Tsukiji Market (築地市場, Tsukiji Shijō) is this huge wholesale market for fresh produce. It is also home to the largest fish market in the world and this is the place where almost all sushi restaurants in Tokyo buy their freshest fish parts to be served on the day. The tuna auction is a must-see activity that is limited to 120 people and starts at 5am. As my friend very aptly put, must go early if not no FISH to catch. So we woke up super early, got into a taxi and arrived at 4.30am. But by then, the fish auction places were all. gone. So we did the next best thing- check out the sushi restaurants at the market.
The travel guidebooks recommend two places for sushi: Daiwa Sushi (大和寿司) and Sushi Dai (寿司大). These sushi restaurants are guaranteed to get the freshest fish (since they are situated close to the market) and having fresh sushi breakfast here is a part of every tourist's itinerary (that is if you can drag yourself out of bed, since these places typically open at 5am). Both Daiwa Sushi and Sushi Dai are located along the same narrow shop lane, with just perhaps two other shops separating them. Upon seeing the queue at 4.40 am (maybe about 25 people), we just blindly joined in since we know there is a long wait to get into sushi joints here. Initially we wanted to try Daiwa Sushi, but we got distracted by the queue and just joined in, not realizing the queue was for Sushi Dai. (especially since both rivals have the word "大" in them!)
So here are some observations- there isn't any queue at Daiwa from 4.40am to about 6am: the queue only starts snaking when tourists flood the area, hungry for some sushi. Daiwa has a bigger area and more seats, so the queue isn't so bad early on and the waiting times are faster.
On the other hand, Sushi Dai operates from a really small space and the queues start forming even before it opens. The service staff very professionally splits the queue into two, one just outside of the restaurant and the other queue outside the main road to prevent crowds from spilling over the entrances of other neighbouring stalls. Although we got there before their opening at 5am, there was already a hoard of Japanese people queuing. It seems the locals are willing to wait and queue at Sushi Dai than go to the queue-less Daiwa sushi. Not sure if this is an indicator for the better restaurant and since we only tried Sushi Dai, I can't tell which is better than the other.
This was a picture taken outside the glass windows of Sushi Dai. As you can see, Sushi Dai cannot accommodate many people at one go (maybe 10?) and also explains the long queueing times for Sushi Dai since turnover rates are quite slow. We waited for almost 1.5 hours before being ushered to our seats (and that was despite entering the queue at 4.40am!). Apparently, people do wait for up to 3 hours just to get in and have a taste of heaven.
We had the Omakase Course (Chef Recommendation) for 3900 yen where the chef will select 10 sushi items based on their "best" and freshest seasonal catches for the day. You will also get to choose one more additional nigiri sushi item from an extensive list which includes fatty tuna, eel, shellfish, seasonal fish. The set also includes sushi rolls, tamago and miso soup.
I am not exaggerating when I say the sushi served here is
ORGASMICALLY good and fresh! I have never enjoyed sushi so much anywhere else before stepping into Sushi Dai. Munching on each and every piece of sushi served here gave me such a positive, heartwarming sensation I have never felt before. I bet you are rolling your eyes at this point, but there was a strange calmness that overwhelmed me as I chomped down the sushi; my surroundings were tuned out and I just felt so light and happy. Eating good sushi is just pure joy!
The sashimi on top of each sushi is really really fresh. For instance, the first item we were served- the Fatty tuna (pictured above) came in a big, fat thick slice in all its pink glory. (It's from the nice fatty parts of the tuna belly). The fish literally melts in your mouth and the rice is slightly warm. I was also very amazed by the texture of the rice- when they enter your mouth, each soft and chewy grain of rice just separates so easy. It's really unlike the usual cold, dense and sticky sushi rice I have tasted elsewhere. Every sushi is very well balanced- with the perfect balance of wasabi, fish and rice. No other seasonings or soy sauce is needed. I was actually told dipping sushi in soy sauce is an insult to the sushi chef- it means the sushi isn't flavourful or well balanced enough.
I would love to upload all the photos I've taken, but I realised many of them are not very focused (still not very good at handling my camera) but I will post some highlights here. We were basically served a large variety of fresh sushi, like tuna, mackerel, flounder, eel, sea urchin and even shrimp, one after another.
Another fantastic tuna sushi- Marinated Tuna. This part wasn't as fatty as the first one.
Mackerel. Just so good- not too overwhelmingly fishy.
Octopus- they were just so amazingly fresh, chewy and crunchy!
The sushi rolls were fantastic! Each roll had their own unique flavour, very different from each other.
The miso soup was so so flavourful! The secret of good miso soup does not just lie in the quality of miso paste used- they also boil fresh fish bones into the soup to give it additional sweetness and flavour!
I really enjoyed my sushi experience here in Sushi Dai. The sushi served here was simply indescribably divine. (I actually still had the nice happy, heartwarming feeling hours after the meal). Making sushi is really an art- a combination of serving the freshest fish sashimi atop great chewy rice with the right balance of wasabi.
And I must say the sushi chefs here are always happy and cheerful. They are always smiling and are unperturbed by the raving crowds waiting outside. If they are sick and tired of making sushi, it doesn't show at all. But I guess happy chefs = happy food!
As much as I hate waiting for food, I must agree that the sushi here is definitely worth the wait. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to get sushi this fresh and good back in SG and I'm not sure if I will ever walk into another sushi restaurant that can top my experience here or even wow me anymore, and that's really depressing.
If you do intend to have fresh sushi breakfast here, you really need to get to the shop really early, maybe even join the queue before it opens so your wait will be shorter.
Address: 5-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo, Tokyo.
Website.
Nishi Shinjuku- West Shinjuku (Around the Electric Street and Yodabashi)
Shibuya
Ginza
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I
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