Tsuchiura, Ibaraki, Japan｜Asahiya

This is an unexpectedly good restaurant serving Japanese seafood. As I don’t often come to this area, I took the opportunity to try out cod sashimi dinner-set (n.b. as cod rots fast, you can only serve cod sashimi close to the sea) and the heart of a shark, also sashimi, as a stand-alone dish. Both were very good, though the cod sashimi was what prompted me to write this review. I had countless opportunities to eat cod, mostly in the form of fish & chips and filet-o-fish junk, and frankly I never had much appetite for this boring fish. However. Eating raw cod here in this restaurant had changed my perception of this fish entirely. It has a very delicate and exquisite taste that is immediately destroyed upon heating. It is a pity that the vast majority of the people in the world never gets to fully understand what cod has to offer. The elderly owners are very friendly and welcoming. You will likely need to speak Japanese as this restaurant is for the locals, but they do have menus with photos so you won’t be left entirely on your own. The premises is clean but aged, don’t let that put you off through if you are keen to try out rare local dishes.

Good

Very tasty