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Written from behind the counter

Why the iron plate makes a difference to bonito. How to read a sake list without reading all sixteen labels. What actually changes when fish comes straight from the port. These are the things we get asked across the counter, written down. Where we are not sure, we say so.

Three subjects, roughly. First, the fish: what actually changes when it comes straight from Tsuruga or Tosa-Saga instead of through a market, and why that shows up in sashimi before anything else. Second, the fire: the iron plate comes up hot and fast, which is why the surface of a bonito chars while the inside stays raw — and why we salt it rather than dress it. Third, the sake: sixteen labels is too many to read standing up, so we write about how to narrow it down by what you are eating rather than by the name on the bottle. These are the questions we actually get asked across the counter, written down afterwards. Where we are not sure, we say we are not sure.

Articles will appear here once they are published.

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Reading is one thing; the fire is another

The iron plate is hot from the moment we open — 17:00 on weekdays, 13:00 at weekends and on public holidays and on public holidays, 15:00 on the second Sunday of the month. Two minutes from the east exit of JR Kusatsu Station.

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