Conveyer Belt Dinner

A few weeks ago, the family decided to go out for dinner. I can probably recall that it was on a weekend, since my father-in-law was there (=not a work day). Also, my grandmother-in-law was absent, which is very rare, because a friend of hers had recently died. About a day earlier, she had left for a couple of days, to go to the presumed funeral and to visit that family. I though that her absence was a rare and unique thing, since I get the feeling that when she is at home for dinner (which is always, always, always), then that means the family is eating at home, and not out somewhere. So the parents, me, Takeshi, and Saori went to a sushi restaurant near the "BelCity" mall.

But this was not your average sushi restaurant. This particular restaurant was a "kaitenzushi" - in short, "conveyer belt sushi". When you walk into the place, there is a small waiting area at the front of the restaurant. On one side of the restuarant are rows of booths going back, and on the other side there are rows of single bar-type seats. When you sit down at the either of these seats, there is a conveyer belt that runs along side it, within arms reach from where you are sitting. This converyer belt winds and curves throughout the groups of booths and bar seats, so that people can eagerly wait for what they fancy and grab it off of the belt as it comes their way. Miniature signs are placed on the conveyer belt as well, to section off certain sushi, and tells you what it is. Also circulating around the belt may be certain desert dishes, fruit, and juice.

And this place was PACKED that night. When we walked up to it, there were dozens and dozens of people just standing outside, never mind all of the people packed inside the waiting area. It was very easy for the small plates to start to stack up on your table after eating for a while. I think the meal's total price for the four of us was come to by the waitress counting out how many plates we had eaten. I even think that the different colors of the plates (yellow, and white) had something to do with it as well. I had an excellent opportunity to try a lot of different sushi, and I had a slice of watermelon too. It was very fun, except when you had to wait forever for something you had decided you liked.