Sushi & Co.

If you ask anybody about the quintessential Japanese food, I bet you 9 out of 10 people would say it's sushi. They wouldn't be very wrong either, but, on the other hand, the Japanese cuisine is so much more than just sushi. Chicken skewers grilles over an open flame (Yakitori), vegetables dipped in batter and deep fried (Tempura), fatty pork, battered and fried and searved with raw cabbage, and the soups, oh, the soups. There is so much more, really, and it's not all fish.

On my trip to Japan over the last two weeks I had all kinds of food and all of it very Japanese and all of it very good.

Only in Japan, though, I think it was possible to invent something that is a combination of food, technology and entertainment and that's conveyor belt sushi. We went to one restaurant last week and it was great fun (and it was tasty too)

We were sat at a bar and in front of us dozens of different kinds of sushi passed by on a conveyor belt. All you have to do is to take a plate from the converyor belt and enjoy.

Also, in front of you is a computer screen where you can order special kinds of sushi, or soup or deserts. Once you have placed the order a little train drives up on a track above the conveyor belt to where you're sitting with your order. After you take your plates you push another button and the train rushes back into the kitchen ready for the next order.

Once you're done eating, a waitress comes by, counts the stack of plates you have in front of you and all that's left to do is to pay. With a measly 100 yen per plate, it is an actually relatively cheap enjoyment.