On Fish, Markets and a Little Business

A few days ago a friend treated me to some sushi. Proper sushi. Having lived in Japan for several years he was familiar with an okay place and the real thing. Dalian's sizeable Japanese population ensures 'the real thing' does exist here, or will do for a while at least.

Near the Railway Hospital we walked under the short 'noren' curtain and through the familiar teak door into a small sushi bar. Two waitresses spoke Japanese. The owner behind the counter purveyed over chilled steaks of fish for most of which there was no translation for (what is Half Beak?) soon to be cut up and digested by the (including us) half dozen diners or so. The place's appearance was typically average, sitting at the bar we faced a poster on the wall of a leggy model holding an overly large glass of Super Dry, elevated directly in front of us the curved glass cabinet containing various fish meat ingredients, under the poster of Ms Asahi a rice cooker kept the rice just above room temperature. On the opposite wall, behind us, was a bookcase full of Sake and Soju. The restaurant was clean but had aged since it's most recent furbishment, it did not pretend to be flash but clearly knew what it was.

Speaking Japanese in a Japanese operated restaurant brought out the inevitable raised eyebrows, cheeky smile and instant banter with other customers. I could only sit back and thinK "Speaking Japanese would be great but I've hardly mastered Chinese, perhaps I could come back 5 years later and participate in this conversation," as Adam bantered on about small-town life in Japan with a customer hailing from the location my dinner buddy lived and worked in. After a while it became apparent the owner had a ticking clock over his establishment: a month to move. The owner of the building was increasing the rent and no nearby locations seemed appropriate. (The sensibility of kicking out a long term client during a global financial crisis has yet to be determined.)

The Software Park was an unsuitable alternative. Despite possessing a well sized Japanese population, wages there are generally too low: not enough disposable income. The owner was reluctant to move near Da Wai, the Foreign Language University, while the area may possess suitably priced and equipped properties "the students would come in, fill up space and not eat anything." An additional concern was proximity to Sanba Square, a major Dalian fish market; the owner would spend a substantial amount of time every day seeking the freshest fish in early morning markets. In terms of small independent Japanese restaurants it seems a common theme: the area around Yan'an Lu and Sanba has a 日本ish bent in terms of both population, entertainment and incomes.

He let slip one of those diamonds of information that many suspect but few have the experience of encountering. He was a serious seafood connoisseur and had been for most of his life. This restaurant was substantially more expensive than most larger restaurants - granted the slices of fish on the sushi were twice the thickness and four times the volume of more mainstream restaurants - they were also not yesterday's fish - it was certainly in the taste. As he explained, to find the freshest fish is it not sufficient to buy it from the counter. The Xi'an Road market with it's cavernous fish market has a couple of stands selling Salmon and Tuna, as well as other larger salt water fish suitable for eating raw (having bought from there the prices are reasonable, around 38 kuai per pound): not fresh, a day or two old he said (which is still OK as long as it's been kept chilled and handled hygienically, but not the best). The only place he would buy from was the Sanba Square market, but even then it was a hassle. "The owner buys fresh, but the shop assistants do not sell the fresh fish from the counters, they need to be bribed, then I can go with them to the chiller out the back and inspect and buy the freshest fish." Bribed is a strong term, differential non-transparent pricing may be more suitable. We probably did eat some of the freshest Tuna, Half Beak (whatever that is) and Octopus that night, he even laid on some 'deep sea fois grais' at 360 kuai for a total of 20 pieces and 4 beers I hope we were. But just what are you getting for a 130 kuai all you can eat, all you can drink buffet?

Then we went to BoBos where the beer is bought wholesale for 15 cents a bottle.