Vegas: Sushi Twister

When it's time to #TREATYOSELF, to pick out one of your utmost favorite, most luxurious and decadent choices to eat, what would you choose? For me, there's no doubt I'd veer hard into the seafood section, especially towards things like sea urchin, sweet shrimp, salmon, and salmon roe. I'm a sucker for sushi, what can I say? I won't say it's the penultimately perfect food, though it's bite-size portions with their perfectly balanced balls of tender seasoned rice and meticulously sliced servings of succulent fish are definitely getting pretty close to what might entail perfection. Each bite of rich, creamy sea urchin gunkan (or battleship) style sushi floods your palette with that briny essence of the sea and deep umami flavor that makes sea urchin such a decisively loved or hated food for many, much like raw oysters who's texture and flavor I find absolutely enjoyable, despite their resemblance to some kind of awful lung-lump you might hock up during a particularly bad chest infection. Maybe I'm the weird one here, but Antho loves many of the same oddities I do, so perhaps they're not so odd after all.

If the gonads of sea urchin and roe of salmon are too freaky-deaky for you baby, you can always opt for the warm, flaky, oily goodness of grilled eel smothered in a sweet and sticky sauce that compliments its flavor. Not only is the eel cooked, for those who struggle to stick cold slices of raw fish into their maw, but it's also served warm fresh from the grill so it's extra-enjoyable! There's also a ton of different side dishes available, along with "hidden" extras like the fried sweet shrimp heads, which a chef may politely inquire about your interest in prior to dishing it up. I recommend the crispy little craniums, but I've also mowed them down in raw, living form while living in Korea, so it's safe to say I love all things shrimpy. What I'm trying to say here, though, is that Sushi Twister has long been a staple restaurant of mine for sushi in Vegas for a very good reason: their food is good, very good! And consistently, at that! That's a wonderful thing, because there aren't that many restaurants on this side of the Strip offering sushi, let alone quality sushi, so Sushi Twister is a unicorn of sorts. They were the first decent sushi restaurant I ever encountered this side of Eastern, and the chefs have always been extremely pleasant, or at least polite when I interacted with them. This place is a gem, and while I no longer reside within a reasonable distance to visit them, I hope they are able to prosper and dish up these delicious dishes for years to come!

Vegas: Dinner at Sushi Twister and love for a sick girl

Surf clam and octopus in the forefront here.

Sushi Twister has been our go-to All You Can Eat sushi restaurant in Las Vegas for years now. I've written several Yelp reviews on them over time and my opinion has changed with subsequent visits. My very first impression wasn't super positive as I felt they stuffed too much rice into their rolls, but since then the balance has been established and their rolls and nigiri are delicious. On the best of days they have super white tuna nigiri available, which is Antho's favorite, but we're always happy to have uni (sea urchin) and ikura (salmon roe) with amaebi (sweet shrimp). If they offer to serve you the deep fried heads, take it! They are delicious! The heads have all that delicious shrimpy flavour but with extra crunch as they get a quick bath in tempura batter before hitting the oil. You can eat the whole thing, brains and all, and I absolutely recommend it. It's the next best thing to eating the live shrimp in Noryangjin market in Korea. 

Eating live shrimp at Noryangjin market. I feel a bit like a monster for doing this x_x #liveseafood #liveshrimp #shrimp #noryangjin #seafood #seoul #korea #southkorea #food #foodporn

A post shared by Jessthulhu (@shethatisnau) on Aug 29, 2016 at 3:51am PDT

We also really like their baked mussels, but there's a ton of hot food options available in their appetiser menu- everything from gyoza and deep fried tofu to rice bowls and salads. Their tempura has been consistently delicious too. If you're not big on sushi there's a lot of options, too, like teriyaki chicken and rice to a roll made with grilled beef instead of fish. We love ourselves some fish and will take it in all it's forms, form raw to deep fried, so there's hardly an item on their menu that we haven't tried at least once. The only real complaint that's ever come up is an item being too spicy for Antho, but if you order off their spicy menu you go into it knowing you run that risk. Lucky for us I can handle the heat and I was able to clear our plate, as the rule for most AYCE places applies here as well: any plates you do not finish will be charged at full take out price. Unfortunately for Sushi Twister we've yet to take on that challenge and walk away defeated. 

As always we had a delicious meal. We never feel rushed here. Sometimes the chefs might get swamped with orders, but if you're patient they'll be more than happy to take care of you when they get the opportunity. We've seen some customers get rude with the sushi chefs and I always hate seeing that... being unpleasant with the people handling your food doesn't incentivise them to cater to you! This restaurant can get quite busy with all the take-out orders, All You Can Eat customers, regular customers ordering off the menu....  being a dick to the girl taking your drink orders isn't going to do much good. If you're in a hurry to get a specific meal you can always order ahead and get your food to go, otherwise relax and enjoy your stay. The food is well worth it if you let the cooks do their jobs. 

Another bonus to dining at Sushi Twister is their rewards card- if you visit their restaurant often enough and have the All You Can Eat meal you can earn a free one! This is great for people like us who adore sushi and go together, as each meal for the two of us garners us two stamps on the card, getting us closer to a half-price meal each time we indulge. Fabulous. 

Japan: Takodanababa & Ramen 2012-06-28

Takodanababa is a neighbourhood of Tokyo with a bit of a more youthful vibe, catering primarily to high school and college aged kids. There are tons of affordable restaurants and an especially competitive ramen market in the area. Personally, I wasn't so much worried about the politics as the tastiness of a steaming hot bowl of noodle-y goodness. I happened upon a tiny ramenya off one of the many small, winding alleyways that fill Tokyo as a whole where ample personality bubbled out from not only the decor but my chef, all to be taken with a gratuitous grain of salt. If you can't get past the golden dong on the ticket machine, you may want to look elsewhere for your consumption. ;)

Japan: Ginza Pescaderia 2012-06-26

Ginza was a neighbourhood I visited relatively often due to it's being fairly close to my home base in Urayasu. A few stops on the Keiyo-Line and there I was, surrounded by glitz and glamour. This arrangement made it exceptionally simple when I needed to pop into the city for something after work. On this day, I went to the Apple store in Ginza and picked up an Iphone. My laptop had recently died and left me disconnected from the world and while I was able to eventually get a Mac desktop at an electronic's store in Urayasu, I was reminded just how disconnected I felt and decided to cave and reinvest in a cell-phone. I'd made it this long through my stint in Japan without a functional portable communications device and had rather enjoyed being untethered, but it was time...the old Blackberry I had been using to take photos was outdated and I was ready. After going through an extensive paperwork process and plunking down the yen for the phone upfront (no monthly payment plans were offered for foreigners with less than 2 years left on their visa) I walked into the streets of Tokyo with a shiny new iPhone 4s in hand. I still have the phone, but the cellular networks are/were differently configured between the countries and as far as I'm aware my Japanese iPhone isn't suitable for use with American cellular networks. Womp. I'm a Samsung girl these days.

New phone in hand and lust for tech fulfilled, it was now time to satisfy my physical hunger.

Wandering the streets of Ginza around 9pm, I found a small oyster bar on a busy alley off the main drag. 

Japan: 2012-05-10 Tsukiji Market

Tsukiji Market is the world famous fish market in Tokyo featured in multiple travel shows, a must-see location for any fan of sushi or sea food. During the time of our visit the early morning tuna auctions had been closed to the public, but there was still tons to see from hulking crabs to unrecognisable squiggly things. Yuka's lovely mother joined us for this outing, meeting with us at the markets after Yuka and I walked there together from the station.

Japan: Shinjuku & Ebisuko Sakababa 2012-11-24

After all the fun at Icho Namiki we headed over to Shinjuku for dinner and encountered this enthusiastic green fella. 

Welcome to Japan, friends.

Japan: Icho Namiki Ginkgo Avenue 2012-11-24

The Japanese have a profound appreciation for all things seasonal, including the changing of the leaves as summer slides into the chilly grip of winter. To celebrate, Yuka & A-chan and I went to Icho Namiki, a street lined with resplendent ginkgo trees who's leaves turn a stunning shade of yellow.

Braving the sleepy crowds, we met up and began our adventure!

Japan: Yakitori Alley in Yurakucho 2012-11-23

On this evening my friend & coworker Azusa, aka A-chan, was my guide to Yakitori Alley in the Yurakucho area of Tokyo. A short walk from Ginza and tucked away between buildings underneath tracks for the Yamanote line is this bustling alley full of amazing restaurants and astounding people watching opportunities. 

I have never seen anyone drink Tequila quite like a group of Japanese salary men who were pounding it inside this beef restaurant that A-chan and I stopped in.

Japan: Urayasu sanpo 2012-09-14

Sanpo, or osanpo, is Japanese for taking a casual, pleasant stroll. 

I'm quite fond of the word, so I like to use it when referring to my walks. ^_^

This charming little abode was tucked away along a quiet residential street in Urayasu. 

My friend Zoltan, his sister and I were walking to Urayasu station to head into Tokyo to visit Mori tower and show his sister around. :) It was also a bit of a prolonged birthday celebration, which I've previously touched on in this post. This post and tomorrow's will be focused on sharing photos of the outings!

Japan: Ginza with Yuka 2012-06-28

The view of Ginza from the restaurant we had our dinner in, including the famous "Marui" building.

Ginza's name is derived from the silver coin mints that filled the area in it's earlier years and now-a-days it's a ritzy, classy neighborhood with glittering high-rises and gussied up pedestrians dipping into high-end restaurants or shops. It's not unusual to see women in fancy kimono or exorbitantly priced stilettos strutting the streets of Ginza. Even with it's high-class image, there are still plenty of reasonably priced activities and shops to take in!

There's even pineapples!

Japan: Cafe HOM+ 2012-06-28

Girls, assemble!!

Working at Disney, I made a lot of friends but the Ishizawa Sisters were among the first, the friendliest, and the funniest. Unabashedly silly and fun-loving, I could always count on having an adventure when we'd get together. 

After Kanae moved on from her position with us at Disney, she began working at a lovely little cafe called Cafe HOM+! Yuka and I ventured out to show our support and try their tempting treats!

Japan: 2013-03-22 Ameya Yokocho アメヤ横丁

アメヤ横丁

Ameya Yokocho

March 22nd, 2013

      My friend Yuka and I had been visiting Ueno park for hanami and Ameya Yokocho happens to be right around the corner so we popped over for a tour. The name means "candy shop alley", though now there seems to be more of a focus on various foods rather than the singular sweets. Octopus tentacles, among a wide and bountiful array of other options are all readily available. If you're curious and want to stretch your Japanese skills you can check out their website here to get a feeling for the vibe of their shops. It's an eclectic mix of street vendors, shopping centers and food market…which means that it's the kind of place I greatly enjoyed!