Presentation

In Japan, and increasingly abroad, conveyor belt sushi/sushi train (kaiten zushi) restaurants are a popular way to eat sushi. At these restaurants, the sushi is served on color-coded plates, each color denoting the cost of that piece of sushi. After finishing, the bill is tallied by counting how many plates of each color have been taken.

More traditionally, sushi is served on minimalist Japanese-style, geometric, wood or laquer plates which are mono- or duo-tone in colour, in keeping with the aesthetic qualities of this cuisine. Many small sushi restaurants actually use no plates — the sushi is eaten directly off of the wooden counter, usually with one’s hands.

Modern fusion presentation, particularly in the United States, has given sushi an European sensibility, taking Japanese minimalism and garnishing it with Western gestures such as the colorful arrangement of edible ingredients, the use of differently flavored sauces, and the mixing of foreign flavors, highly suggestive of French cuisine, deviating somewhat from the more traditional, austere style of Japanese sushi.

In Japan, and increasingly abroad, conveyor belt sushi/sushi train (kaiten zushi) restaurants are a popular way to eat sushi. At these restaurants, the sushi is served on color-coded plates, each color denoting the cost of that piece of sushi. After finishing, the bill is tallied by counting how many plates of each color have been taken.

More traditionally, sushi is served on minimalist Japanese-style, geometric, wood or laquer plates which are mono- or duo-tone in colour, in keeping with the aesthetic qualities of this cuisine. Many small sushi restaurants actually use no plates — the sushi is eaten directly off of the wooden counter, usually with one’s hands.

Modern fusion presentation, particularly in the United States, has given sushi an European sensibility, taking Japanese minimalism and garnishing it with Western gestures such as the colorful arrangement of edible ingredients, the use of differently flavored sauces, and the mixing of foreign flavors, highly suggestive of French cuisine, deviating somewhat from the more traditional, austere style of Japanese sushi.

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