I was extremely amused to note that in the glass doorway of this restaurant, there was a hand-written sign to the effect of "This is not a sushi bar! I do not have sushi boats!" Despite my sushi craving, I was deeply intrigued. Could it be that this little restaurant actually served honest-to-god traditional Japanese food?
Yes, indeed!
When the waitress came by to inform us of the specials, she asked if she should proceed in English or Japanese. We chose Japanese with English descriptions, and she began.
"Shiokara," she told us. We jumped, startled and delighted. Another establishment that made this fine fishy food? Excellent, we must have some. Two types of roasted mackerel. A special sardine-seaweed dish, usually reserved for special occasions only, like New Years. These we ordered with gurgling bellies and watering mouths, accompanied by miso soup (of course) and a sake flight (which was fabulous).
The chef was extremely personable, chatting us up in between preparing box sushi and various tasty things for the other guests. When he saw that we had demolished our shiokara, he came and scooped out another spoonful for our continued enjoyment. He told us stories about the salt, the fish, the customers, and his outlook on food.
Overall, the food was quite good. The people were very friendly. The waitress did manage to forget our tea once, and our rice altogether, but she's very nice if you politely remind her about it.
