A meal equal parts thrilling, delicious, and affordable.
Though they’re more casual and less expensive than their non-revolving counterparts, Japan’s conveyor belt sushi restaurants offer a tremendous variety of delicious fish, and not just basic varieties like tuna and salmon. For example, right now not one, but two of Japan’s most popular revolving sushi chains are offering fugu, Japan’s famous poisonous blowfish, and for the incredibly low price of just 100 yen (US$0.92) per piece!
We started our ultra-affordable fugu journey at a branch of revolving sushi chain Sushiro, which has recently added blowfish to its menu. Since fugu is usually a pricy delicacy, we expected the 100-yen slice of fish to be gossamer-thin, but thankfully that turned out to not be the case.
As a matter of fact, you actually get two slices of seared fugu pressed onto each block of rice, topped with a pinch of green onion and a citrusy thick ponzu sauce.
Because of that, there’s no need to dip the fugu in soy sauce, and so we grabbed a morsel with our chopsticks and popped it into our mouth as-is. Our taste buds were immediately rewarded, as the fugu is flavorful and moist, and cooked just enough to bring out more of its flavor without obscuring it with char or drying out the fish.
▼ At just 100 yen each, we could afford to make an entire meal out of just fugu.
Our next stop was one of Sushiro’s rival chains, Kurazushi (also known as Kura Sushi). In contrast to Sushiro’s limited-time fugu offer, blowfish is part of the permanent menu at Kurazushi, where it’s served raw.
Instead of ponzu, Kurazushi’s fugu is prepared in the kombujime style, with a bit of marinated seaweed atop the sliced fish.
While Kurazushi’s fugu isn’t quite as flavorful as Sushiro’s, both because it’s raw and has less powerful seasoning, it’s still a tasty treat, and arguably the better of the two if you want to experience the flavor of the fugu itself.
Sushiro’s fugu is currently only available at branches within Osaka, but Kurazushi’s is available at select locations nationwide. Either option is a great way to inexpensively figure out if fugu suits your palate/bravery level, and should you find you love it, you can then move on to Tokyo’s delicious fugu ramen or the canned fugu from Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Related: Sushiro location list, Kurazushi location list
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