Seafood galore! – Tsukiji fish market

I went with a couple of friends to make the long-awaited visit to check out the acclaimed world’s largest seafood market – Tsukiji fish market! And boy was it crowded! xP

It’s not hard to get to the market; it’s located just right outside of the Tsukiji station of the Tokyo-Metro Hibiyda Line. Go towards the exit pointing to the “Intermediate Wholesalers’ Shops” and then once you exit there’ll be a sign to the fish market. The world famous tuna auction opens at 5am which means that you gotta stay over at some place near tsukiji because the earliest train doesn’t take you there in time. But if you’re not a hard core fish fan, it’s still good to catch the crowd and the buzz in the market at a later time. We were walking around the market about 1030am, and it was still very lively.

Hilarious thing #1: This was the first stall we spotted just outside the station, selling dried fruits. We were pretty excited that it was seafood of some sort but nah, just dried fruits…

…and it turns out to be an unlicensed store, got caught by the police. LOL.

Sooo anyway, here are some photos of the sights and sounds of Tsukiji fish market (spoiler alert!!)

There are of course, the usual seafood…

That’s one huuggeee salmon! Initially I thought why is it so cheap that the whole salmon is 1500yen, but turns out that it’s ONE kilogram for 1500yen. xP

Obaasans (old aunties) checkin out the fish

Friendly dude with octopus

These are a type of fish egg! (which we were able to try later)

They take out the eggs and sell it in bundles… I wonder how many fishes-to-be are there inside >.<

Fresh, fresh sashimi enough to make your mouth drooll ‘ (yes the apostrophe is a drool mark )

Yess it was soo very crowded >.<

On the side note, I must say that the market is, compared to the markets in many other countries, very very clean. No fishy smell, no wet floors. Well, that’s Japan for you

Ok back to the content, besides the seafood they have the veggies (to compliment the seafood)

Wasabi! YES wasabi is a vegetable. Not a chilli. Wait. is chilli a vegetable or a fruit? =o

The attack of the giant konbu!! also known as seaweed.

What surprised me is that they also sold meat such as beef and pork. Hmm didn’t see any chicken meat there though…

…And you also have your kitchen essentials

Knives so sharp that you feel your skin being poked just by looking at them

More than S$160 for a knife? This better be good…

New christmas idea: A sponge decorated christmas tree. A housewife’s best friend

We got to sample a buncha seafood too!

Sample #1: Vinegar octopus

Soooooper sour >.< With a tinge of octopus!

Sample #2: Mentaiko. Also known as the roe of pullock. Salty.

Sample #3: This was the eggs of the fish i was talking about earlier. Still cannot remember the name of the fish, BUT it was a totally different texture from the mentaiko. This one’s springy, spongy and fishy.

Okkk now moving on to the “catch of the day”!!

Soo the story goes where 3 hungry university students were searching for a nice sashimi-filled brunch, when we spotted a loong queue of people towards a random alley.

Like the Singaporean mentality: if there is a queue, the food must be good! So since we had the time, we took the chance to get into the queue.

And waited… and waited…

10 mintues later:
We found out that the shop opens at 11am, but the current time was 1045am, but we still waited anyways

30 mins later:
It was past 11am, but why is the shop still not opened?!?!? >.< We heard a buncha obaasans saying how good the sushi is inside the restaurant soo ok, this is going to be worth it, we waited..

45mins later:
Restaurant opens. We were prepared to enter in with the queue, but it stopped shortening after a while. Is the shop really that small??!?
We also found out that:
The shop only opens from 11-3pm daily, and has a 400year history! BINGOOOO xD

Peering into the restaurant, we also realised that the restaurant only sits 10 people. This is going to be one interesting experience…

About 1hour+ later: OUR TURN!

At first we were really scared about how to order because there was no menu to be seen, but it turns out that you CAN’T order! The sushi chef asks for your preference, and then makes sushi by hand in front of you, one by one, and places them on a wooden plate. THEY decide what you eat! =o Even my japanese friend was shocked.

And sooo starts the-best-sushi-we-have-ever eaten journey to heavenly goodness xD At this time I caught a glimpse of what it felt like to strike a lottery xD All of it were really really good, and I will write out one or two which I have remembered…

Hello sushi chef

This is sea urchin sushi, which tasted just like soft squishy pudding

Smoked eel, which literally melts in your mouth. WOAHHHHHH…. T____T

Roasted prawn head, they say that you just eat this like a cracker. Tasted like a cracker to me!

Miso soup with fish…

…with fish so soft and succulent and fresh and everything nice xD

AND got a picture with the awesome chef who made it all possible! Total cost: 2500 yen. My japanese friend says that if you eat this kind of quality in Ginza, it would have costed 10,000yen! OMGGGG xD

So there you have it, my own unique Tsukiji fish market experience! Following the crowd does do you good sometimes huh! (:

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