Booking a Counter That Has No Website

Introductions, hotel concierges and the patient art of the waiting list. It sounds like a small thing until you have sat at the counter a few times, and then it is most of what you remember.

Say what you cannot eat

Allergies and dislikes are best mentioned when booking, not halfway through the meal. The chef plans the evening around the fish they bought that morning, and a little notice lets them swap a piece rather than leave a gap.

One bite, straight away

Each piece is made for the moment it is set down. Eat it in one bite, within a few seconds, before the rice cools and the fish warms. It has already been seasoned, so there is no need to reach for the soy sauce.

If there is a counter you think we should sit at next, write and tell us -- the best suggestions become the next visit.