How to eat sushi the right way, and why you should obey chef’s rules to get the most out of that U$450 omakase meal
Sushi etiquette explained by two celebrated chefs in Hong Kong – why you should be punctual, not wear heavy perfume, and eat each piece with your hands, in a single bite and without delay. As for the wasabi and soy sauce ...
Sushi chef Yoshiharu Kakinuma has no trouble recalling the worst customer ever at Sushi Shikon, the three-Michelin-star restaurant that opened in Hong Kong six years ago.
“It was Valentine’s Day two or three years ago. We have eight seats at the sushi counter, [and that night it was] four couples. One couple did not show up – they came almost at the end of the session. The guy was very showy, saying, ‘I paid a lot of money’,” says the chef known to his customers as Kaki-san.
“He sat down and I tried to explain that he couldn’t eat, that [the other customers] were almost finished. He said, ‘I am the customer, how come you talk to me like this? You can make me some [food].’ I tried to be nice and said, ‘OK, you have 30 minutes, I will try my best.’
“I made him food but he didn’t eat, he just drank champagne and made a lot of noise. I said, ‘Everyone is sharing this [counter], please don’t do that. If you keep doing that I don’t want to make sushi for you.’ He kept doing it so I said ‘No more’.
“Then he started throwing champagne glasses at me, breaking the glasses on the sushi counter, and he [challenged me, saying] ‘Hey chef, come on out’. I tried to push him outside and his girlfriend apologised. When I came back inside, the other customers clapped and said thank you.”
