Earning Your Chopsticks
Posted by Vanessa Toye in japanese, restaurant review on February 28, 2007 at 7:48 am
Japango Sushi & Noodle Restaurant
122 Elizabeth Street
416-599-5557
dinner for two with beverage, tax & tip: $100
Click. The lid of the slim wooden box slides shut and the contents make a small flourish across colourful rows as their owner plucks a selection and deftly pops it into their mouth. Similar motions play out on the other side of the table but I am stalled. My fingers loosen their grip around my disposable twigs, I am distracted by the smooth and brightly tipped chopsticks these diners are using. Questioning their existence throughout the meal, I watch as they’re cleaned and placed gingerly back into their case to be passed to a server whom lines it up along the wall behind the cramped sushi bar with others. Coveting another table’s food isn’t unfamiliar territory, but utensils?
Perks often come with being a regular, but at Japango you can have your own little part of the restaurant. The price of this novelty comes at approximately three meals a week, a frequency I have gladly attempted after dining under the masterful hands of Bruce Bu and his small team of chefs.
