OK, so the idea of dollar store sushi does not by any means sound delightful or delicious or worth even picking up a pair of chopsticks for - but surprise surprise it is actually pretty darn good if my American palate does say so. This place is called Hamazushi and is apperently a popular quick and cheap sushi go-round in mainland Japan that has finally made its way to Okinawa.
I must say I was NOT expecting much when we walked in but was surprised to see a rather large crowd of people seated at the sushi go rounds first row with not a single vacant seat. They hand you a number and you wander around and find your well marked table (sort of like Walmart aisles very clearly marked with numbers).
We sat down at table #31 which happened to be in a prime spot (right next to the window where all the sushi comes out on a conveyer belt). Excitedly we sat down and gazed at the sushi passing by on colored plates from 90 - 105 yen. My husband grabbed a plate of salmon sushi and I grabbed a plate of salmon sushi with a green sauce artistically drizzled over the top and a small dot of cream cheese on top. We happily gobbled these down - the green drizzle was a yummy pesto sauce. Definitely a new way to eat salmon sushi. Then we noticed the touch screen.
"Do you think we can use that to order?" I asked my husband. "Maybe... Let's try it!" he said and began jabbing his finger at the touchscreen Japanese menu. After a while we somehow figured out where the English menu was and started ordering the many delightful dishes - some of which were completely new to us (that's saying something after 7 years in Japan). Beer (well, I'd had that before), salmon sushi (that too), shrimp sushi with Cesar salad dressing, onions, and nuts on top (new for sure), caramelized cold sweet potatoes (also new), and some others.
We were happily chowing away when we got our first ordered dish. The touch screen menu chimes and tells you your order is almost here please look for it (on the conveyer belt). This is when we realized that the dishes we'd been happily grabbing off the rotating belt when we first came in had actually been ordered by other customers - and we were brazenly grabbing them and stuffing our faces with their orders. Oops. "But how do you figure out which are ordered by others and which are there for the taking?" we wondered.
Then we began to notice if there was a plate with a sign announcing the type of sushi, dessert, etc and then that item followed this sign then this was up for grabs. If, however, there was no sign AND the food was on a plate that was then set on an elevated round black pedestal with gold Japanese writing, then this was the signal that it had been ordered by someone. We felt rather embarrassed and wondered at who had been sitting there for the last 15 minutes waiting for their order when we had already unknowingly inhaled it. Well learning curve complete we finished our delicious delights (including a chocolate eclair and tasty chocolate ice cream that had a coconuty taste) we went rang the "bell" located on the touchscreen menu to get the check. We were so proud that we figured out that if you press the yellow button that calls the waiter and if you press the green button that removes your call for the waiter. I'm sure they were just thrilled that we were playing with these buttons.... So we received the check and for all of these items (14) PLUS a beer it cost only about $20 USD (or about 2000 yen).
Great meal, small learning curve, some good clean hijinks, and beer. What more do you need? Life is good and we will definitely be back to the dollar store for their sushi!
OK, so the idea of dollar store sushi does not by any means sound delightful or delicious or worth even picking up a pair of chopsticks for - but surprise surprise it is actually pretty darn good if my American palate does say so. This place is called Hamazushi and is apperently a popular quick and cheap sushi go-round in mainland Japan that has finally made its way to Okinawa. 
Then we began to notice if there was a plate with a sign announcing the type of sushi, dessert, etc and then that item followed this sign then this was up for grabs. If, however, there was no sign AND the food was on a plate that was then set on an elevated round black pedestal with gold Japanese writing, then this was the signal that it had been ordered by someone. We felt rather embarrassed and wondered at who had been sitting there for the last 15 minutes waiting for their order when we had already unknowingly inhaled it. Well learning curve complete we finished our delicious delights (including a chocolate eclair and tasty chocolate ice cream that had a coconuty taste) we went rang the "bell" located on the touchscreen menu to get the check. We were so proud that we figured out that if you press the yellow button that calls the waiter and if you press the green button that removes your call for the waiter. I'm sure they were just thrilled that we were playing with these buttons.... So we received the check and for all of these items (14) PLUS a beer it cost only about $20 USD (or about 2000 yen). 
Great meal, small learning curve, some good clean hijinks, and beer. What more do you need? Life is good and we will definitely be back to the dollar store for their sushi!
