When I was in Japan, I had not only one of the best sushi experiences of my life at Sushi Dai but also one of the best meals of my life. However, living in Japan can get quite expensive and spending $40 each day for lunch can add up real quick. Sometimes, you have to get a bit more frugal when it comes to food. Of course, being an internationally renowned city for food, it isn’t difficult to find really good food at a reasonable price in Tokyo. You can usually find a bento lunch for about $6-7. You can also go for cheap sushi, which you can find just about anywhere. Most of these places obviously won’t compare to the level of freshness and quality as a place like Sushi Dai but heck, it’s still rather good…and compared to some of the junk we eat here on this side of the pond, it’s amazing.
Most sushi restaurants in Japan have a number of chefs behind a counter constantly pumping out nigri and placing the plates on conveyor belts. Customers can choose exactly what they want and the amount they pay is usually dependent on the color of the plate. Of course, if you don’t see what you want rotating around, you can always order directly from one of the chefs behind the counter. Most dishes only contain two pieces so your stack of plates can grow rather quickly!
I was recently reminded of these places when I found this video the other day of a traveler that put their digital camera on the conveyor belt and had it make a video. Very cool…wish I thought of that.