Osaka’s draw is its huge portions and relatively low prices. Counter to popular tastes, bigger sushi is not necessarily a good thing. Not only will it destroy the balance between sweet-sour-sticky sushi rice and fish—balance that world-class sushi chefs are intent on creating—but it’s potentially dangerous. Even when a fish looks healthy, it’s harder to detect parasites in such thick cuts. What’s more, careful slicing means even amounts of fat, and thus better flavor and texture.

That’s not to say that Osaka’s sushi doesn’t taste fine—in fact, that’s all it is: fine. If you get the chirashi, a bento box of rice and huge cuts of varying fish, you can balance textures yourself. Several renditions of udon and not-so-crispy tempura are serviceable. Meals begin with a complementary amuse bouche (one time an okay tempura shrimp paste on shiso leaf) and end with a lovely bit of ice cream.

The atmosphere is the essence of Japanese culture, serene and controlled. This is not a sake-bomb kind of place; instead, it’s pretty uniformly dark-wood colored—a stark contrast to some of the circuses that call themselves sushi bars in this town. If the goal is to tap into your inner Gollum and gnaw a huge chunk of pretty tasty fish for not much money, then this is the best place to do it.