza Main Store
  8. Sushizanmai Honjin
  9. ITAMAE SUSHI
  10. Sushizanmai Tsukijiekimae-ten
  11. Umegaoka sushi at Midori Sohonten Shibuya
  12. Atelier Morimoto XEX
  13. Umegaoka Sushino Midori Ginza
  14. Umegaoka Sushi at Midori Akasaka-branch
  15. Mawashizushi Katsu Midori, Meguro
  16. Nobu Tokyo
  17. Tachiguimidori, Echika Ikebukuro
  18. Tokyo Otsuka Norengai Uozushi
  19. sushi
  20. Himawari Zushi Shintoshin
  21. Sushizanmai Honten
  22. "A standing sushi bar located in the Shibuya Center Gai, renowned as one of Japan's best"
  23. Nemuiro Hanamaru, Kitte Marunouchi
  24. Sushizanmai Yurakucho
  25. Kura Sushi Shinagawa Station Square
  26. Genki Sushi, Shibuya
  27. Toriton Tokyo Solamachi
  28. Tsukiji Kiyomura Sushi-Zanmai Higashi Shinjuku
  29. Shinjuku Makoto
  30. Mawashizushi Katsu Midori by Ikebukuro Seibu

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