Eat Local: Sushi in Arita, Kyushu, Japan

The exterior of the Sushi restaurant in Arita, Kyushu, Japan, where we had an excellent lunch; fortunately we had requested our local guide to make a reservation for us and she showed us where to walk to – otherwise, we wouldn’t have had a clue what was behind the screen and how good the luncheon would be!

We spent an entire day exploring Arita and the porcelains that have given the city its moniker as “the cradle of the Japanese porcelain industry”. For lunch, we asked our local guide to make a reservation at the city’s best sushi restaurant (a table for 8). Because there were too many of us to sit at the counter at the restaurant and order each piece of sushi directly with the sushi chef, we had a table in a side room that was made private by the placement of portable screens. As is customary in this case, with a larger group, we had a set lunch, which that was served to us as we arrived. Everything was extremely fresh and quite tasty. The staff spoke no English, so we were fortunate to have in our group the Australian art dealer, consultant, and lecturer who has lived in Japan for 30 years and is fluent in Japanese (his specialty is Japanese art, particularly ceramics) who is lecturing on the ship and was guiding us on this destination experience.

The sushi chef/owner of the sushi restaurant in Arita, Kyushu, Japan, was very happy that we thoroughly enjoyed our wonderful luncheon

Our starters included cuttlefish stuffed with its roe, soft tofu, and a Japanese salad at the Sushi restaurant in Arita, Kyushu, Japan; the fruit was a light dessert

In addition to a beautiful plate of freshly prepared sushi, we had a pot of Chawanmushi (steamed savory egg custard) and hot green tea, Sushi restaurant in Arita, Kyushu, Japan

Chawanmushi is a traditional Japanese appetizer made from steamed savory egg custard and full of fillings such as prawns, ginkgo nuts, kamaboko steamed fish cake, shiitake mushrooms, and spring onions. Chawanmushi is traditionally served in a small Japanese tea cup.
 

Shown here are the uni (a sea urchin’s gonads), sake (salmon), fatty tuna, maguro (tuna), cooked egg, prawn, himmachi, and roe pieces of sushi for our lunch at the Sushi restaurant in Arita, Kyushu, Japan