‘Thou shall not simply eat sushi in Tokyo.’. That is golden advice from one of my Tokyo friends who keeps telling me to not just eat ‘good enough’ sushi in any of the stores. He recommends me to go to the Tsukiji market and find a shop named Sushi Dai. It is quite easy to spot, find out where people queue and I will find the place.
So I am planning to wake up at 4 AM, and start to walk to the Tsukiji market. It is just 15 mins walk from our hotel, and we have to begin a queue from morning to enjoy a good breakfast. Yeah, this is the first time that I need to wake up so early to have breakfast. I am excited and have high expectations for this.
My wife, on the other hand, really excited to walk around Tokyo in the morning. She loves the sunrise in Tokyo. I know Tsukiji Market from discovery travel. One of the TV Host is visiting Japan and keep mention of this famous tuna auction place.
When we arrive, we are surprised by the crowd that gathered around the restaurant in the early morning. Seriously they had come early than me, and I am shocked by this unusual phenomenon. So we quickly go to the end of the line and start the queue and wait for our turn. Meanwhile, it is entertaining to see how the world-famous fish market performs its business in the morning. I even see huge tuna, which is as wide as my half height.
Prepare for Long Queue at Sushi Dai
It is one and a half-hour after we queue up and we are still not able to go in and enjoy the food, but we are getting closer to the restaurant, and behind us, there is this significant number of people who queue up with the same intention with us. Most of the line are those people who want to dine at Sushi Dai.
Thirty minutes have passed, and we are finally pretty near the restaurant. We can see the restaurant banner with people inside. I can understand that this place took a long hour as the place only able to accommodate roughly around 10 – 12 peoples at one time when we are close to the restaurant, one of the waiters collecting the order from us, which to speed up time. We choose a complete set, which consists of 10 pieces of sushi and green tea. Bear in mind that the place does not accept credit cards, so you need to prepare cash.
Two hours have passed, and finally, we manage to secure the two-person seat. I can’t believe that I am a queueing for two hours standing outside to eat sushi. It makes me wonder about what kind of sushi that people willing to queue for a mere two hours. The reviews on the internet and also a recommendation from a friend that I trust it makes me still line up and waiting for my turn.
Let the Feast Begin
The restaurant is cramped, get used with a shoulder to shoulder with other people. This environment does not decrease our appetite and others as well, besides me is local Japanese from Kyoto, and he shares to us that he frequent comes to this restaurant whenever he is in Tokyo, to enjoy good sushi. We got to know him more throughout our meal.
When the first sushi comes to my table, I am a bit skeptical about it since it does not have some distinctive look or anything. During tasting time, woow it is indeed good!!!! I never taste sushi as good as this in my life! It is fresh, and the portion of rice and sashimi is just right!!! It does not need to add some soya sauce or wasabi as the chef already put a perfect proportion of soya sauce and wasabi.
After finishing our ten sushi course, we have one free sushi, and I choose fatty tuna since it is hard to get outside Japan. I can’t believe that this restaurant, Sushi Dai, will be my top list of sushi in the world. I think since it located at the Tsukiji market, that probably the ingredient is fresh and high class.
If you don’t want a meal set, you can order a-la-cart. All in Japanese, so you need to be able to read and speak Japanese to communicate with the waiters. The chef kind enough to pass the sashimi set above to all around the table, some take pictures, some people admire the beauty of sushi arrangement.
It is indeed worth to queue for long hours, and if you have not tried to dine there, you should put into your top priority on your list. The place is easy to find. Once you arrived at the Tsukiji market, you need to ask around where is the Sushi Dai, and most of the people will tell you the direction.
I rate this place having three stars; it is a must-go-restaurant in Tokyo that you need to put on your list. The experience that you are having in this place will make you remember them forever, and the taste reference for sushi will be different after you dine there.
Look below for the maps of Sushi Dai as they are moving away from Tsukiji Market
https://goo.gl/maps/vK1xwaZHVtK3Wobu6
PS:
Check Kamon at Imperial hotel for the legendary Matsusaka beef.
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