sushi for lunch

I took myself out to lunch on Friday, to a popular sushi restaurant on the 13th floor of the Takashimaya department store in Shinjuku. Fortunately they had an English menu. I took notes.

Here's a partial list of the temaki (handroll) options:

Sweet Shrimp
Scallion and Mackerel
Fringe Around An Ark Shell (huh?) and cucumber
Fish Guts Pickled in Salt (yessiree)
Green Contents of a Crab's Head (I am not making this up)
Squid and Fermented Soybeans
Pickled Leaf Mustard and Cod Roe
Crab
Fatty tuna (a prized delicacy)
Sea urchin (I've tried this; Let's just say I'm not into the texture)
Yam

Sushi restaurants are not as ubiquitous as you might think here. It's the noodle shops that are everywhere, ramen, soba, udon, etc. Those are the cheap eats. Sushi is neither high-end or low; it's mid-range fare. Kaiten sushi, a.k.a. sushi-go-round (plates move along a conveyor belt and you take what you want as it rolls by) can be sort of fancy, I think, but I go to this place on Omotesando Street that is more like a diner, with quick turnover and counter seats with self-serve instant green tea (put a tiny spoonful of green powder in your mug, then fill it up at the nearest hot water spout). Click here to view a video I shot the last time I was there.

At the Takashimaya place, which was a bit more upscale (and pricier) than my usual kaiten-sushi joint, I ordered a California roll, which you don't see that often here, and instead of fake crab and avocado, it was made with raw salmon, cooked egg and cucumber. I also had a spicy tuna handroll (pictured above), and, as my adventurous pick of the day, "dried gourd strips," which I believe was cooked pumpkin. It was quite good, in fact, and not dry at all.