Uzen was a remarkable find in a town full of Japanese restaurants. It’s a small, narrow place - about 12 tables and the sushi bar. Staffed by cute girls and a jovial Japanese sushi chef, it’s easy to feel instantly at home here.

I chowed down on the gorgeous sashimi platter they served me - I think I really just like salmon sashimi. I’ll eat pretty much any other fish when it comes to nigiri or in a roll, but since I’ve been avoiding rice/etc, it’s been sashimi for me. And the brininess of other fish is much stronger than the buttery taste of fresh salmon. I think I’ll stick to sake sashimi from now on. 

Someone mentioned to me that Uzen is like the “real deal,” like “eating in Japan.” Now, I’ve never been to Japan, but there was something definitely new to me about the place. I can’t quite put my finger on it, because on the surface it looks like many other sushi restaurants. But there’s some indefinable quality that makes stepping into Uzen feel like stepping off this continent and onto another.