OMAKASE

James here taking over for a guest blog. Well I just got back from Tokyo and here is an account of my morning on Saturday.


What to do when your totally jet-lagged and wide awake at 3 am? Simple, go to the Tsukiji Central Fish Market for a sushi breakfast. Now this place is the craziest, busiest, most insane place I’ve ever been to. As a foreigner in Japan there is a certain amount of respect and hospitality granted, this all gets thrown out the door when you get in the way of their fish. The pre-dawn hustle involves men on gas powered mini trucks, that look like barrels with a flat bed, coming at you from every direction with no regard for this white boys safety. I have never feared for my live quite as much as at the fish market. Dreams of being crushed and killed by one of these trucks, my body cut up by the saws they use to cut the tuna, finally to be sold off as low grade food source. What can I say, sleep is important to the stability of the mind.

So after 2 hours of fear and loathing at the fish market I finally found my way to the restaurants. Mind you fellow travelers, they are located on the outside of the market, and they don’t open before 5. This will save you lots of time wandering around getting lost. Now these restaurants are pretty bare bones sushi bars. Seats for maybe 10-12 people with just enough space behind the seats to enter and exit. Upon seating you are greeted with a cup of the hottest green tea ever and a menu that means nothing if your Japanese isn’t up to snuff. Luckily the only Japanese you need to know at a sushi bar is ‘Omakase’ or chef’s choice. This particular meal presented me with 13 pieces of sushi, a tuna roll, and a bowl of miso. A lot of fish to be eating for sure especially before the sun comes up.


First up is the tuna course, mouth wateringly tender slices of various cuts of tuna.


Then mackerel, red snapper, and I believe halibut.


Third up is the shellfish, including shrimp (in this case cooked, but much better raw), clam, and something else I can’t remember. Maybe scallop? Next up is the roll consisting of straight up tuna on the one end, and a mix of tuna and cucumber on the other. Also at some point a piece of eel finds its way onto my leaf plate.

Finally squid, salmon roe, and sea urchin. It was the first time I had ever had salmon roe and sea urchin, and they are both amazing! At another meal I had my first living specimen. Not alive in the understanding that an oyster is alive, but alive in the sense that it is moving as you put it in your mouth. I still have no idea what it was although I have been referring to it as some member of the squid family.

What can one say about a meal of this magnitude? The only way you will ever find a fresher meal is if you become a fisherman/sushi chef combo super human. Even though traditionally these restaurants serve the practical purpose of feeding the workers of the market, a giant sushi breakfast was out of ordinary for me. But I went back 2 days later at 5:30 in the morning before flying home.