Tsukiji – The Best Sushi in the World
When asked to name words associated with Japan, ‘fish’, ‘sushi’, or even ‘sashimi’ are likely to make most people’s top 10 list. If you are like me, and love seafood, there is probably no better place than Tsukiji Fish Market to indulge in the freshest, most delicious, mouth-watering, and BEST sushi in the world.
The biggest attraction at Tsukiji Fish Market is probably the tuna auction. However, be prepared: A visit takes dedication! The tuna auction starts in the wee hours at 5am, meaning you must drag yourself up at 3 in the morning, line up outside in the freezing cold for an hour, transfer to a small room with over a hundred other people and wait there for another half an hour.
You then stand in a smelly warehouse for 15 minutes to see dead, frozen fish being sold. As unappealing as the procedures sound, the truth is, for a tourist who is keen to witness Japanese culture in action, that long-awaited 15 minutes at the end is definitely an eye-opening experience!
Admission into the auction is limited to 120 visitors per day on a first-come first serve basis. 30 minutes before the auction starts, visitors are led inside a small room where they are handed bright neon vests and a pamphlet with guidelines on attending the auction. Visitors are split into two groups of 60 to enter at different time slots. My friend and I were in the first group. We were led by a guide to the off-limits inner market where the auction is held.
At first glance, the auction area looks a bit disorganised. Among the rows and rows of tuna there are people everywhere. Some are walking around shining flashlights on the fish and poking at them with odd-looking metal sticks. There are photographers standing around in the corners doing nothing in particular, and random workers walking around looking equally as bewildered as the tourists.
Nothing happens for the first few minutes then, all of a sudden, a man walks close to one of the tuna and rings a cow bell. People gather around him, and the next thing you know, he’s chanting at the speed of light! Even though I had no idea what he was rapidly chanting, we felt stressed out as we witnessed buyers bidding. He talked so fast! Each auction ended before we even realized what was happening. We managed to watch about 3 auctions during our time in the auction area.
When our visit time was up, the guide led us out to a different gate. It was this 2-minute walk that made me realize the market truly is an acutal market, and not just some show put on for tourists. Workers on tiny delivery carts zoomed through the area way too fast, weaving between the traffic of much larger vehicles regardless of whether they were stalled or not.
People crossed in front of moving vehicles everywhere, avoiding being hit by mere inches, yet nobody seemed scared – except the tourists. Wide-eyed, amazed, but utterly terrified, we hurried along behind our guide back to the gate, trying our best to stay alive during our walk through the busy inner market. It really is off-limits to visitors for a good reason!
If unfortunately, you cannot make it up in time for the tuna auction, a visit to the outer market – opened to the public at all times – is a must! Hidden behind the blocks of retail stores selling anything from fish knives to freshly cut fish, are some of the best sushi restaurants in Japan. Most of them serve fresh fish that has just been brought in that morning, so compared to the average sushi restuarant, the restuarants at Tsukiji are already loads better! However, since we had gotten up so early, we wanted to justify our efforts by trying only the best of the best: Sushi Dai.
Although there are many restuarants lining along the alleways of the outer market, it is not difficult to find Sushi Dai – just look for the only restaurant with a line-up at 6 in the morning. Since coming to Japan, I have tried eating sushi at many different restaurants, but the sushi at Sushi Dai was so much better!
You can choose between ordering one of two set menus. I opted for the more expensive one (around 4,000円) while my friend chose the other (around 3,000円). I definitely recommend the more expensive option!
While waiting in the line-up, the waitress will come around to ask you to choose between one of the two sets offered. The only difference she will describe between is that the more expensive one comes with 2 extra pieces of fish. This is quite misleading. In fact, while both options serve the same line-up of fish, the more expensive option offers the better, more delicious part of the fish.
While all the sushi was absolutely delicious, my favourite was definitely the toro (fatty tuna belly). I’ve never really liked tuna that much, preferring salmon instead. But toro is just so good!
Sadly, because we had to return to our hotel to check out in time, we could not explore the outer market after our indulgement. If you have time, and are only planning on staying in Tokyo for the day, I recommend checking out the many seafood stores lining up along the streets to bring a freshly cut piece of fish back home!
Find out more about the market and how to get there on the Tsukiji website.
