Eating Nigiri With Your Hands Is Not Rude

Chopsticks or fingers, fish side down or rice side down -- the small rules, and which ones nobody minds. 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.

Ginger is a palate cleanser

Gari, the pickled ginger, is there to reset your mouth between pieces, not to be heaped onto them. A sliver between courses is enough; a pile on top of the fish undoes the chef's work.

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.

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