Ittoryu: Master Fillet

Each night runs on the clock from opening to last orders, with 15 to 20 guests after a quiet first night. They walk in, wait at the door when every stool is taken, take a seat and order, and you pick the fish off the ice, fillet it on the board and slice it at the counter. They eat what you serve, order again or stay on to talk, and a guest left waiting too long walks out. 40 guests, each voiced in Japanese with English subtitles: the grandmother, the fisherman, a sumo wrestler, a tuna broker, a Shinkansen conductor, an ama diver, a shrine priest, a rakugo storyteller, an enka singer and the rival chef from across the street. New faces come to the counter as your rank rises. Slice one long pull at a time, on the line. Where the stroke crosses the block sets the slice, and a guest with a palate notices one too thick or too thin. Grilled orders cook on a konro, two fish at a time: turn once and take it off in time. A dull edge tears a slice now and then. Touch it up at the counter, or sharpen before the night at the market and right after on the receipt. Buy the night's fish by count at the Morning Market, which sells the month's seasonal fish, a catch of the day and a daily special that pays double. A tuna gives four plates, and what you don't cut keeps in the fridge as saku. A guest whose fish is gone is offered another or an apology, and selling every plate brings the noren down: sold out. When the last guest leaves, the night's receipt is stamped for a full house, a clean board, a steady hand, the daily special and the closer, with your takings, tips and stock. Stamps earn reputation, and reputation raises your rank from Minarai to Densetsu, which brings new guests and opens more of the Restaurant. The Restaurant sells a fourth and fifth stool, the Izakaya, Counter and Omakase rooms, a tea kettle and hot towels that keep guests patient, norens for the door, two plate sets and decor for the room. A Weekly Book sets three goals with roe and decor for finishing them. The Customer Book keeps every guest you serve: their visits, clean plates and favourite fish. Regulars greet you as known faces, order the usual, and leave a gift when they become patrons. Every tenth night served fills a free tin of caviar. Also new: a music level on the menu, and fish on the board lit with real 3D shading, so they read as solid bodies as you cut. Service takes the place of Ranked Shift, which has been retired.