h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My sister and I have been trying out various sushi places around the Bay Area of Northern California. We're complete novices, but we still have a lot of fun experimenting with different flavors. At one rather nice restaurant we were presented with two large fried shrimp heads - brains, eyes, legs, and all... We hadn't ordered these and there couldn't have been any confusion with another order because we were the only two people at that early hour. I'm wondering if it was a courtesy, or maybe a joke on the silly American girls. Of course I am leaning towards the courtesy part, but the shrimp heads were really nothing we'd prepared our palettes for. We ate them though, to be polite.... crispy fried legs falling off all over our plates.

Well! my wife is Japanese but shes not heard of fried shrimp heads, infact she said "we don't eat those", I hope this is of some help in answering your question.

You mean we'd been had??

Oh well, lived to tell about it!

Much thanks to you and your wife.

You may not have been had, there are lots of very strange foods in Japan.

YOU CRUEL PEOPLE! SHRIMPS ARE FOR PETTING AND PLAYING WITH AND CUDDLING! YOU PEOPLE FRY THEM AND EAT THEM? WOW. I AM SORELY DISAPPOINTED. I THOUGHT THE CROWD AT H2G2 WAS NICE, BUT NO... DON'T EAT SHRIMP! [Broken link removed by Moderator]

Shrimp heads are sometimes used for flavorings in soup but for solid food items they are used as decorations.