00:00
Welcome to Kevin's English Room Podcast.
Hello.
Hey guys.
Oh, hello.
How have you been, man?
Good.
Good.
Chill.
Chill.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Nice, man.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Nice.
I went to a fancy sushi restaurant the other day.
Oh, like the counter ones?
Yeah.
Oh, damn.
How was it like, man?
It was good.
Good?
Oh, damn.
You know, the sushi shokunin-san was in front ofus using like this long hōchō.
Oh, okay.
It's very, you know, like, 研ぎ澄まされた.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It looked like a katana to me.
Oh, shit.
And he was like...
Oh, it's like a performance?
Well, I mean, he did not perform.
But it looked like a kind of like a performance tome because he was too cool.
Everything he did was like he wiped his hōchōlike...
You know.
And then...
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It looked like a samurai or something.
Okay, okay, okay.
It was very cool.
Oh, okay.
And yeah, the sushi itself was very good.
But I really...
I found it was very...
I did not know that they did like that.
They did like that cool move, cool gesture andeverything.
I knew they were very good at making sushi itself,
but I didn't know like they had like some manners,
like just like I think the tea ceremonies andeverything.
He had certain like rules and everything.
Oh, okay.
He's got move...
Every time he does nigiri, he bent his knees alittle bit.
And then like this.
He's got some like posture and like typical movewhen he does that.
Okay, okay.
It was very traditional to me.
And it was cool.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, it was nice.
How old do you think he was?
30 something.
I think very similar to our age.
Oh, okay, okay.
He's not that old.
Was he like the boss of the house or...?
I think...
I'm not sure.
He said he did shikomi yesterday.
Okay, so you talked to him?
Yes, of course.
Oh, yeah, I would show it.
But there are...
I think there are two shokunin-san...
Like two, three shokunin-sans inside the counter.
Oh, okay, okay.
And he was the youngest.
Okay.
And they are like...
40-year-old men and looked like 65-year-old men.
03:05
And some other like deshis.
They're deshis.
Deshis, yeah.
You know, you have the customer chairs.
You have counter.
Yes.
And you have inside the counter, the kitchen.
And you have a little door.
Okay.
And that's...
To the back room?
Yeah, connected to the back room.
Yeah.
And then there are some deshis coming in and outthrough that little door.
Okay.
Bringing some foods like rice.
I see.
Looks like a ninja.
Wow.
They bring some...
I don't know, whatever, the food.
Nice.
And then the taisho was like...
Something like...
Rice.
Shari.
Yes.
Okay, okay.
Taisho, is it okay now?
Wait a minute.
Yes.
Wow.
Yeah, it was nice.
Wow, nice, nice.
Very nice.
Nice.
I've been to those fancy places once.
But it was nothing like that.
Oh, really?
Yeah, it wasn't...
I mean, I did a little bit of research.
Because I wanted to go to like a good one.
Yeah.
But I don't know if I researched it wrong.
But it was just me, my partner, and anothercustomer.
It was like, probably, I mean, not Toku Joshi, andan ojisan.
That was it.
And yeah, there was one guy, one master behind thecounter.
Okay.
Was it like a small sushi house?
Yeah, I mean...
Yeah, probably.
Four chairs only?
It went to...
It was like eight.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
So it wasn't full.
So it wasn't full.
So I guess I did my research wrong.
Yeah.
It needed to be packed by Minatoku Joshi.
Right?
It's gotta be, right?
You gotta have them in the store.
Right.
If it's famous, you have to.
Was your place packed with Minatoku Joshi?
I found two of them.
Wait, but they came, like, two ladies.
So not like Minatoku Joshi with ojisans.
Two Minatoku Joshis.
So I don't think, I don't know.
I don't know what combination that is.
Yeah, maybe friends, maybe?
Okay, friends.
Okay.
I found two of them.
And the store is pretty big.
So there were, I think, 12, 16 seats.
Okay.
And the others were, like, very, like, gentlemen.
Like, I don't know, like, elder couples.
Okay.
Okay.
And yeah, I just found two.
Okay.
Was the store quiet?
06:00
Were the people talking?
Not loud, I would say.
But it wasn't complete silence or things likethat.
We talked, I talked with the chef, of course.
And the ojisan chef, he was talking to thecustomers.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, we had conversations.
I see.
How was your store?
Mine was really quiet.
Well, it was more like, all right, let's be quietso we can hear their conversation.
We were so interested in what they were talkingabout.
I see.
I was like, okay, they're talking about cars rightnow.
Oh, okay, they're, okay, Lambo.
Okay.
But it was so quiet.
They were, you know, they were using inside voicesas well.
So we can hear that much.
So, like, a few minutes we were like, ah, forgetabout it.
Just forget about it.
Just enjoy our meal.
It was like that.
But, yeah, it was in those situations.
It was like, it gets a little bit awkward becausewe don't know what to talk about.
It's like, well, I mean, the chef's right in frontof us.
I do want to enjoy the atmosphere and watch himperform.
Yeah.
Like, I mean, I can't, I don't, like, I don't wantto talk about the laundry in the house.
I was like, I want to talk about something, youknow, suitable for this environment.
But, like, there aren't any.
I was like, what should I talk about?
So wasn't chef very talkative?
No.
No.
He was more like a shokunin vibe.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm not very talkative, too, with thechef, so.
Okay.
He talked once.
Oh.
He was like, guys from here.
Yeah, we're from Tokyo.
Okay.
That's it.
That's it, though.
Yeah, I think that's like a test conversation.
Oh, yeah.
Is this customer wanting to talk or not?
Or should I be?
Yeah, let him be.
Yeah, I probably did give off that vibe.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I can imagine you, you know, coming back with afollow-up question.
Yeah, maybe, maybe.
Are you?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
How long have you been doing this?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Was sushi good?
Not really.
Honestly, I thought it was probably my mouth.
Probably me.
I don't know.
Probably me.
But satisfaction level is like not that high.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
That's sad.
Yeah.
I, yeah, I would say like.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
You thought like worse than like a, I don't know,
like a kurazushi, I think I had?
No, it was better than kurazushi.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, better.
09:00
But like when you compare the price and the taste.
Okay.
It's not that satisfactory.
If I just look at the taste, maybe sushi that Iate in Hokkaido was better.
Like a kaitendushi in Hokkaido?
No, it wasn't like a kaitendushi.
It was more like, it was a kaisendon though.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, it was better.
Yeah.
Or like the one I ate in Toyosu Shijo was better.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
I can't imagine that.
It's close to the market.
Fishes are more fresh.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Tell me the store name.
I would avoid visiting that place.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'll tell you later.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
But true, it's true.
Some places in Tokyo, they were too expensivethere because of, I don't know, the rents maybe?
Yeah.
The staff visa, I don't know, whatever.
The city name, brand name maybe?
Sometimes it's too expensive compared to the tasteitself or quality itself.
So, maybe that's something you just said.
Yeah, maybe.
Probably.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
All right.
Thanks for listening, guys.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
