Fukumatsu Mitaka

Older ladies in kimonos, no English menus (if we had sat at the sushi bar obviously that would have been less of an issue), comfortable western furniture in well-lit large room, and keep your shoes on. Our kimono lady had little English, and though she did her best to help my friend who is a vegetar...ian, little could be done - this is a sushi restaurant after all. Apart from the usual lack of spoken English or menus, this restaurant is less intimidating for gaijin visitors here on business. It looks like a restaurant for one thing, not something you could confuse from the outside with a suspect DVD shop or a girly/massage bar on the 3rd floor, as you might in other parts of Tokyo. Clientele was older, professional, not your busy office worker out on a drunk. The sushi was OK if not exceptional, seemed fresh, the servings neither generous nor stingy, although in the sushi special set one or two crackly bubbly things - not sure what - were very interesting, a rung or four above your sushi-train chain offering. A reasonably nice meal, in a relaxed atmosphere where you don't feel like you are rushed or competing with anyone for Japanese food and restaurant street smarts or trendiness.

Visited August 2014