Sushi Breakfast

I was so tired last night after wandering around Harajuku in search of pork dinner that I crashed at around 1030. This meant that I would probably wake up really early the next day.

Sure enough I found myself wide awake at 530. Fortunately I was able to put this to good use since I had been thinking about going to Tsukiji Market at some point for a fresh-off-the-boat Sushi breakfast.

Tsukiji is famous for its 5AM Tuna Auction where freshly caught tuna are auctioned off to the best restaurants in Tokyo (and the world). I've seen the auction in film and on TV and it's pretty amazing to watch. The tuna are much bigger than you expect at hundreds of pounds a head (or is that fin).

I'm not going to be early enough for the auction but I will get there early enough to get into the 2 hour line at Sushi Dai, considered Tsukiji's best fish restaurant.

In the early morning the Subway isn't too crowded. There are a few salarymen heading into work and you can actually get a seat on the train. There are also some schoolchildren in their weird uniforms. Girls in sailor suits and boys in double breasted jackets and short shorts (yes, the boys are the ones in short shorts). I presume that wearing these embarrassing outfits helps instill a sense of inferiority in the children that helps ease them into a life in the extremely hierarchical and authoritative Japanese society.

I get to the market at around 710 and join the already fairly lengthy line. Sushi Dai can only seat 12 people at one time (it's just a sushi counter) and it takes about 30 minutes to be served. There are around 40 people ahead of me so it looks as if I'm in for a long wait.

There are lots of Sushi counters jn Tsukiji, most of which have no line ups and most of which will charge less than 4000Y for 12 pieces if Sushi. Why then am I waiting in line? Well Sushi Dai is still considered the best restaurant in Tsukiji (it's not just coasting on its reputation and review in the Lonely Planet). Plus when I was here last time my brother and I opted for one if the anonymous places and it was just OK. Besides, what else was I going to do between 7 and 9 AM.

I end up passing the time talking to two girls from Malaysia, Aneesa and Eddie. Aneesa is an inhouse lawyer for Tesco (the UK based supermarket chain). We compared notes on our trips to the Fuji region. They went to Fuji Five Lakes which is even closer to the mountain than Hakone.

At around 910 we were let in to the extremely cramped restaurant. Pretty much everyone orders the chef's choice. 10 pieces of sushi plus 4 pieces of maki (sushi roll) plus one more piece of the customer's choice. This costs around 50$ Canadian.

The meal is paced out very leisurely. You are never given more than two pieces of sushi at a time (and usually only one). The pieces include semi fatty tuna, sea urchin, sea eel, mackerel, salmon roe. They are all amazingly good. Each piece is super fresh with its own unique taste and texture.

For our final piece Aneesa and I both select ootoro (fatty tuna) perhaps the most prized of all cuts of tuna. The fish actually melts in your mouth it's so delicate.

As it turned out this was my only sushi meal in Japan. Fortunately I made sure it was a great one.

After the meal we did the traditional walk through of the Tsukiji Fish Market looking at all of the stalls with their fresh catches of the day.