Eating at the bar vs. a table is the difference between being a traveler vs. a tourist. A traveler experiences places and cultures from the inside out and there’s no better way to get the “inside” experience of a restaurant and a city than by eating at the bar. My first morning in Tokyo, I awoke at 5AM to hit up the Tsukiji Fish Market. I have a cousin who works in the city and was talked into being my guide, which I’m sure he later regretted. Nevertheless, he dutifully met me at 5:30 AM…
fresh fish
dried fish
Tokyo’s outdoor fish market is a MUST if you’re in the city and you’ve never been. They’re most famous for their 5AM tuna auctions, and there was a recent record-breaking sale of a bluefin for 32.49 million yen or approximately U.S. $ 400,000. The market itself features everything from fresh wasabi to marinated root vegetables and all kinds of seafood in various forms. I know what you’re thinking, but, surprisingly, the market didn’t smell at all! And why should it, since everything’s fresh? SO fresh…that I just had to taste it. So what if it was only 7 in the morning?
Fresh, Off the Boats!
We stopped in an unpresuming sushi joint and asked the sushi chef to bring us whatever was the freshest and to just keep the food coming. I was surprised by how many people were there, having sushi for breakfast. Needless to say, everything was spectacular…Perfect bite-sized pieces with the rice at room temperature. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. My only regret was not having some sake with my breakfast.
