"Save Sushi for Last" Rule

Do you know how grown men should eat sushi?

In Japan, young men sometimes say that they want to eat sushi someday as grown men do, i.e., going to a traditional (i.e., non-kaiten or non-conveyor belt) sushi restaurant, being seated at the counter, and having a couple of pieces of sushi LASTLY.

You may not understand why but this is the way of how mature men should eat sushi, i.e., enjoying seasonal appetizers (e.g., sashimi of seasonal fish) with sake while also enjoying talking with the sushi chef in front of him across the counter before having (a couple of) sushi to conclude the meal. Because of the recent increasing popularity of kaiten or conveyor-belt sushi restaurants, people no longer care much about this "save the best part for last" rule, but the rule still holds for those (especially men) seated at the counter of sushi restaurants.

Let's say you were a middle-aged or elderly Japanese man, went to a traditional sushi restaurant in Japan and were seated at the counter. You would be greeted by the chef (in front of you across the counter) and asked what you would have. Now you were seated at the counter, so you would be expected to follow the rule, i.e., enjoy not only eating but also seeing the process of sushi making and conversation with chefs while having several appetizers. And that's why, at traditional sushi restaurants, a chef is usually in charge of a couple of customers in front of (usually) him across the counter to take care of them, i.e., taking orders from, making sushi for, and having chats with, them.

So, what if you ordered beer and a sushi set, i.e., a dozen pieces of sushi and miso soup, as soon as you were seated at the counter at a fancy sushi restaurant? The chef would make sushi and serve them and miso soup to you and be gone immediately, leaving you alone because the chef would naturally assume that he'd done his job. He'd already served the last course of the meal, a sushi set, to you.

 
Of course, if you're non-Japanese, you don't have to worry about the rule and can order and eat anything in any order, but if you have a chance to come to Japan and be seated at a counter of a non-kaiten sushi restaurant, why not try the "save sushi for last" rule? You may be treated as a sushi connoisseur! 

A similar rule also holds for traditional soba restaurants. 

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