At Japanese fishing restaurant Zauo, customers use baited hooks to fish for their own dinner. Fish varieties range from rainbow trout ($38) to salmon trout ($158), and preparation options include sashimi, salt-grilled, simmered in soy sauce or tempura. If diners prefer not to use fishing rods, they can still order off the menu for around $10 to $20 more. There's even a large wooden boat hanging from the ceiling. CNBC Make It tried this fish-and-dine experience to see what it was like.
Following is a transcript of the video:
Taylor Moore, CNBC Make It intern: "Hey guys! Today I'm going to be fishing for my dinner, so let's see how that goes."
Zauo is a new, unique spot for Japanese dining in Manhattan.
The catch? Your own fish!
General Manager Rui Higuchi: "Zauo opened up in Japan in Fukuoka in 1993."
"We want to greet the customers from the moment they step in. We want them to feel like they just walked into a restaurant in Japan, and so we greet them like very cheerfully with a lot of enthusiasm and say, 'Welcome to our restaurant.'"
"We do have lobster. We also have abalone. We have some fluke, flounder and we also have rockfish and striped bass. We want the customers to appreciate their own catch and having their fish prepared minutes after they caught it."
Moore: "So I'm getting ready to fish now, I have my fishing instructor here to help me, so let's do this!"
Higuchi: "Let me just set up your rod for you. Be careful with the hook. My advice to you is try to keep the bait very still. Wait for the fish to come to the bait and nibble on it. Once they nibble, just pull it out as quick as you can, you should be able to hook it."
Moore: "Okay."
Moore: "I used to go fishing a lot with my grandfather. I still try to whenever I see him over the summers. I definitely learned a lot of patience from my grandfather while fishing."
It took a few seconds before there were bites, but they weren't very successful.
But then…
Higuchi: "Congratulations! Wow, that's a nice catch."
Higuchi: "So here at Zauo, when the customer catches a fish, we like to celebrate with the customer. We want them to be able to feel like, 'Wow, I've really caught something.' And then we want to be there to actually cheer for the customer and show them some support. We congratulate the customers and we hit the Taiko drums as we congratulate them."
Moore: "So what's the process when it comes to preparing your catch?"
Higuchi: "So here at Zauo, we can prepare it four ways. We can prepare it sashimi, tempura, simmered in soy sauce, or grilled with salt. But for this specific catch I would go with sashimi and tempura."
Moore: "Okay, sounds good to me!"
Moore: "So can you explain for me what we have spread across here?"
Higuchi: "Sure. So this is our sashimi, the rainbow trout that you caught earlier. You see it's presented with the fish's head. It's only because we want to ensure the customer that it is your fish and it's very fresh. And over here is our tempura, your rainbow trout tempura."
Moore: "Awesome, great. Thank you so much."
Higuchi: "You're welcome."
Moore: "So I'm super excited. Everything looks delicious and I think I'm going to start with the sashimi. I'll get some wasabi. It's super good. I definitely like it best with the soy sauce but the wasabi is a must. Each different thing gives it a completely different flavor and is really good. I'm going to have another one."
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