I went to a Japanese restaurant in San Jose last night called "Tsugaru", it isn't the nicest place in terms of decor but they have some really good food especially if you're into Sushi... Def not THE BEST in the eyes of a Sushi snob, but def a lot better than most places you can find in the bay area. The portions are great, quality of fish is great, and the preparation is outstanding... Some of their dishes are more beautiful than real works of art!

Anyway, last night I ordered a bunch of sashimi (Semi-fatty tuna, salmon, and hamachi (my fav by far... It's like butter to me, YUM!)... I ordered "To-go" since I live around the corner basically and it was close to 9pm. I tried to tip the Sushi chef (who is Japanese BTW, barely spoke English at all) and he seemed almost embarrassed. He nodded his head in a "no no no" type of gesture with an embarrassed smile on his face, he wouldn't accept it but couldn't tell me since he didn't speak English, so he just had to use gestures and was very polite about it.

Is it insulting to tip a sushi chef or something? He was obviously new to the country, I had to use the cashier as a translator to communicate with him since my friend (who was with me) only spoke broken Japanese and couldn't fully communicate with him. I've never encountered this before, but I know in other countries that tipping is not accepted and can even be insulting... Those of you who have been to Japan or know about Japanese sushi etiquette, can you chime in here?


PS: I tried to tip him right after I ordered, and I'm not sure if it's due to my attempt at tipping or what, but he gave me double sized pieces of fish! Very nice cuts, just double the size of normal cuts which made me VERY happy. Hamachi is the best damn thing to ever happen to the ocean. I don't know if you guys remember, but I have trouble eating rolls and such because my stomach doesn't agree with seaweed (Sad, but true), so I stick to Sashimi, which is fine since sashimi is the best anyway. I never had a prob with seaweed prior to my 30th bday... Once i turned 30, I just couldn't digest it anymore and it makes me vomit every single time. Getting old SUCKS.

 

though Im not a sushi chef, but Im a chef. Just make sure if hes working with other people hes more then likely going to split the tip. So just make sure that it can be dived easily. Also beer is a good tip too.

 

You dont tip in japan

He is probably getting a cut already.

 

You weren't being rude per U.S. etiquitte but if he's FOB enough he won't accept it that way. From what I remember... in Japan you tip very discreetly, like in an envelope or something...


looked it up... http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/que...ay.html?0+6974

 

As my dad being a sushi chef yeah he really doesn't take tips like that, maybe on the tab, but what they really do appreciate is a cold beer. No kidding they will love you for that. Especially if you become a regular, the cuts will be from the nicer parts of the slab. He probably doesn't understand what tipping is, even that its gratuity for him it seems like you might be cocky and trying tog et something out of him. He'll probably learn sooner or later.

 

This. I frequent a sushi restaurant that my friend works and I have previously tried to tip him before, but the only thing he'll take is beer.

 

You pretty much never tip in Japan, although I have supplied a case of beer to dudes who went out of their way to help me out with car stuff before. The envelope thing is more of a general rule for giving money, but usually isn't required for typical transactions at a cash register for example.

But etiquette is location-specific, so typically in the US I go by US rules and tip. It could be possible that they're just running a Japanese style shop where they don't accept tips, but that's probably rare. Either way, they can't hold it against you for doing what's called for in our society, so I wouldn't worry about whether or not they think it's rude. I just always try to tip, and if they say no, I put it back in my pocket and say thank you.

 

The place I worked at gave all of the sushi bar tips and 10% of all other tips earned to the sushi chefs.

More than anything, I don't think you want to give them money because they handle the fish/rice/nori. Beer and sake were definitely appreciated.

 

Wow, that answered my question EXACTLY. He wasn't mad, or surprised, he just seemed embarrassed that I gave it to him. He was very polite, smiled, and although we couldn't communicate through written/spoken word, he made it very clear that he couldn't accept it without giving the impression that he was angry/dishonored/insulted by it.


I've been to that restaurant a few times before and the portions have been pretty consistant in size, but this time the portion size was huge! The grade of the fish was great, the type of cut/color/garnish/etc were all top notch, just that it was larger pieces overall. Normally I can eat 14 pieces of Sashimi no problem, and that's with soup, salad, and rice on the side... This time however, it seemed like it was over a pound of just fish which made me very happy. He knew that I liked Hamachi so he went out of his way to give me two extra pieces free of charge... I watched him do the prep/cutting and noticed that there was extra, he looked at me and just smiled with a very subtle nod. He was the same chef that served me the last time I was there, and the last time we had a large party of people and had a great time, so maybe he remembered me and that's why he was so generous... Or maybe it was just because they were going to close soon? Who knows...


On a semi-related note, about a month ago I finally had my try at "grade 1" Toro, which is supposed to be the best of the best of "fatty tuna", AKA "Toro". (I guess there are 5 grades of tuna, the lower the rating the higher the quality is... Grade 1 has a high fat content, and despite the way it sounds, the content of the fish adds almost a buttery flavor and is totally unlike other fats that you would find on mammals like beef, etc. There could be more than 5 grades, but 5 is the lowest grade of the fatty tuna's... 5 could still be super fresh and super great in quality, it just means that the fat content is minimal, because the tuna fat adds a whole new element to the fish and since fatty tuna isn't nearly as abundant as regular non-fatty tuna, it's expensive, sometimes you can spend around $20 on just two pieces!!!)

Here's a picture(s) that sort of explain the tuna scale. (Those that can translate, please feel free to! Also, this is all from my understanding, I could be wrong so please don't take what I said literally... It's what I've learned through friends, dining experience, and what I've read about it, so just be warned that I could be wrong about certain aspects... If you have something to correct me on, please feel free!!!)





(This pic shows the grades, but I don't understand this particular pic since it shows the less-fatty tuna being better on the scale, so I'm unsure about that)








I know I said that Hamachi was my fav, but I could easily see Toro as taking that spot, but due to it's price and availability I have very limited experience with it so I can't say it's my fav based on the few experiences that I've had with it. In terms of "regular" fish, in terms of common/affordable ones, hamachi still takes it's spot as #1.

 

taken from http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/que...ay.html?0+6974

"Hi I was a bartender b4 I moved here of course in the US I over tip kinda a Karma thing.When I first moved here my wife (Japanese)assured me you dont tip.She would never let me even try to tip. One night I went to the local bar alone and left a tip not that large about $2 US as I was leaving I was chased down by an employee in forming me i had Left money accidently on my table. "

next time I get a foreigner at the bar that doesn't tip me..I'm going to chase him down and tell him to tip me. haha

 

Tipping is a city in China. Sorry lame joke I had to.

 

just because the size of a cut is big doesnt mean that its better though. its how its sliced and where its cut from that makes a difference, having too big of a slice can ruin certain things such as crispness and overwhelm the piece with too much fat.

 

Oh, I know... I was just very hungry and that's what made it great.

 

Oo-toro is the bomb, only $6 in Tsukiji =D

In case you go to a place that doesn't list grade numbers, Oo-toro > Otoro > Toro.

Careful, dangerous expensive road lies ahead =p

 

Are 5 and 1 the same grade? Seems like 5 and 1 are the highest of the grades after a little google search... Perhaps marked that way to clear any confusion (what's better grade, a 5 or a 1? I bet that's a typical question so maybe that's why they do that? If you look at the pic I provided, the second one where it shows the grades, the #5 grade is cut from the same spot as the #1 grade, so are they the same?)