The Hungry (Greedy) Hippo: Tokyo: Tsukiji Fish Market

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Tokyo: Tsukiji Fish Market

We landed in Haneda Airport on a very grey overcast day, and were whisked off to Tsukiji immediately by the very supportive BIL and sister who had checked the Tsukiji website and found out that it was the last day the market was open before the extended New Year holiday. Tsukiji was absolutely packed with Tokyo-ites doing their last minute shopping, and it was impossible for the BIL to find a parking lot. So there we were, bleary-eyed and sleep-deprived, in the middle of mayhem and madness trying to make sense of what was going on around us.

We had deliberately not eaten breakfast on the red-eye flight because we knew we had greater things in store for us...no way were we going to consume SATS omelette and a cold stale bread roll when the best sushi breakfast was just ahead of us. As well as about a zillion other tourists and Tokyo residents looking to get their last sushi fix of the year.

This shop - Oedo Sushi - looked very popular and the prices appeared reasonable. There was a lady working with crowd control who kept talking to us in Japanese (surely we looked like we understood every word she said) and pointing behind her.

Doh...it finally made sense. The end of the queue started around the corner. The chaps in front of the shop would have queued for at least an hour!

Given our current state of exhaustion, we were not about to attempt getting into a queue which should only be done when one is feeling mentally and emotionally stable, with lots of reading material. So we went to the shop next door and queued for....45 minutes. The couple in front of us could hardly contain their excitement when they were up against the glass door.

We spent our time intermittently blowing warm air into our freezing fingers and wondering what to order.

And pressed our noses against the glass as soon as we were first in line. It's amazing what people can do with a 3m by 5m shop space! Mental note to self: Do not use these dimensions when doing Commercial space simulations.

Finally we managed to squeeze our fat butts in. And waited longingly for our orders to come.

The husband's set, which came with various tuna cuts - including a chutoro which he enjoyed immensely - ama ebi, tamago and a weird shellfish.

My chirashi sushi set, which had a bit of everything.

My favourite shot of the morning. The ama ebi was amazingly fresh.

Breakfast cost us 4200 Yen, or around $65. Rather expensive by Singapore standards, but what the heck since we were on holiday. And we were most pleased with the freshness of the fish.

After eating, we decided to take a walk around the market. Saying it was chaotic was putting it mildly. It was full of people and motorised vehicles going in completely random directions.