Reading Roars!

A sushi bar has opened in town: Nigiri Sushi. Yay! On a rainy Saturday afternoon, I decided to check out the small outlet at the Harris Arcade’s Friar Street entrance.

It’s worth mentioning at this point that I have dipped into Japanese culture recently. I bought a wonderful animated movie called Spirited Away and read an excellent book detailing a Belgian girl’s experiences working at a Tokyo corporation, Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb.

Back to Nigiri Sushi, its interior was of a minimalistic Japanese style - lots of wood and little else. I liked this clutter-free environment.

I gave my order to a patient, and rather nice-looking, Japanese girl who invited me to try the wasabi green mame (GB£ 1.50), a plate of small green balls. Curious, I popped one in my mouth. It was crunchy and spicy. I now know that they are dried peas. As I continued to scan the menu, the girl kindly told me that my takeaway deep fried squid (GB£ 2.50) and salmon nigiri (GB£ 3.99) were enough for one person.

While waiting at an Ikea-style table, I was given a cup of green tea, free of charge. As I sipped the tea, watching the rain tumble down, I began contemplating my existence. That’s what green tea does to me. It has powerful properties. Coffee kicks my brain into action, black tea has an uplifting impact and green tea has a meditative effect. So now you know.

At home, I excitedly dug into the squid. Squid tends to taste rather bland. While normally I would squeeze a bit of lemon over it, on this occasion I whipped out the dark soy sauce from my cupboard and liberally splashed it on the tentacles. The salmon nigiri was great - soft and sweet - and as I watched the rain crash down, I began contemplating the bird excrement on my kitchen window. Time for a black tea, I thought.