Trip to Tsukiji Market
Visit the world's largest seafood market - check! So excited that we got to visit the Tsukuji Market in Tokyo before they start closing it down and relocating it sometime in 2016. We took the Oedo Line and stopped at the TsukijiShijo Station. We took the A1 exit. At the top of the stairs, we turned left at the exit, and turned left at the intersection. You'll start noticing most of the tourists heading there anyway, so you shouldn't get lost. C & I didn't really care too much about the tuna auction even though we were still jetlagged and could make it, so we just went around 8AM.
We found the miscellaneous shops area which was really kind of cool! People selling knives, vegetables, porcelain bowls, you name it!
We started to see the long line-ups for Sushi Breakfast! We knew some of the most popular restaurants were going to have 2-3 hour wait, so we just randomly picked one, called Market Sushi. We should've walked around a little bit more though, cause we found another area a little later where locals go, and the sushi was significantly cheaper there! Tip # 1 Sushi Restaurant - If you're not too keen on waiting a couple of hours for a sushi breakfast (which is essentially, just eating sushi in the morning), then walk around the area, there's so many options!
While waiting in line, C went and picked up a yummy tamago piece for me! I love tamago so much, and I found this one was so good and slightly sweeter than the versions we get here in Vancouver. But it was fantastic :P
Sushi breakfast at Market Sushi was pretty standard - definitely some yummy pieces, but nothing too mind-blowing. The toro makis were so good! Like a lot of the sushi breakfast restaurants around Tsukiji, this was also very small, around 10 people can sit around the bar, nice and cozy.
After the yummy start to our day, we headed down to the wholesale seafood section which opens at 9. Tip # 2 I would recommend going a touch earlier to explore the different areas, then head here right at 9 before it gets really busy. It's actually pretty crazy how busy the Tsukiji Market area is. So many cars and these tractors moving and carrying goods around. Be on the watch when crossing the street!
Tip # 3 Prepare for walking around in wet and puddled areas, so don't bother wearing fancy shoes! I've definitely gone to fish markets, or wet markets for that matter but never anything in this scale. It was so incredibly large, with seafood of all shapes and sizes. It was truly fascinating to see how much seafood is available there. We walked around for a good half an hour but we were not even close to finishing up checking out the area.
Took this yummy picture of Ikura - looks so delicious! I would totally buy a box. Haha!
I spy some mentaiko sacs!
Uni galore! I never ate uni like this - it's not fishi at all.
And of course there were these giant frozen tunas that the vendors were slicing into smaller pieces.
Oysters!! Yum! I had a chance of trying a couple yesterday, and they were incredibly soft and tasty.
Even though we missed the tuna auction - we still saw a whole bunch of these giant fishes being moved around, and some being cut and prepped into smaller pieces.
Going around the fish market was truly a unique experience. Definitely recommend heading there if you're not squeamish!