All aboard the Sushi Train!

Japanese food is one of my favorite cuisines, if not my most favorite. Although New York City has tons of Japanese restaurants offering sushi, yakitori, ramen, and even curry, I haven't really found one that offers conveyor belt sushi.

There are probably a few places out there that I'm not aware of, but they're far from being ubiquitous, unlike in say, Australia, where the conveyor belt sushi ("Oh, the sushi trains!", exclaimed my Aussie friend) places are everywhere, usually operated by proprietors of Japanese descent. Great for them, but why not NYC? Isn't that strange?

Sushi Train video

If you've never heard of conveyor belt sushi, that's exactly what it is. The sushi plates are placed on a rotating belt that moves around the sushi bar, with prices varying according to the color of the plate. As the plate that catches your fancy passes by, simply reach out and grab it from the belt. Your bill will be tallied up after wards according to the number and color of plates you have consumed.

Fortunately, my vacation in Japan gave me a couple of opportunities to hop aboard the sushi trains, so to speak. Not that I made it a point to do any research on kaiten sushi places, but rather stumbled upon them while sightseeing - one in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and the other in downtown Kyoto.

During my initial conveyor belt sushi experience, it took me a few moments after sitting down at the counter to figure things out, like where the tea cups were and how to get water from the nearby spigot. Everything is truly self-service, although the staff is happy to assist if you wish to ask the chef for a custom order.

Watching the sushi rolling merrily along the train tracks proved quite entertaining, though the signs puzzled me since I don't speak any Japanese. Sushi plate prices are clearly indicated on a chart and start at around $1.50 for two pieces of fish (e.g. tuna, salmon), and increase for more special items (e.g. eel).

Sushi Train video

I found the conveyor belt sushi dishes to be quite fresh and delicious, contrary to some people's dismissive attitude towards kaiten sushi places as being "fast food sushi". Since they're part and parcel of Japanese culture, some of the world's most meticulous consumers, I wasn't surprised about the high quality standards though.

On each occasion, empty plates 8 or 9 deep were stacked up in front of me at the end of the meal. The self-service aspect also meant lunch took less than half an hour, leaving more time for on-a-full-stomach post-meal contemplation: why aren't conveyor belt sushi restaurants more common in New York City (or the USA in general)?

A Photo Walking Tour of Boston's Back Bay

As we crossed the street into Boston's Copley Place, I spotted Saba, proprietress and tour leader for Boston's PhotoWalks, standing beside Science along with two other participants in today's photo walking tour of the Back Bay neighborhood.

Such was our delight at the historical facts and better photography tips we learned during yesterday's Beacon Hill walking tour that we mustered the enthusiasm to embark on another photo walk, despite today's frigid temps and howling winds. Disconcertingly enough, the staff at our hotel shrugged off the abysmal weather as being "normal" for this time of year. Oh well, we decided to just pile on the layers and soldier on.

After exchanging introductions with the two women who braved the conditions, Saba started off the photo walking tour by telling us about the two statues guarding the entrance to Boston's public library - Science (the appointed meeting spot) and Art. Again, she demonstrated various creative ways of composing our photos and suggested different angles to shoot them from. One of my favorite pics is the one above - taken behind the statue of Science facing out to Copley Square, with the John Hancock tower in the background.

We crossed over to Copley Square for photos of John Copley's statue, Trinity Church's reflection on the John Hancock tower, and a few from inside the church which provided a brief refuge from the cold. Afterwards, though a bit reluctant to leave the warm surroundings, it was time for more photos!

A short walk led us to the heart of the Back Bay neighborhood, Commonwealth Avenue, with its numerous statues situated on the grassy mall bisecting the wide boulevard. I couldn't help but notice the contrast between the two neighborhoods that we took photo walking tours in - the narrow, cobblestone, gas-lit bucolic alleys of Beacon Hill versus the wide streets of Back Bay lined with numerous upscale restaurants and shops - a rough comparison in New York City would be the West Village vs. the Upper East Side, I thought.

Easily my favorite set of statues were the bronze trio which composed the Boston Women's Memorial, all of whom were known for their writing (among other things, of course). They provided excellent opportunities for some extreme close up pictures (including a quill pen and hair bun) that Saba suggested which turned out quite well and are included in the complete set of photos here.



After the walking tour finished, we strolled over to the nearby Christian Science center to view its massive reflecting pool. Unfortunately, the pool turned out to be emptied of its contents during the winter months, so instead we just took photos of the surrounding Prudential Tower complex. As we passed a nearby solar powered garbage compactor, I noticed the solar panels atop the brown receptacle and my newly-developed instinct for sniffing out unique photo angles kicked in and voila! - a magnificent shot of the towers' reflection, wouldn't you say?

Check out the complete photo album from the Back Bay photo walk.

More posts from Boston here.