Everything we'd read about trips to Tokyo said the Tskuiji Fish Market is a must see. In fact about a week before we left for our trip, we saw a Todd English show where he covered the market. After seeing it I decided that it was really worth leaving the hotel at 4am to get there to see the big tuna auctions.
We headed out to the market our first morning in Tokyo. It turns out the market wasn't too far from our hotel. We could have walked if we'd had a good lay of the land, but decided to take a cab. It only cost 8 yen.
The driver let us off near an underpass and we had no clue where to go. We walked around a bit, dodging men in rubber boots riding this little forklifts called "Mighty Cab". There were everywhere and a little too close for comfort. I thought we'd be hit by a Mighty Cab, but these guys were skilled at driving these things, weaving around each other and around styrofoam boxes of the various catches of the day.
Clay said, "I feel like I just walked into somebody's office." I agreed. We weren't really welcome there. These guys are trying to get their work done and here we are, walking around with cameras, taking pictures of squid and octopus for our own amusement.
We never did find the auction since we didn't see the map of the market at the entrance. Our cab had dropped us off right next to the map, but we didn't see it. After walking around for about a half hour we gave up on the auction and turned our attention to some sushi breakfast. We made our way out of the inner market area to the outer market and found some places to eat. A few places had lines of people waiting in front. We picked a place with a line, figuring if these people were waiting here at 5am for food, then it must be good. Two hours later we were sitting in a small sushi restaurant that held about a baker's dozen worth of people. In New York, I'd never wait in a line for 2 hours to get into a restaurant. When I pass the people waiting outside Magnolia Bakery for cupcakes I think their insane. Yeah, the cupcakes are good, but I ain't standing in line for them. But hey, we're on vacation and it's 5am and we're hungry and here so what the hell.
Best sushi I ever had in my life. The staff greeted us with the typical welcome you get when you walk into any restaurant in Tokyo. I love it. It really makes you feel like they're happy to have you. We had eel. We had tuna. We had sea urchin and lots of other fish I can't name. It was all fantastic and I shall be ruined from this day forward for sushi. Any sushi I ever have will pale in comparison to what we got at the Tskuiji Market. I have no idea what the restaurant was called, but I took a picture of the sign. What is the name of this place?
