Hey Hive!
I'm currently recounting our anniversary trip to Tokyo back in Feb 2023! It'd been at least 3 years since we visited Tokyo and the last time was pre-covid so we decided to go back and find some new places to explore while revisiting our favourite hot-spots.
Last week, we finished our long day of going on a bus tour to Gunma by going around Shinjuku and checking out the arcades and gaming merchandise!
They had a lot of cute stuff from different franchises and I was sorely tempted to get the plushies especially. I was surprised to see quite a range of Undertale merchandise as well!
And of course we ended with our favourite meal - a delicious bowl of Abura Soba!
But on to the next day!
8 Feb 2023. Wednesday.
We had a late start to this day since we were so tired from the long day before. By the time we left it was probably late lunch time.
But that meant that hopefully, the lunch crowd would be gone and we could maybe try a popular restaurant during the non-peak hours!
We headed to Tsukiji, famous for its fresh fish market and numerous seafood restaurants since I had to get my sushi fix.
When we arrived at the market there was a really long line for this fruit dessert shop for some reason. While everyone was eagerly queuing for their candied fruit skewers, I found myself less enthusiastic about this sweet treat. I never really understood the hype for these tanghulu since I rather just eat the fruit on its own.
The shop did have other fruit pastries as well, like strawberry cakes that looked quite regular but maybe they were really amazing or something. I wanted to get a pic of the store after the line died down but unfortunately after we finished lunch it was closed. I guess they must have sold out of everything.
Anyway, when in Japan there's only one place I will go to for my sushi fix and that's Sushi Zanmai!
Sushi Zanmai is a popular Japanese sushi restaurant chain known for its affordable and high-quality sushi, particularly its tuna selections. I remember seeing the videos of its founder and CEO, Kiyoshi Kimura, going to the wet market and bidding for the highest quality tuna for his restaurants.
There was still a short line even though we went during off-peak hours, which shows how popular and legit this restaurant is.
We were given a choice of whether to sit at the table or the counter and I would recommend getting the counter seats so you can see the masters at work preparing your sushi right in front of you.
They have quite the menu and tuna is definitely their specialty with the variety of tuna sushi they have.
It's been a while since we visited a Sushi Zanmai and we were surprised to see they have tablets for ordering now, when they used to use paper slips last time we were here.
It does make it a lot easier though since they have different languages available for tourists.
Other than tuna, they also have quite a range of other seafood to choose from for the nigiri sushi.
I've tried their tuna multiple times before but I just couldn't really get into it. I think it was just a bit too strong for my taste, and I prefer salmon a lot more. I was surprised to see they actually had Broiled Salmon nigiri sushi now, and with different toppings too! We decided to try the Salt, Pepper and Lemon version.
There were some interesting ones that we wanted to try, since we were here.
Of course they had some maki rolls as well, and I think these were probably one of the cheapest for how many rolls you get.
They also have various cold appetisers that we steered clear from since they didn't look that appetising to me.
They had some interesting sushi sets and sashimi bowls as well but I think they were pretty expensive. It's good if you're open to trying all sorts of sushi but I only wanted some specific ones.
They do have an extensive drink menu as well, but they also give tea or water for free so we didn't order any.
After we placed our order we waited patiently for the chef to prepare our sushi.
This was our first plate, with our favourites the salmon nigiri, anago eel (freshwater eel), and some new ones like the broiled salmon and okura sushi.
Since it'd been a while I decided to try their tuna again, and I ordered one of their special assortments of Gokujyo Bluefin Tuna, which included a Medium Fatty Tuna, Broiled Fatty Tuna and Takuan Reverse Roll.
I think I liked the broiled one better but overall it still tasted mostly like how I remembered it, i.e. a tad strong. It was still tasty, but I definitely still preferred salmon better.
We could see the chef blowtorching the eels right in front of us and it smelled so good.
But sadly the anago nigiri sushi we received wasn't torched as much as we would've liked. If we could speak Japanese fluently we probably would've asked for it to be torched a bit more. It was still good though.
The okura sushi was definitely one of the more unique ones I've tried. I didn't really like it though since it was too slimy for me. Granted I do like okura normally, but I don't think it matched the sushi rice since the rice is already quite sticky.
The reverse roll was quite okay since the tuna quantity was small and the rice and pickled vegetables mitigated the strong taste.
The best sushi we ate was definitely the broiled salmon with salt, pepper and lemon though! The sprinkle of salt on top of the salmon gave it a nice savoury kick so it didn't need any extra sauce. This was so delicious and quickly became our new favourite kind of sushi!
We ended up ordering another set of just our favourite sushi.
Overall we had such a delicious meal! I had to hold back from ordering too much since the sushi prices have definitely gone up since the last time we were here pre-covid though. Thankfully I didn't have a super big appetite at the time.
But we still had a satisfying meal regardless, and it's another one of our favourite food places checked!
After that we took a stroll around Tsukiji to see what else was left here since the actual fish market has since moved to another location.
This place is iconic though, and I remember everyone panicking on the internet when it was announced that the market would be moving.
But it's good to know that the actual restaurants will still be here. I think the main reason for the move was because of the influx of tourists to this place, since the market mostly caters to locals and businesses, selling raw fish not sushi or actual dishes.
We only ever come here to eat Sushi Zanmai and that's it since we're not huge fans of seafood. But I'm guessing there must be some other hidden gems here as well.
So if you love seafood and want a taste of the freshest seafood here in Japan, Tsukiji is definitely a must-visit!
I knew Sean was still hungry since he's never full from just sushi so we went in search of a teatime snack. But more on that next time!
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Check out my previous post in this series!
TacoCat’s Travels #286 (Tokyo): Anime Merch and Yummy Noods!
