After looking around Karatsu Castle,
I came down and walked along the stone wall path (石垣の道),
heading toward the former Takatori residence (旧高取邸).
I thought there would be places to eat over there.
But I couldn’t find anywhere suitable for a meal.
So I had no choice but to change the plan.
I decided to go down toward the Takashima ferry terminal,
have lunch there,
and visit Takashima (高島) first.
On the way to the terminal,
I came across Yagura Sushi.
It’s close to the terminal,
and it felt like a good idea to have a light sushi lunch for a change.
Inside, there’s a kitchen and counter seating,
with rooms further in.
It was a bit late for lunch, past 1 p.m.,
but the owner was continuously making sushi for delivery.
While looking at the menu,
I chose the Jo Nigiri (上にぎり), a set of nine pieces.
The top-tier option felt too expensive,
and judging from the ingredients on display,
I thought going too cheap might mean getting things like salmon or octopus,
which I don’t really like.
If I was going to eat,
I wanted something made with proper ingredients.
He told me it would take some time
since he was working on other orders.
I was in a hurry
because I had to catch a ferry to Takashima,
but I decided to wait.
After about 20 minutes,
he finally started preparing the sushi.
The first three pieces were madai (red sea bream),
aori ika (bigfin reef squid),
and honmaguro akami (lean bluefin tuna).
Next came gunkan maki
topped with uni (sea urchin)
and ikura (salmon roe).
The speed at which the owner makes sushi is very fast.
It doesn’t feel rushed or careless,
but rather the speed of someone highly experienced.
The toppings are fresh and the flavors are clean.
Not particularly special,
but also nothing rough or off.
Including the anago yaki (grilled conger eel),
which I didn’t manage to photograph,
it was a total of nine pieces.
Perhaps because the place was busy,
the clear sea bream soup came out a bit late.
The kuruma ebi (Japanese tiger prawn)
was especially firm and delicious.
The anago yaki was so soft
it felt like it might fall apart,
which I liked.
The kanpachi (amberjack)
had a very large topping, which was impressive,
but it seemed overly aged,
lacking its usual crisp texture.
It was interesting that the final piece was menegi (芽ねぎ),
and it was my first time trying it.
That’s the ingredient that appeared in “Shota no Sushi,” right?
More precisely,
it’s the young shoots of green onion,
and as far as I know,
there isn’t a specific name for it in Korea.
In “Shota no Sushi,”
it was translated as “ssaknunpa.”
The topping on it
was probably powdered dried fish.
It had a crisp and refreshing taste,
which made it a nice finishing piece.
The wait for the sushi felt quite long,
but eating all nine pieces
was over in an instant.
The Jo Nigiri (上にぎり) set of nine pieces cost 2,750 yen,
so it wasn’t particularly expensive,
but not cheap either.
Still,
the taste and quality were satisfying.
To be honest,
I don’t eat much sushi when I travel in Japan.
There are plenty of good sushi places in Korea,
so I always thought
if I were to eat sushi in Japan, it should be at a high-end, well-known place
rather than an ordinary one.
But those places require reservations,
and that hassle usually keeps me from going.
But having a light lunch at a regular sushi place like this
turns out to be a pretty good choice.
The overall quality is solid.
Compared to Korea,
sushi at this kind of price range feels much better here.
Of course,
it makes sense
since this is where it originates.
In that sense,
it felt like a very “Japanese” kind of lunch.
I think I’ll try places like this more often next time.
Ah,
it’s almost time for the ferry.
Time to head to Takashima (高島)!
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