A vendor sits in her tiny office in the early dawn at Tsukiji Fish Market.
Yesterday, about 3:45 AM, I awoke still in Tokyo, Japan…and prepared myself for a trip to the world-famous Tsukiji Fish Market. I took the elevator to the lobby at 4:40 to meet my team thinking I was five minutes early…when I left the elevator and entered the lobby…I found Ed, Jeff and Patrick eagerly waiting for me…without much fanfare, off we went in a waiting taxi…
When we arrived at the market, it was still dark…but as my pal Ed said…once we entered the maze of refrigerated trucks, vendor stalls and holding areas…you would think it was 5:45 PM…an incredible amount of activity is required to unload, process and ultimately sell the thousands of pounds of sea creatures consumed by humanity. And boy what an assortment…several creatures I had never seen prior were available for purchase…As much as I was struck by the assortment, I was equally stuck by the organization, efficiency and cleanliness of the facility…these people have their shit together. Never did it seem that a moment was lost or an opportunity squandered. I can only imagine the assortment of buyers who roll through to purchase for restaurants or whomever…
A waiting guest looking in at the amazing Sushi Dai offerings...
After watching some of the tuna processing, the subsequent auction of those fish and some of the vendors prepare some product for sale…we made our way to one of the most interesting spots I’ve been too in some time…Sushi Dai.
Luckily we were there quite early…so our wait out front was short…and well worth it. After being seated at the counter, our order was confirmed by one of the three chefs working the line. I chose the standard offering, for 2,100Â¥.
The pieces are served directly on the wooden counter that flanks the cold display case featuring the very fish you eat. Ed, who is a vegan, politely browsed the surrounding shops while Jeff, Patrick and I watched and gorged on a simply fantastic assortment of eel, roe, tuna, scallop, clam, squid, octopus and a couple of things I’m simply not sure of.
Man, Kirin and sushi that's still moving...good stuff!
Accompanied by a warm cup of green tea and a couple of short glasses of Kirin, every item was very tastey…the fatty tuna, or Toro, was like nothing I’ve had before. At one point, Patrick, who is essentially a regular and was greeted as such by the staff…was describing a previous visit during which the chefs had placed an item before he and his guest…and then offered a phonetic pronunciation heard as: “Arrive”. Patrick and his guest looked down at the piece in front of them and realized that it was moving…and while they heard the word “Arrive” the clear intent was meant to inform them the item was in fact…”Alive”.
No sooner had Patrick related the story…than had a piece of sushi landed on his section of the bench…that was indeed moving…you get what you pay for w/the Premium selection…
By 6:30 AM the line was an hour deep, my tummy was full and I was ready to take on the rest of the day…if you’re in Tokyo…I highly recommend the experience…
