Tsujiki market is a place that is a must for first time visitors to Tokyo. Going early (read: 6am) is a must if you want to watch the fish auctions. Shan't bother to blog too much about the place itself, since there are probably a million blogs out there about it already.
Just one note: be careful when walking around and please avoid the little motor carts zooming around. Apparently some careless tourist got in the way and was hit by them. After that, they considered closing the market (its a serious place of business after all!) and I believe they did so for a while. Fortunately for the millions of tourists who haven't yet been there, they decided to reopen it to the public. But only the frozen tuna ones are opened, not the fresh ones.
Anyway the point of interest for *Shinta and I (having been there quite a few times already), is not wandering the narrow lanes of the fish market, but rather, the rows of shophouses just next to the main market. We go early, usually leaving our hotel around 5am (Shinjuku station is already packed at that time!) and hitting there around 5.30 or 6am.
You can easily identify the 2 most popular shops there by the long long queues which start forming around 5am. Sushi Daiwa and Dai Sushi. We usually go to the former, although I suppose there's no reason not to try the latter. The wait is around 30min to 45min even that early in the morning. People are orderly and wait patiently in queue. No such thing as "choping" extra spaces for friends. One person one seat. We even saw this driver waiting in line, only to exchange place with a rich looking lady dressed in formal japanese wear as he neared the front!
Once you've made your way to the front, squeeze into this really small counter restaurant which seats about 8 to 10 pax at the most. The place is really narrow with your back just inches from the wall. Lean forward and squeeze yourself in whenever someone moves in and out.
If you're not picky about your sushi, its easiest to just order the breakfast set. The uni (sea urchin) was very fresh and didn't have the too fishy small which puts a lot of people off it.
I'm not sure what to say about the toro, except that its fantastic. Huge slabs of tuna belly draped over a small ball of rice. Melts in your mouth!
The other fishes and prawn were also exceptionally fresh. They get the fish fresh everyday from the market just next to them, and that's why its so crowded early in the morning. Go late and nothing will be left and the good ones are all closed!
A very very notable difference about "real" sushi in Japan, is the proportion of fish to rice. The small wad of rice is there simply to support the fish, which should nicely drape over the ends of the rice. Eating sushi in other countries is very frustrating because the huge dollops of rice simply drown the key ingredient, and of course you're too full of rice after a few pieces to eat more.
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