Sushi Story - Choushimaru

A little different approach here in the blog, regular readers or those who know me personally would know that I love food a lot. Ever since I came to Japan my appetite and appreciation for sushi is growing stronger the more I have it lol.

The shop of interest this time is a sushi chain shop reachable by food from my place, called "Choushimaru" (すし銚子丸) [link].  I believe the name is taken from the city of Choshi at Chiba prefecture. This isn't the first time I feature the shop on this blog, as you can read here from the previous post.

The most recent trip to the shop was on Wednesday evening, after I've decided to sacrifice the lovely weather staying in the library to sort out some notes. Besides I didn't had proper lunch so heck, why not hit a better meal at the end of the day? One of the motivation is to try out the new monthly menu they just launched on that day.

Service in the shop is as usual, top notch from what you can expect from a Japanese restaurant. Am lucky that the one who's behind the sushi bar is the head chef, Mr Maeda. Kinda spoilt to be served by the top man heh.

蛍イカ (Hotaru Ika) Firefly squid
A seasonal dish as an appetizer while waiting for the main course.
Am a fan of squid and they managed to make it very nice. Only noticed this nifty squid this year though. It's said that this squid is bioluminescence as it glows in the dark in nice neon blue colour.


Let me introduce, the set of the day!

A long list of seafood here:
いくら (Ikura) Salmon roe
たい (Tai) Snapper
まぐろ赤身 (Maguro Akami) Tuna's lean meat
サーモンSalmon
赤えび (Aka Ebi) Red shrimp
あじ (Aji) Jack mackerel
はまち (Hamachi) Yellowtail
かつお (Katsuo) Skipjack tuna

To gather some of the best stuffs in the shop into a feast like this, heavenly!! Price wise luckily it still maintain under 1000 yen mark, which is quite awesome.

Surely you might thought that'll be the end eh? No!! When hunger struck, there's no stopping until the stomach is satisfied with the quantity and quality of the food.

うに (Uni) Sea urchin
Normally I wouldn't order this but since they're having promotion so decided to have it a try.
It was a winning gamble as the sea urchin is fresh and taste very good. Japanese love this.
Take note that unfresh uni can be a horrible experience though.


特選穴子 (Tokusen Anago) Special seawater eel.
This is how Anago is normally prepared, grilled and topped with the distinctive sweet sauce, just like it's freshwater sibling, Unagi.


穴子白焼き (Anago Shirayaki) White grill seawater eel.
First time seeing this on the menu, decided to order it.
Instead of topping with the usual sweet sauce, grilling the eel this way does help to maintain the fish's original taste.


ホタテ (Hotate) Scallop.
My all-time-favourite scallop sushi!
I requested one to be left alone as usual and another one pan-seared with salt. Highly recommend to try scallop as the it doesn't have the taste that might drive first-timers away.


えんがわ西京炙り (Engawa Saikyo Aburi)
Halibut/Flounder's muscle or something, considered one of the delicacies of sushi. This is prepared slightly pan-seared with cheese(?). Absolutely love it!


ねぎとろ納豆 (Negitoro Natto) Diced tuna and fermented soybean.
I love both ingredients but this time is my first time eating both at the same time lol. Due to natto's distinctive characteristics best to have it as the final plate before signing off.


Overall, a very satisfying meal, but due to my wallet's limit I have to stop before the stomach is fully filled. Well, a good start in this new sushi entry I believe. Rest can be assured, that this will not be the last sushi-related post!! :D