I believe there is such a thing as “too much sushi”. In fact, in years past, I have often remarked that there were more sushi bars than “proper” bars. (Mentally, I’ve long since updated that comment to refer to coffee bars…) The worse thing about Vancouver’s mass-produced sushi culture is the fact sushi is no longer art, its no longer an experience. Its slapped together in a sushi-like way, crushed into little styrofoam containers and sent on its merry way. Sure, if you eat in at somewhere funky or maybe somewhere expensive there’s still a “sushi experience”, where the atmosphere is good and the sushi is different, interesting and unique instead of the same old same old.) But 90% of Vancouver sushi (as with everything) is ho-hum, humdrum boring.

Japanese food is especially known for its exquisite sense of presentation. And thus, I point you to some beautiful examples of bento (basically, Japanese lunchboxes). These bento pictures are amazing.

You can read a little more about bento cultural politics or check out this daily bento blog.