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Visiting Union Gospel Mission
John Chow, Stephen Fung, Greg Morgan and I were invited down to UGM today to have some lunch and hear about some of the new stuff they’ve been doing lately. We’re always glad to go down to UGM as well as help them raise some funds to help folks in need over the holidays.
Read MoreSushi Dai @ Tsukiji Fish Market
I’ve eaten a lot of great food in my lifetime. I’ve blown $60 on a burger before. I’ve eaten signature dishes by 10 of Vancouver’s best restaurants in a row. The Dot Com Pho Crew and I even managed to eat out of a toilet. However, I can honestly say that yesterday was one of my favorite meals…ever.
I know this is long, detailed and there are lots of pictures…but bear with me. This restaurant is epic.
There are lots of amazing sushi restaurants in Japan but Sushi Dai, located in the famed Tsukiji Fish Market is the Mecca of sushi, somewhere that all raw fish enthusiasts (I’m sure that’s an official thing…) should make a pilgrimage to at least once in their lifetime. However, expect to wait a long time in line as others like us have made the same spiritual journey. There are many others in the same area in Tsukiji. In fact, Daiwa Sushi, which is three or four stalls down from Sushi Dai, had a long line as well but apparently Sushi Dai is the sushi restaurant.
The whole place is no bigger than my apartment. There are only about 14 seats at the counter where three sushi chefs prepare your meal right in front of your eyes.
I woke up at 5am due to anticipation…and necessity. Tsujiki opens early in the morning with the fish auction starting at about 4:30am. Most restaurants in the market open at 5am as well and close at 2pm, just after lunch service. This means unbelievably fresh fish brought in the same morning. I set out at about 6:30am to meet Ms. Danielle, who was in Tokyo for the day before heading out to the rest of Japan.
Not surprisingly, I got lost…twice. Once when trying to find Danielle’s hotel and again when we were trying to find the market, which is a 15 minute walk from the nearest JR line station. As Danielle quickly found out, Tokyo streets are nearly devoid of all signs and after asking some folks on the street how to get to one of the city’s biggest attractions (Tsukiji Market), I could tell she was starting to believe my theory that even the locals don’t quite know where they are.
Upon arrival at about 9:20am, an Astro Boy looking dude greeted us and brought the bad news: the wait would be about two hours. Since we came all this way, there was no chance we were turning back then or going to one of the other sushi restaurants. No, we were determined that this was the one.
About two hours of standing around and getting to know nearly everyone in line, we finally got inside. The restaurant is cramped but has fantastic ambiance as all the sushi chefs greet you loudly. Even though it’s a huge tourist attraction, it feels like a neighborhood spot.
Let’s get started with the food. Danielle and I both ordered the “trust the chef” meal. I’m sure they mean chef’s special. At 3670 yen for a 11 pieces plus one roll, it’s not exactly cheap but we’re not scrooges.
We got the tamago (sweet egg) first. It was served hot, which is a bit different from the usual cool ones. It was quite good but I wasn’t blown away. It’s difficult to do too much with the most basic of sushi toppings, though.
However, those guys really know how to start with a bang. o-toro (fattiest of the fatty tuna) was next and it was the best tuna I’ve ever had. The whole piece melts in your mouth. If it wasn’t for the rice, I wouldn’t even need to chew. It tasted fresh and rich in flavor. We don’t get this kind of tuna back in Vancouver…with the gorgeous color and marbling. A beautiful piece of fish.
Next up was suzuki (sea bass). I’ve had sea bass before but not as sushi. I watched as the chef prepared the fish, squeezing a bit of lime juice before giving it to us, specifically telling us “No sauce.” The lime juice gives the delicate fish a great zest, which is sort of a different sushi experience. At this point, I ditched the soy sauce altogether…as I’m sure any would just be a disservice to the caliber of fish we were being served.
Tai is red snapper. There’s a big difference when snapper is done properly and when it’s not. Tai that isn’t quite fresh or has been frozen for quite awhile tastes fishy and has a strange, rubbery texture. None of that here. The fish doesn’t melt like the o-toro but it is still extremely good.
There were three stand-outs in the meal for me. The o-toro is one. The uni (sea urchin) was the second. I’ve NEVER had uni this amazing. While sea urchin at a lesser degree of freshness tends to be overly mushy, taste a bit rank and looks like it’s covered in a sort of mucus, this was sweet with a very…uh…”ocean-y” taste to it. Amazing uni. By far the best I’ve ever tasted. No preservatives. Never frozen. Just pure awesome.
Next was a piece of magurozuke, which is marinated tuna. The sauce is a sort of sweet soy and the fresh tuna has incredible texture. It doesn’t have the fat content of the o-toro so it won’t melt but this old school way of preparing the fish still tastes great.
The akagai (red clam) was the third stand-out for me. It was so fresh it was still moving! I’ve never had a clam this delicious in my life. Clams are usually very chewy but this was as soft as chewing through the egg. I was so blown away by this that I almost ordered it rather than the o-toro for my last piece.
I’m not usually a fan of aji (mackerel) as when it’s not perfectly fresh, it tends to have an intense fishy taste. This piece was still intense but not fishy at all. It had a great aroma too. Our chef told us that this was a great time for fresh mackerel and it shows. A fantastic taste to this fish when it is as fresh as possible.
Some fellow foodies told me about the shiraebi (baby shrimp) beforehand. I didn’t know what to think since I’ve never had this before and assumed that it would be the same as regular shrimp but I was really wrong. The texture is slightly gloopy but they have a strong, fresh sweetness.
Kajiki (swordfish) is another fish I’ve eaten before but never as sushi. I can’t really put the taste into words but it is delicious. No, the chef didn’t mess up the rice…I did that because I was so eager to eat it that I forgot to take a picture before picking it up with my chopsticks.
The roll came next. The first is a sort of shellfish with cucumber and the second is diced chu-toro (mid-range fatty tuna, with o-toro being the best and toro being regular fatty tuna). I couldn’t taste much in the shellfish, honestly but the chu-toro was awesome. Dicing it just makes it melt in your mouth faster.
The last was anago (sea eel, steamed…I think). The flavor is nearly the same as unagi with the same sweetness from the fish and the sauce but the texture…it’s so soft that it just disintegrates. The light and fluffiness is incredible.
For our last piece, the chef lets us pick whichever piece we wanted. Danielle and I both went with the o-toro, even though I was so torn between that, the clam and the sea urchin. I was almost sad at this point as the meal was ending but I couldn’t be happier that I was eating such incredible, epic-win, ultra sushi. Danielle and I even discussed the possibility of ordering another $37 meal but we felt sorry for the folks standing outside in the sweltering heat so we snapped a couple more shots and left.
At $37, this isn’t the cheapest way to get sushi. Heck, if you want to order by the piece, each ranges from $3 (for most) to $7 (for the o-toro…with the good stuff like uni and akagai at around $5) per piece. However, it is BY FAR the best sushi I’ve ever had and probably the best place on the planet…period. I honestly don’t see how it could get better and fresher as the source is mere feet away from the restaurant and the chefs are masters, incredibly hospitable and one even spoke some English!
This was a near spiritual experience for me and I’m sure it would be for anyone that loves sushi. If you come to Tokyo, you MUST go. Don’t even think about it (as so many people outside in line were)…just trust the chef and go with the set meal. They’re not always the same things as the menu changes depending on the seasonal ingredients but they’re always guaranteed to be good. I was amazed by the freshness of the ingredients.
Even the miso soup (with chunks of fish…in Danielle’s. All I got was bones) was great. I was on the verge of tears, the meal was so good. I wrote a lot here but my words simply can’t do justice to the outstanding food served at Sushi Dai. As I still have another month and a half here in Tokyo, I will be back again…at least once.
I just don’t know how I’m going to deal with not having this place once I go home…I don’t even want to think about it.
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- 42 Comments
- In Food and Fine Dining, Photography, Travel
I can’t wait two hours! Don’t they have take-out???
ReplyI’m a big fan of sushi… but honestly, the only sushi I eat is salmon and SOMETIMES tuna. I’m not very adventurous when it comes to strange fish haha, I feel like I wouldn’t appreciate the restaurant fully if I were to go.
Replydude . . looks like a lot fun . . . . jealous
ReplyVery jealous as well…I’m a huge fan of sushi but most of the places here in the Midwest aren’t serving the freshest of fish. Toro is one of my favorites so I can only imagine how good the variety was that you had there.
ReplyI love sushi!!!! Over the years, I’ve become very adventurous. You can only eat so many Dragon, Caterpillar and Firecracker rolls before you start looking for some new!
ReplyDerek, try Oysi in Downtown Chicago - it’s killer! It’s not a traditional sushi place (which I prefer) but they have some awesome super-white tuna!
Replyi went there when i was in japan last sept. if you switch to tokyo metro there is a station that is right beside the tsukiji fish market (and that’s exactly what the station name is)
i ordered the chef’s special as well and it was well worth it. if you order sake, they will give you a side dish of live squid in soy sauce and that’s incredible as well. i remember ordering all the prawn sushi that have on the side to try them all out. incredible.
there is one more thing that you MUST try as well, i saw a local ordering this huge grilled scallop and they serve it to you by wrapping a piece of dry sea weed around it. the size of the scallop is a bit smaller than the size of my palm.. but it’s huge and thick! i forgot the name of it but try to describe it to the chef that speaks english. the chef that i had last time was the one closest to the door, the same one you had in the pix above.
ReplyBeing so close to Chicago, you’d think that I get downtown with some regularity but it has been awhile. The last time I was downtown was for the SOBCon event at the beginning of May.
But thanks for the recommendation, I will put this on my list.
ReplyThat looks incredible. You will never be able to each sushi in Vancouver again.
ReplyNo prob, it’s really the only sushi joint that I’ve been to in Chicago, but it’s one of my favorite place in the country - the food it really great, but I’ve had a lot of great times there with friends so that might be a factor too…
ReplyLive squid? Wow, I’ve seen people eat that but I don’t know if I’m that adventurous….
ReplyDefinitely something I’m trying to find but I think it’s more plentiful in Korea (or Korean restaurants) than in Japan.
Replywell worth the wait
great write-up ed! of course, it’s impossible to truly describe the incredibleness of the sushi…but job well done. i don’t know if i’ll ever have sushi that compares unless i come back to japan. btw, i saw pictures of the uni from daiwa sushi, and it looked like the overflowy messy goop that i normally see. you can try it if you like, and let me know how it fares 
lucky lucky ed….. i’m soooo jealous…..!!
ReplyI don’t know why but tuna in North America is white/greyish-pink while tuna in Japan is a deep red…or red with rich white fat veins when it’s the good stuff.
Different species, perhaps?
ReplyI forgot to mention, Saman…there are very few places here that serve those kinds of rolls. Just about everywhere here serves only nigiri sushi. No, there are no California rolls anywhere.
ReplyI noticed that too. My guess is that they’re not the same kind of tuna.
ReplyI’ve had live lobster in Vancouver. The meat doesn’t really move anymore, but the feelers on the head still twitch when they bring it to the table. This was at Dai Masu on Cambie and Broadway… doesn’t exist anymore, though the Metrotown location might do it too.
ReplyYou can ask AznSiR on REVscene (uh…his name is something else now. Owner of Ebisu…) about that. His family owns the Daimasu chain.
ReplyI thought that was you in that picture, but I was like…nah…WTF is she doing in Tokyo.
ReplyYou didn’t watch the video, did you? LOL
ReplyI thought as much, I would imagine that many of my favorite items are Americanized….
ReplyTuna belly is red!
ReplyThe Broadway/Cambie Dai Masu merged with… Kamei Royale (?) for the “new” Kamakura (?) restaurant on West Broadway near Heather (?). As you can tell, I’m so clear about the details.
ReplyWow I have never seen Sushi like that I am not very adventurous when it comes to Sushi I only eat Salmon and Tuna, which I love. Going to have to try out some other fish next time I do Sushi.
Replyed, that fatty tuna belly looked AWESOME. man, i’m not sure i could ever eat at places like sui sha ya and tomokazu if i went to sushi dai. and it wouldn’t be due to health concerns either XD
Reply3700 yen is a steal if you ask me!
O-toro for the effin WIN. However, many Japanese prefer chu-toro as it isn’t purely fat.
Thanks for the heads up on timing though…there was even a wait shortly after 9? I will remember to go earlier.
ReplyI’m very picky when it comes to sushi, but that’s my Vancouver standards. Once I taste that kind of stuff, I don’t think I could ever come back.
ReplyIts not a meal, its an experience. Lucky you!
ReplyLooks great Ed! This is what i love about living in Japan.
ReplyI lived in Japan for 4 years but never ate at Tsukiji.
There are so many great sushi places. Even the local chains like “Bikkuri Sushi” are probably 10 times better than the 5 star restaurants located in NYC. Heavenly service with no tips or attitude.
ReplyIf you don’t have the time to go to Tsukiji, then you can try the Tsukiji Sushi Ko chain for some quality sushi. While not quite on the level of Sushi Dai, the ingredients are fresh and the service is friendly. I went to the one in Shinjuku but there are several branches all over the place. 1200 yen gets you a very good set meal.
ReplyGreat writeup.
Although, you should know that Sushi Dai is really only like middle of the pack in terms of sushi quality in Japan. It is great value, but not quite there in terms of the “best”.
If you are truly looking for the best of the best, check out Sukiyabashi Jiro or Sushi Mizutani. Cost is quite up there ($300US/person), but they can do things with raw fish that I never thought possible. Both have earned 3 Michelin stars.
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