Osaka police raid elite 'tiger blowfish' restaurant

The raid was conducted Monday, an Osaka prefectural police spokesman said, adding that no health problems have been reported at the restaurant.

Someone forget to deliver the envelope this week?

Someone forget to deliver the envelope this week?

Probably so. But now that this is out in the open, the business will dry up. They just couldn't wait an extra week to get their vig.`

Why are people stupid enough to eat poison? Chef! More poison please! Yes the one that can paralyze my respiratory system and kill me because its "savory"!....damn idiots! Membership only? I guess the main criteria for membership is to be suicidal or have an IQ of less then 10.

New customers must be introduced by an existing member

racial purity restaurant?

Some people are just mad because they weren't worthy enough to be members so they can enjoy this rare delicacy also. Time to raid the place. It's like angry kids at a playground.

savoury

No ti is not. It is boring and way over rated and priced.

racial purity restaurant?

More an "elite purity" restaurant.

which some brave epicureans are still willing to eat despite the risk.

Darwinism.

Yeah they have LET Darwin do his thing!

I've eaten フグ before. It's seriously one of the blandest tasting things I've ever eaten. You could eat a sticky note and taste more flavor than pufferfish. It's tender and there's a certain thrill eating it, sure, but it's seriously overpriced. It's not worth a quarter of the price many of the restaurants serve it at.

It's seriously one of the blandest tasting things I've ever eaten.

I think it's more about the texture. It definitely has a firmer texture than other fish. It is a bit too pricey though, but maybe that has to do with the difficulty in preparation?

As a kid I used to catch blowfish by the the dozen in the waters off Shelter Island off the East End of Long Island, NY USA, but clearly the Japanese variety has that poisonous side that ours do not. My relatives loved them, easy to skin (no scales) and cook like light chicken breast. I would look at the fugu fish on display in the windows of places near Kabuki-cho amidst the young yak street urchins and wonder what the big deal was about these rather docile and somewhat common fish.

Fugu tastes like nothing anyway. People just eat it because of the thrill

They're fun to swim with when snorkling - their little pectoral fins and boxy shape make them look like underwater dirigibles, and they seem aware that their poison puts them out of danger: they'll hover right up to you and say, "Sup?"

Ha, ha, ha. This is an April Fool's gag story, right?

police raid, taste of its white meat, New customers must be introduced by an existing member, poison

That's one hell of a club

Coincidentally, there was an article in the HuffPo today about a blowfish caught in a net and his mate who wouldn't leave his side. Cute little guys! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trapped-porcupine-fish-released_us_56fdf4c2e4b0a06d5805631f

This article smells.....fishy!

Had it twice. Very thinly sliced. We started off eating one slice at a time but then everyone just gathered two or three slices at once. Nothing special.

The deep fried Karage tasted like the cod I eat back home. So again nothing special.

The hot sake with bits of fin floating about was pretty strong stuff though.

In all….nothing special.

Blowfish by itself has little flavour, hence why most people scoop multiple slices of Sashimi.

I always order the set which includes Sashimi, Karage, Nabe, etc.

Most of the places I know serve the set for around 2000yen.

The real attraction is if it was prepared correctly or will kill you( highly unlikely).

Most death related to Fugu are related to home cooked meals.

@Jay QueApr.

As a kid I used to catch blowfish by the the dozen in the waters off Shelter Island off the East End of Long Island, NY USA, but clearly the Japanese variety has that poisonous side that ours do not. My relatives loved them, easy to skin (no scales) and cook like light chicken breast. I would look at the fugu fish on display in the windows of places near Kabuki-cho amidst the young yak street urchins and wonder what the big deal was about these rather docile and somewhat common fish.

Hey! Me too but in nassau and queens on docs where my grandparents had boats. We would pan fry them in olive oil and eat them and fantastic. turned them inside out. No poison at all.

The Fugu caught of the US coast is not deadly.

The fish becomes poisonous by feeding on a certain type of algea which is not widely spread globally.

So any blowfish caught in places like the US is NOT poisonous, but they still sell the myth.

The Northern Puffer, the famous Long Island Sea Squab of my childhood has very little tetratodoxin. The meat has none with a trace in the viscera. It is said that one would have to eat some ridiculous amount in a sitting for it to be harmful. Not all puffers in the US are non-poisonous. No one would eat a puffer from Florida.

The USFDA guideline on Puffers reads: "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising consumers only to eat puffer fish (also known as fugu, bok, blowfish, globefish, swellfish, balloonfish, or sea squab) from two known safe sources. The safe sources are 1) imported puffer fish that have been processed and prepared by specially trained and certified fish cutters in the city of Shimonoseki, Japan, and 2) puffer fish caught in the mid-Atlantic coastal waters of the United States, typically between Virginia and New York. Puffer fish from all other sources potentially contain deadly toxins and therefore are not considered safe."

'But don't worry Mr. Simpson, there is a map to the hospital on the back of the menu!'

@ Laguna: Thank you for the link! Puffer fish are sand artists too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpdlQae5wP8

I wouldn't eat an artist...

I enjoy it. Just like Homer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g8KeqjSyqg

You would think that we as humans could evolve past such stupidity as eating poisonous fish. Sigh. If they want to pay out the nose for the chance to eat something so dangerous it is illegal, let them conduct a little "Natural Selection" on themselves.

And the date it was allegedly raided was...

I think fugu is a delicious fish,raw or cooked. People like the subtle, fresh flavor and slightly firm texture. Thinly sliced sashimi a sweet flavor and goes well with ponzu sauce. Other than the poisonous part, the various parts of the fugu can be used in many different dishes. the deep-fried or kara age is great. Sushi is also good and a very popular dish is the pot/soup or fugu nabe, a winter favorite. However some people may not like it because it taste too bland. Well, try it deep fried or in a porridge or roasted. You just might like it. Fugu can also be used to make fugu sake. Fugu milt is considered to be the best part and a delicacy. In the end eating fugu does not automatically mean death sentence.

Deadly fugue was caught in west of Shimonoseki near Yamaguchi ken. Chefs use about one ton of water to clean and made sashimi to assassinate. In history, a child emperor Antoku was assassinated there and there is a shrine in the sea. Never heard Fugu live in somewhere else.