Lots of foreign tourists in Tokyo head to Tsukiji. They come to look around the fish market and to try sushi at the source. So Tsukiji Market is always packed, and since shops aimed at tourists are mixed in with shops for the locals, you can’t tell where you should eat.
In that case, the safest bet is to go to the most famous place in the area. In the inner market at Tsukiji there are two famous sushi shops: Daiwa Sushi and Sushi Dai. Daiwa Sushi has the longer history, and Sushi Dai is said to taste slightly better. The lines… well, both are about equally long. Unless you come at the crack of dawn, meaning before 7 a.m., the line gets way too long to handle. (For reference, the inner-market shops don’t open on days like Sunday when Tsukiji Market is closed.)
The younger brother of someone I know was in Japan on a business trip, so we arranged to meet in Tsukiji. He came all the way to Japan, so I had to treat him to a round of sushi at least. Where would he get sushi like this back in Korea? ^_^
So we met at 9 a.m., and sure enough, when we went to Sushi Dai the line was insane. It looked like it would take about two hours. With no other choice, we headed to the outer market. There’s always good old Sushizanmai for us~ The sushi here isn’t the best, but for the price it’s not bad. What sets it apart is that they sell tuna cheap.
My companion looked at the menu and ordered the 1,480-yen lunch special. The 3,150-yen Zanmai course is pricey unless you’re a real gourmet, he figured. I’ve been here plenty of times, so I ordered the same thing.
The basic setting
Pretty simple.
Salad
Could take it or leave it…
This is the 1,480-yen lunch sushi.
The quality varied from piece to piece. The sweet shrimp and the anago were very good, the tuna was a bit above average, and the rest were pretty ordinary. As expected, the whole time I was eating I kept being bothered by the hard rice, the usual weak point of cheap sushi places.
Honestly, I’m not someone who comes to Tsukiji to eat sushi. There are better places in my neighborhood, so there’s no reason to go out at dawn. And Tsukiji sushi isn’t exactly cheap either… For the same money you can eat much better at Numazu Uogashi Zushi (Marunouchi Building branch). But tourists have no way of knowing that, and having come all the way to Tsukiji, they can’t just leave without eating. If only to guide people visiting Tokyo, Tsukiji is worth researching a bit more.
Close-up
The sweet shrimp was very fresh. The sweetness really came through. The akami, on the other hand, didn’t seem as good as it used to be…
Close-up 2
The salmon was good, and so was the roll. I’m satisfied for the price, but considering it’s Tsukiji, I can’t help thinking there must have been tastier places than this. Next time I’ll have to find a better one.