Standing Sushi Bar @ Shinjuku, Tokyo

It was only towards the end of my stay in Tokyo that I realized there was a cluster of Japanese eateries located in Shinjuku West. Just take the JR West exit to Keio shopping mall, hit the street level and across the road is this Electric street area dominated by a huge Yodobashi (an electronics retailer). Wander around the area and you will realize there are many eateries set up here to cater to the people working in the nearby office towers.

Decided to satisfy my sushi cravings at this Standing Sushi Bar outlet. I noticed this chain restaurant has quite a number of outlets around Tokyo and the set menus vary with each outlet. For this particular outlet, they were serving lunch set menus: 580 yen for 8 piece sushi, 1 seaweed roll and miso soup, 980 yen for 12 piece sushi and miso soup  and a premium set costing 1280 yen for 10 piece premium sushi and miso soup. I took the cheapest set menu, then hopped over to the next door udon shop for seconds. =)

As the name of the restaurant implies- you have to STAND while eating your sushi. The place is really small and cramped, enough to squeeze perhaps 15 standing diners around the mini sushi bar. You are literally rubbing shoulders with the diner next to you, but for good sushi, who cares? It was a really new experience for me! You are really close to the sushi chef, just separated by a piece of wood and the glass enclosure for fresh fish, so you can observe the chef preparing sushi. The turnover is quite fast too, so you are expected to finish up your meal fast and leave to allow new customers in.

Sushi chef blowtorches a fresh slab of sashimi, presumably to be used for one of their seared sushi items. WOAH.

Here are the 7 out of the 8 piece sushi promised by the set. For 580 yen, it's a steal! (It includes another seaweed roll and miso soup, not pictured). The sushi served here is decent and fresh. This has got to be my most bang per buck lunch meal in Tokyo. I took a look at their regular menu and a normal two piece ala carte sushi item will set you back by at least 200 yen. And if you notice, the variety of sushi in this set isn't too bad either- it comes with a variety of fish (tuna, salmon, snapper), squid, prawn and even a piece of tamago (although I rather they replaced it with another sushi hehe).