sushi zen

We've walked past the billboard for Sushi Zen many many times.

Their lunch special is a kaisen don (seafood bowl) and tonjiru (pork soup)...900 yen (tax included). The lunch special is only served Tuesday to Saturday.

Yesterday, since Satoshi took the day off for his birthday, we finally went to check it out.

First off, they bring out a HUGE cup of tea. The cup was about 5 inches tall (maybe taller?!).

We put a chopstick next to it for scale...

Apparently during the Edo period, since most used their fingers instead of chopsticks, these large cups of tea were served as a type of "finger bowl" for the customers who ate sushi.

The noren (curtain) you see in front of the shops, were also apparently used as a "napkin" for customers to wipe their hands on as they left the shop.

Pretty gross yet interesting, yeah?!

Anyway, the food takes awhile to come out because the owner slices the fish after you order.

I think there were at least 8 different toppings on the seafood bowl. The tonjiru had lots of daikon in it.

You can order other items during lunch, but it seemed like this special was the best buy.

I don't know that we'll be back for sushi, but I am glad we tried their lunch special.

Sushi Zen
2-7-16 Iguchido
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.762.6570
Hours: 11:30-22:00
Closed Mondays and the 3rd Tuesday of the month