Jan 11th, 2009 at 4:00PM: This past week, two Tokyo restaurants shared the $104,800 tab on a 128 kg (282 lb.) bluefin tuna. If that sounds like a lot, the restaurant actually paid 9.63 million yen-same amount of money, just sounds like more. Okay, if you're impressed by the sheer cost of this fish, it set the buyer back more than $372 per pound. Of course, it's probably worth it. Wall Street Journal reporter Yumiko Ono ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
sushi posts
Spend a lot to taste a little: the $100,000 tuna
Jan 11th, 2009 at 4:00PM: This past week, two Tokyo restaurants shared the $104,800 tab on a 128 kg (282 lb.) bluefin tuna. If that sounds like a lot, the restaurant actually paid 9.63 million yen-same amount of money, just sounds like more. Okay, if you're impressed by the sheer cost of this fish, it set the buyer back more than $372 per pound. Of course, it's probably worth it. Wall Street Journal reporter Yumiko Ono ...Eating your way through Japan - a photo gallery
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:30AM: The phrase "Japanese food" has a fairly standard meaning in the United States, conjuring images of sushi, instant noodles, seafood and teriyaki chicken. But as I discovered during my recent trip to Japan, the cuisine is far more diverse, delicious and surprising than I could have ever imagined. Over the course of his trip, this intrepid Gadling blogger left no culinary stone unturned and no meal ...Big in Japan: Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo's top tourist attraction, is limiting access
Apr 5th, 2008 at 10:00AM: No trip to Tokyo is complete without a visit to Tsukiji Market (????, Tsukiji shij?), the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. According to estimates, over 2000 tons of fish worth over US$15 million are sold here daily - that's a total of 616,000 tons of fish worth over US$4.25 billion each year! If it comes from the ocean, then chance are that you'll find in at the Central Fish ...Big in Japan: Israel crippled by spring roll strike
Feb 26th, 2008 at 10:00AM: If you turn on the news these days, it seems that just about every other story is about war, violence and suffering in the Middle East.
And of course, at the center of most of these news items is the Holy Land of Israel, the powder keg of religious tensions that the whole world is scrapping to control.
But in the hopes of kicking off your week on a decidedly more optimistic note, I've stumbled ...Relax, sushi lovers in Japan respond
Jan 25th, 2008 at 4:33PM: Crazy Americans! You almost hear the dinner conversations in Japan right about now. Just as New Yorkers are "worried" to "panicked" about toxic levels of mercury found in several sushi restaurants in New York, the Japanese are not worried. ..just like every Japanese woman is perfectly OK eating sushi while pregnant.
The Mercury News (what a perfect name for a newspaper to cover this story) ...Curb your sushi cravings, New York
Jan 24th, 2008 at 1:30PM: Well, just a few days ago I told you about how good New York Restaurant Week was. Not sure if the sushi places around New York feel the same way this time. After today's front-page New York Times expose about high mercury levels in at least twenty New York sushi places, I think people will be skeptical about eating Japanese food for a while. The good news is -- reservations should be easier to ...Big in Japan: The world's most expensive tuna fish
Jan 14th, 2008 at 1:30PM: Are you ready for this one?
Last week in Tokyo, a Hong Kong sushi restaurant owner paid a record $55,700 for a single bluefin tuna.
(In case you're wondering, that's somewhere around 6.1 million yen!!)
The record breaking fish, which was caught off the coast of Japan's northern city of Aomori, tipped the scales at 607 pounds (about $92 per pound of flesh).
The sale took place at the first ...The most expensive delicacies in Moscow and where to find them
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Jan 9th, 2008 at 11:00AM: At some point over the last decade, Moscow magically transformed from a city of terrible restaurants and horrific food to a gourmet capital rivaling Paris and New York for pure culinary opulence and high-end extravagance. In fact, just over ten years ago, there were only one or two "ethnic" restaurant in the entire city. Today, every food imaginable is served here, including some of the most ...Michelin's star: Tokyo
Nov 20th, 2007 at 4:49PM: Yet another reason why I must plan a trip to Japan soon: Michelin Stars are scattered throughout the world, but they tend to be concentrated in the Western world. So it's interesting that this time around, the place with the most stars is Tokyo. A number of Tokyo eateries have snagged the top Michelin rating -- three stars. And while a number of the restaurants that made the list serve French ...Big in Japan: Tuna fish will soon be extinct
Oct 24th, 2007 at 10:00AM: Bluefin tuna are amazing creatures.
First of all, they're freakin' huge - a prize-catch can weigh nearly a ton, and stretch to nearly 10 feet.
Like human beings, they're also warm-blooded, which allows them to live everywhere from the tropics to the poles.
They can also accelerate as fast as a sports car.
As any Japanese person can tell you, they're also the centerpiece of the Japanese diet. ...Big in Japan: What Exactly is Wasabi?
Oct 16th, 2007 at 9:30AM: Did you ever wonder what exactly that green stuff is that you smear on your sushi?
I mean, we all know that wasabi (わさび, 山葵) burns like a hell-spawned wildfire, and clears the sinuses with a fiery vengeance. But, where does it actually come from, and how can something so seemingly innocent be so unbelievably potent?
For starters, the best wasabi comes from Japan (no surprise there), ...Bluefin Tuna Fishing Banned in Europe
Sep 19th, 2007 at 4:40PM: Blame sushi! The 2007 quota of nearly 17,000 tonnes of bluefin tuna has already been exhausted for this year, forcing the European commission to impose a ban on bluefin tuna fishing in Europe, specifically in Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain for the rest of the year. Italy and France closed their own fisheries in July and August.
Experts say that the rising popularity of sushi is to be ...Blowfish sold as salmon kills 15, sickens over a hundred
Aug 23rd, 2007 at 4:30PM: As a frightening aside to my Big in Japan column on the subtle art of eating blowfish, MSNBC reported today that over the last three years, fugu meat that has been passed off as salmon in Thai markets has resulted in 15 deaths and over a hundred cases of food-poisoning.
As a result of a nationwide ban in Thailand on the selling of blowfish meat, some rather unscrupulous fishermen have taken to the ...Big in Japan: The Subtle Art of Eating Blowfish (Part III)
Aug 23rd, 2007 at 11:20AM: This is the third and final installment in a three-part series on the subtle art of eating blowfish. If you're new to the feature column 'Big in Japan,' be sure to check out Part I and Part II before reading below.
Still hungry for blowfish? Thought you might be.
Much like choosing a good pizza joint or a romantic spot to sip a cocktail, your fugu experience can vary depending on the restaurant. ...Big in Japan: The Subtle Art of Eating Blowfish (Part II)
Aug 22nd, 2007 at 2:00PM: This is a continuation of yesterday's column on the Subtle Art of Eating Blowfish, and the second installment in a three-part series.
The best time to eat fugu is in the winter, when blowfish pack on the pounds to beat the chill. Needless to say, this is also when the toxicity of the blowfish reaches its peak.
Prices rise. Restaurants are packed. Emergency rooms are on stand-by.
Making sure you ...Big in Japan: The Subtle Art of Eating Blowfish
Aug 21st, 2007 at 11:00AM: In the 18th century, the famous Japanese poet Yosa no Buson expressed his love for eating blowfish in this simple but elegant haiku:
I cannot see her tonight. I have to give her up So I will eat fugu.
Like the great poets of old and new, Buson is no different in that he yearned for a woman that was not his love. However, in the great tradition of finding comfort in food, he instead turns to ...GADLING'S TAKE FIVE: Week of April 8
Apr 13th, 2007 at 11:53PM: It was an interesting week here at Gadling with two very notable moments here. First we reached our 10,000th post! (Come one everyone - Golf claps, por favor!) Then there was our "Official Honoree" award in the 2007 Webby Awards, but most importantly it was a week filled with fun, informative and interesting travel related posts. Let's look back at a few you may have missed. 5. Pocketed Security ...The Japanese Tradition of Sushi Eating
Mar 7th, 2007 at 10:22AM: While you're in Japan watching fatties bump bellies, be sure to stop at a "sushi-ya" and eat some hand-rolled heaven. Don't know all the tricks to eating sushi? Check out this excellent, informative, and completely serious clip about how to eat it the right way! Among the important topics covered in the video are:
How to pass though a "noren."
How to request a table for one ...
Would You Like Polonium With That?
Dec 24th, 2006 at 8:11AM: While the popular sushi restaurant chain Itsu, famous for the recent poisoning incident involving a "Russian spy" Litvinenko, is hurting in London, the new branch that just opened downtown New York is apparently doing quite well, according to a NY Sun article.
Does that mean Americans are getting immune to the different security threats out there? Or does that mean that sushi, not Starbucks, is ...Jasmine Lounge
Nov 29th, 2006 at 5:48AM: As some of you may remember I am on the road touring for HP. While I'm working very hard out here in the Northeast I'm making sure I grab every opportunity possible to stay far away from chain restaurants to try the local and new tasty flavors. I do this mainly because I love getting the word out on good food as well as bad food on menus less explored, but also because it gives something to serve ...
