Sushi Dai, Tokyo

I had been adequately warned about the super long queues at Sushi Dai prior to heading to Tsukiji Market, and was advised to get something to eat prior to embarking on that venture. No better place then, than at the market itself. This gyu don shop along the main street was full of people, who ate quickly and left promptly without lingering.  

They had a cow guts don, filled to the brim with tripe, intestine, and goodness knows what other offal, topped with finely sliced negi, which we ordered to fuel us for the long road ahead. The name, I learnt, was hor-mon don. 

Goodness in a bowl. 

Everyone stands up to eat.

A closer look at all the guts, half of which I couldn't identify. It was a case of just eat, think later. 

Best eaten with beer, even at 10 in the morning. 

There were chewy parcels of konnyaku that soaked up the beefy flavour so well. It was even better with chilli pepper powder. 

All fueled up and ready to begin the long wait. This was the front of the queue.

So we turned the corner, and found the rest of the queue

And obediently got into line with everyone else

Two long hours later, we finally made it close enough to photograph the sign above the door

Yup that's where we were all right

2 sets available, one for 2500Y, the other for 3900Y

They have instructions in English. After queuing for 2 hours, it was a no-brainer that we would get the 3900Y set. 

So close you can even smell the food

FINALLY WE MADE IT INSIDE. And got seated. 

All the stuff on display inside

The excitement of being ushered inside and told to sit down had to be managed, in the super small space 

The view I had 

And we were off! First up, it was otoro seasoned with soy sauce which was pretty orgasmic. 

The miso soup was so tasty, no idea what they had in there

This was tai, or sea bream

Followed by a tamago yaki which was super smooth and moist and sweet

Our super friendly sushi chef

Then kinmedai, or golden eye bream. 

Then uni came out

It doesn't get any fresher than this

Then it was another serve of maguro, also marinated with soy

Followed by this clam that was folded by the chef to unfold in front of us. Nice and crunchy.

The sister had a sanma sushi instead of the clam, since the unfolding gave her the creeps

Then it was saba, with some seaweed on top

Followed by ikura - ooh those sweet crunchy balls

There was also aji. 

And maki to end off with

Before you end off, you're given a choice of your favourite seafood for your last piece of sushi, as well as this menu to choose anything separately. 

This sweet and moist anago was to die for.

And for my last item, I chose awabi. This was divine.

Pretty much the perfect sushi meal, but not quite. There was still room for one more. 

So I ordered a hotate off the a la carte menu. 

It was absolutely perfect. Sweet, succulent and super fresh. 

This sounds so cliched, but Sushi Dai gets my vote for best sushi ever. I've never thought it was worth the money to pay for Jiro or his 3 starred counterparts, when you can get such good quality for less than 4000Y. Besides, my uncultured tongue can't tell the x10 difference between a 4000Y and 40000Y meal anyway. Sushi Dai wins hands down. 

http://www.tsukijigourmet.or.jp/22_sushidai/index.htm#02

Breakfast in Melbourne Part 3 - Hammer & Tong and Campos

Perhaps it might be a wise thing to keep going with the blogging momentum, while I'm at it. The neglect of this blog can be mainly attributed to real life being too much fun, compared to sitting in front of a computer in the office, which makes the thought of heading back to work rather intimidating after getting used to sauntering into a cafe for brunch around 1030 in the morning. 

But I digress. Our next brekky adventure was at Hammer and Tong, an outfit located along the once-uber-hip-but-still-hanging-in-there Brunswick St near the Alexandra Parade end, opened by two alumni of Vue De Monde. It turned out to be one of our favourite brekky places, with deceptively simple menu descriptions but super good food.

During our first visit, we were seated in the back room. It filled up soon after we arrived. 

Some of the stuff on the menu

What the husband and I ordered our first time 

The wagyu +7 beef tri tip with herb salad, sticky truffle and madeira ($24), which I noticed was off the breakfast menu 2 weeks ago. A strange thing to have for brunch, but it sounded so good that we caved in. 

Duck egg, oyster mushrooms, watercress, brioche soldiers and truffle butter ($18).

BBQ corn cob, popcorn butter, chipotle, shredded pecorino cheese and lime ($9). A tad expensive for one corn cob at 9 bucks, but it was well executed. Everything blended well with the grilled corn flavour. 

So pretty. 

According to wikipedia, the tri-tip comes from the bottom sirloin subprimal cut, and it was a really tender cut.

The subsequent time we went, we ordered the corn and zucchini fritters with avocado, salsa, spinach and a poached egg ($17). 

I didn't enjoy this as much as the other dishes; it seemed a bit oily but that didn't stop me from finishing the entire plate. 

My favourite dish from the entire menu, however, had to be the soft shell crab burger ($12). 

The brioche bun was tender and soft, the crab was crispy and the shredded cabbage and coriander worked so well together. It was an amazing dish. 

The husband ordered a sausage and egg muffin with maple butter.

The maple butter was yummy but I couldn't quite shake the idea of this being very similar to the sausage and egg mcmuffin at maccas for a quarter of the price, sans microgreens. So this doesn't make it to the cards for a second try for me. 

Another place with a surprisingly good brekky is Campos. They've got excellent coffee and it was surprising to find out that their food was seriously good too. 

The classic Campos leaf. We deduced that the trainees must have had heck of a lot of practice trying to get the leaf right. 

Pea and mint fritters with an avocado spread and a lemon creme fraiche spread, with haloumi ($18). 

The execution was on a completely different level compared to the Hammer and Tong fritters. They weren't oily, and were perfectly crispy on the outside. Perhaps it was the type of breadcrumbs used; I'm guessing panko.

The wagyu Reuben with corned wagyu, sauerkraut and gouda cheese ($18)

Very very tasty. The memory of melted cheese on toasted sourdough, with the tartness of pickles and sauerkraut against soft beef slices was unforgettable. 

Good value for 11 bucks too

I managed to spot mint leaves, peas and leeks. Perhaps some potato too. I'm gonna give this a go at home. It matched the lemon creme fraiche and the haloumi perfectly. 

Hammer and Tong - www.hammerandtong.com.au
Campos Coffee - www.camposcoffee.com