Traveling for Food: Tokyo

When talking about Japanese food, I'm sure the first thing that will usually pop-up in our minds is sushi -- delicious pieces of raw fish placed on Japanese sushi rice and eaten with wasabi (Japanese horseradish) and soy sauce. It's probably the most popular Japanese food around the world.

Within the Tokyo district, sushi restaurants are everywhere, and among them, there are many good ones. But the problem is, not that many are cheap. Sushi, although very popular and plenty in Japan, is still considered, in a way, delicacy. Good sushi are expensive because not every fish caught are 100% perfect. They maybe too large (too old) or too small (too young) or not fresh enough or whatever (sorry, I know how to eat, but I seriously have no knowledge of how to choose good fish at a market). So, it really depends on the chef or the purchaser who goes to the market auction every morning to buy the fish. The more skilled these people are at chosing the fishes, the better their sushi are going to be. And because these people are professions at purchasing fish, there are going to be bigger competitions for good fishes, and so, as the supply and demand theory goes, the cost of sushi goes up. And then, when these restaurants are located in shopping districts or business districts, the price of rent also goes up, which also drives the price you pay, as a customer, up up and up.

Ok... *slap self, "This is not an economic lesson here!!"*

Anyways, so because of the above reasons, the best place to get affordable sushi is in the fish market, Tsukiji. There are a couple of alley ways (don't worry, sanitation is fine) in the Inner Market, where there are many small sushi restaurants. I must for-warn you though. As great as their sushi maybe, they are not comfy restaurants! To cut their cost, these restaurants are just the size of a small sushi bar, plus a cashier and a narrow space to walk behind the customers. That is it!! So if you want to eat super comfortably, you'd probably have to go to more expensive restaurants for the same quality food.

Now if you don't mind squeezing, there are many sushi places to choose from in the Inner Market. Generally and logically speaking, the bigger the queue the better the restaurant, so if you choose based on that, you can't really go wrong. Personally, I've only been to 1 of them, but it is a good one.

The one I went to is called Daiwa Sushi. They have 2 sushi bars, and a huge line up, but don't worry too much, the wait may not be as long as it seems, because the sushi chefs are really fast in this restaurant, and customers usually do not linger in there.

If you are going alone, and you are close to the front of the row, make sure you pay close attention to the doors. Sometimes, there are going to be single seats left out between two sets of new customers, so they will want to fill it with people who are going alone. If you know a bit of Japanese, just listen and tell them you are alone when they ask if there are parties of 1. If you don't know Japanese, just pay close attention to the lady's finger when she comes out, if she signals a 1, then scream, jump, whatever to get her attention. You may be able to cut a greater part of the line like I did.

Now once you are inside the restaurant, the sushi chef will ask if you want to order a set. Now, for those who doesn't know Japanese, and are not familiar with the way Japanese people speak English, you will hear something like "set-tou." This means "set." My suggestion is for you is just say "yes." True you can order a la carte, but I think the set is good enough, unless there are many fish types that you don't eat.

Now I can't remember the exact number, but a set includes 6 different nigiri (individual) sushi, and 1 maki (sushi roll), 1 big piece of Egg and a hot soup. I believe that the items in the set is going to change slightly according to what is on the market that day, but here is what I had:

1x Toro (Fatty Tuna) Sushi
1x Ebi (Shrimp) Sushi
1x Ika (Squid) Sushi
1x Uni (Sea Urchin) Sushi
1x Mirugai (Giant/Jumbo Clam) Sushi
1x Anago (Seawater Eel) Sushi
1x Tamago (Japanese Egg)
1/2x Ikura (Salmon Roe) Maki
1/2x Maguro (Tuna) Maki
1x Miso Soup

I have, in addition, ordered 1 Hamachi (Yellow Tale) Sushi and another 1 Toro Sushi, because I wanted to try their Hamachi, and the Toro was the best I've ever had (ok, you can trust me on this, I've been eating sushi for so many years now, and I'm crazy about sushi...). The Toro was so good that it melts in your mouth and leaves this wonderful delicious taste in your mouth long after you swallowed the sushi. So, I highly suggest that if you are going to order an extra piece of Toro, eat it last thing, and don't drink tea or eat anything immediately afterwards. But I can assure you, that the set is enough to make you full if your diet volume is average.

Now, I don't remember exactly how much the set was, but I vaguely recall that it was around 3,200 yen. I paid more than that because of the extra sushi I ordered, but that's about the price of the set.

If you live in big cities in North America, you may say, "OMG, that's expensive. What do you mean affordable? I can pay $20.50 for all you can eat sushi!!!"

Ok, I know, but all you can eat sushi is not as fresh, and not as tasty and not as good as what you'll get in Daiwa. And all you can eat sushi definately won't melt in your mouth and have a delicious lingering taste in your mouth long after you ate their Toro sushi!

This is the cheapest, the most affordable sushi you are going to get at this awsome quality. If you go to even cheaper ones, they're going to be of lower quality, and if you go to other ones with the same quality, it's just going to be more expensive. Sushi restaurants with equal quality in the Ginza area of Tokyo will cost you twice this price. So if you want excellent quality sushi that is not overly expensive, Tsukiji is your only and best option.

Now if you decide to give this restaurant and the Tsukiji area a go, one tip you must know is that you MUST go early. By early, I don't mean 11am or 10am. I mean 6am, or latest 8am. That is the time when you are going to get the most fresh and best sushi possible. It's also the best time to go because there is less of a line up, so you can have more time to see the area (there are many more things to eat there, which I will talk about in another post in another day).

Also, for those of you who are used to having your sushi really cold, be prepared that sushi in Japan are generally not as cold as they are in other countries. This is because they are more fresh, and requires less refridgerating to keep it fresh. So don't worry about the temperature and just enjoy the delicious taste of what Tsukiji has to offer.

I'm sure years later when you think about the sushi you've had in Tsukiji, your mouth will water right away... like me, right now. :P

If you are familiar with Japanese food, you probably won't be a stranger to the term "Beef Bowl." The Japanese beef bowl is a dish... or rather, a bowl of rice with delicious thinly sliced beef that is cooked just right with dashi stock.

Although beef bowl is not considered delicacy, and you can find it basically anywhere and in most Japanese restaurants, not all are delicious and cheap.

When I went to Tokyo this summer, I stumbled on a chain Japanese fastfood restaurant specializing in beef bowl. Seeing that it is not very expensive, and that my stomach was growling, I stepped in the restaurant, took a seat and started examining the menu.

I know a little bit of Japanese, but reading menus can still be very confusing even though everything are in pictures already. They have many selections of rice bowls, including beef, pork, eel and more. And with those options, you get different combinations like with egg, with green onions, with egg and green onions and so forth and so on. AND THEN, there are also 3 different sizes for every option, which is quite easy to figure out because of the price differences and the difference in calories (yes, they tell you how many calories in each of their menu items). But THEN, there are also options for set meals, which includes a salad and a soup. >_<

Ok... maybe I'm making it a little too confusing. The menu is a little complicated in my opinion, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what to order. I guess if the worse comes to worst, just close your eyes, pick one and see how it turns out.

Anyway, back to the main point. I ordered a small beef bowl with green onions and egg and guess how much it cost. 400 YEN!! In TOKYO!! Ok, maybe you'll need a bigger bowl, but most of the rice bowls doesn't exceed 800 YEN.

I must tell you, that was one of the best beef bowls that I've ever had, and mind you, I've had many. The beef was cooked just right, not over done and stuck together like a rock in some other fastfood restaurants. Obviously, for that price, you won't be expecting top grade beef, but the way the cooked it definately made up for it.

Unlike some other restaurants, Sukiya doesn't cook the egg with the beef. Instead, they give you a raw egg to put in the rice. In fact, you should put ONLY the egg yolk and mix it with the whole bowl of rice. Hmmm... treat it as extra sauce, or extra taste for the sauce. Yummy!! Just by talking about it, my mouth is already watering.

If you like beef bowl, or if you want to try it... or even if you just want to have a delicious and, yet, cheap meal while you're in Tokyo, I seriously recommend you to keep an eye out for Sukiya. It's pretty much everywhere.

If you've ever been to Sukiya drop me a line and share your experiences. Or if you can any questions, leave a message and I'll be happy to help as much as I can.

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Website: http://www.zensho.com
(The website is a little difficult to navigate if you don't know Japanese or Chinese characters, but I guess you can at least take a look at how a Sukiya shop looks like)

Location: All Tokyo Locations
(These are the addresses, in Japanese, of all the Sukiya locations in the Tokyo area)