Fish delights...

My little bro Rose hates fish. He generally won’t eat it. It’s think it’s because he loves his live fish so dearly. Every time one dies, he’s upset. He’s got lots of them, but the only one I can remember is his little lobster (which, true, isn’t even a fish).

I, on the other hand, love to eat all the little fishies! I guess I can’t really comprehend how one can get attached to a pet fish. Dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, and even iguanas I can understand having attachments with. I’ve never gotten attached to a pet fish—even at age 10 when I was flushing down the goldfish (who had survived 3 months of my caretaking) I’d won at the country fair. Call me cold-hearted and without feeling for those scaled and gilled creatures, but to me, it’s still a darn fish whom you can’t:

a) pet and shower affection (unless someone has developed a new breed)
b) play fetch with
c) scratch their belly or play with their ears
d) teach silly tricks like “roll over”
or
e) train them to say cool stuff like “hey fatso, you really want to eat that 2nd piece of cake?”

But fish is yummy and when it’s fresh, it’s just sublime. And there is no place better in the world to have fish than in Japan. Granted you pay through the nose for it, but R.X. and I wanted at least one meal of delicious fresh sushi. On our last night in Kyoto we decided to go to back to the top floor of the department store near our hotel where we had had our green tea shaved ice the night before (and which I will post about soon). We had seen one of those sushi belt restaurants next door. We picked out quite a few things from the belt, but also choose some sushi from a menu list the waitress handed us.

The freshness of the fish was so evident in every bite I had. Unlike in the US, where almost every fish is frozen before being thawed and then served—this is due to USFDA regulations—these slices of tuna, salmon and white fish were smooth, silky and fresh, fresh, fresh. I would bite into each one and let it sit in my mouth for just a second or two more than I normally would to enjoy the fish just bit longer.

There was a Japanese lady of a certain age sitting next to me who pointed to a few things on the belt that we should try. I tried some eel as well as some fatty tuna. It was all so delicious and fresh that I was actually stuffed for the first time during my trip to Japan (portion sizes are particularly tiny in Japan and I think I was hungry most of the time I was there).

I can only try to imagine what fish at the top restaurants in Japan must be like if the sushi at this “belt” restaurant was this good. I suppose I can only hope to one day return to Japan and be able to afford a really indulgent meal of fresh fish. For now though, it’ll just be in my fishy dreams.