Sushi firsts

Last night we sampled Shimojo village - a nice, long soak in the onsen overlooking the valley and mountains, then to a rather exquisite sushi restaurant, tucked away from the main road.

We sat ourselves down at the bar, ordered, and watched the chef do his thing. He later told us from all the different places the various sushi came from, although my memory isn't good enough to remember.

Most will know I'm not a big fan of squid, so when the first piece was served I was a little upset to find my delicious bed of rice topped with the fattest and whitest chunk of squid I've ever seen on sushi. I reminded myself just how much this was costing me and down the hatch it went. I have to say though, it was quite nice, not unpleasant at all.

A first for me was salmon eggs. These small orange eggs burst in your mouth when you eat them - quite a sensation. I also tried flying fish eggs too. These are about 6mm in diameter and perhaps a dozen or so are sat on rice and wrapped in seaweed. Again different, but not unpleasant at all. When crunched they have a creamy sort of texture.

Sea urchin was an interesting one. If I had to try and describe how it looks I would say like a thick orange paste, pitted (not unlike an orange skin). The taste is also difficult to describe, as to label it just 'fishy' does it an injustice, but neverthless it does have a salty/sea twang to it.

All this washed down with the tastiest iced green tea, then hot green tea. The price is a little steep for Japan, but about what you'd pay for a lobster dish at a family restaurant in the UK. Well worth it, and we'll definately be going back.


Fat and content.