This post was written in 2006. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.
Original title: Sushizanmai Conveyor-Belt Sushi in Tsukiji, Tatsutano in Ginza, Pierre Marcolini, and Horaiya in Ueno
When you arrive in Tokyo in the morning, Tsukiji is about the only place worth going for a meal. If you know anywhere else, please let me know ^_^;
I got to Tsukiji still deciding what to eat, only to find the market was closed that day. So with no room left for deliberation,
I headed to Sushizanmai.
This is the conveyor-belt version of Sushizanmai.
It’s really close to the Sushizanmai main shop. The reason I skipped the main shop for the conveyor-belt place was to grab just the house specialties, the otoro and
the jo-anago (top-grade sea eel), and then move on to Ginza. Also, even if it’s only a few dozen yen, the sushi here
was cheaper than at the main shop ^_^
The menu. Very friendly prices.
The jo-anago. No different from the main shop ^_^
Did I mention how wonderfully it melts in your mouth? Even places that are pretty good at eel can’t match this one.
The house specialty, otoro.
For 400 yen (398 yen to be exact) you get two pieces of otoro ^_^; That’s the cheapest otoro I’ve had in my life.
It’s not as good as the 400-yen-a-piece otoro at the main shop, but it beats most sushi places. Considering the value for money,
it’s an excellent choice.
I ate a quick few pieces, paid 1,100 yen and left. Having otoro first thing in the morning washed away the travel fatigue and left me feeling refreshed.
Walking through Ginza, I spot a shop with an insanely long line even this early in the morning. It’s Pierre Marcolini, a place audrey introduced me to a while back.
There was no way I was getting into the café on the second floor, so I bought gelato from the takeout counter on the first floor.
900 yen for two flavors, so about two or three times the price of Baskin-Robbins? ^_^ It tasted fine. Strawberry on top, chocolate below,
but the chocolate was too intense. Well, the ice cream feels a bit pricey for what it is, but I got the feeling that this place must have
chocolates that are much better than its gelato.
Besides this shop, a cake shop called Qu’il fait bon also had a line from the morning. Their cakes really are delicious, but on this trip I didn’t have time,
so I didn’t stop by.
Tatsutano, an anmitsu specialist. It’s right in the middle of Ginza. I went after reading a recommendation by Jeoldae Migak (“Absolute Palate”).
I ordered the red bean ice cream (ice cream, round two!)
It was delicious. One scoop of ice cream + a little red bean paste + two rice dumplings for 700 yen feels a bit expensive, but if you get
ice cream this good right in the heart of Ginza, I suppose it’s worth it.
Moving on, I had lunch at Horaiya, a famous tonkatsu restaurant in Ueno. I forgot to take a photo of the entrance here.
The tonkatsu from the 2,900-yen hire-katsu (pork fillet) set meal. Rice and miso soup come with it.
It costs three times as much as ordinary tonkatsu, but the meal wasn’t all that satisfying. The tonkatsu here was less like tonkatsu
and more like a pork steak. How it can be so light even though it’s deep-fried… The meat itself is first-rate,
but because there’s no greasiness it didn’t really go with the cabbage. If you go expecting a regular tonkatsu, you might be disappointed.
Traveling alone always leaves me with thin content. You need to order a variety of dishes to properly
judge a restaurant, and if the one thing you happen to order isn’t good, it’s hard to know how to rate the place. Well, even so,
Japan is better than most. You can go to a bar and drink alone without looking pitiful ^_^;; Great country.