After our late night/early morning rendezvous with the famed Tsukiji, we had to go get us some sushi. Dat frozen fish has #gotmelike.

I mean, some of you are probably like:

Whoa….sushi? For breakfast?! You wack gurrrrl.

But, what’s not to like? In the words of our favourite bumbly, dim-witted, best friend of, perhaps, the most underrated character of *the* 90s sitcom:

Green Tea? Good.
Rice? Good.
Raw Fish? Gooooooooood.

– Joey Tribbiani Jr.*

*Mighta paraphased

Anywho, Sushi Dai, probably one of the most blogged about Tsukiji sushi-yas, already had a line snaked around five times by the time we were done with the auction. Alas, it was not meant to be…this time around…dun, dun, dun…(foreshadow?!).

So wander we did, towards the general direction of Sushizanmai whilst we perused the rest of the market. Sushizanmai has a HUGE space (which we saw on our way in to the auction) with three floors, so we weren’t too worried about a line and all that silly bizniz.

Early morning market bounty

If you’re against eating at restaurants and that sorta thang

Cute laterns

Cute old man with his cute bike basket *squeeee*

Temple right outside market

Sharpening dem knives

Sushizanmai first opened in the Tsukiji curb market in 2001. Since then, they have opened up a bunch of locations all around Japan. And I mean, a boat load. If I can read their legend properly, they have 31 Sushizanmais in Tokyo alone (along with numerous retail specific, fresh fish, and sushi shops). It’s also littered alllll around other prefectures. So, very easy to go get yourself some Sushizanmai.

A and I shared a sashimi platter and then each got ourselves a tuna sampler. I will typically say I hate shrimp with my sushi. But, let’s get the record straight, I hate the cooked ebi shrimp nigiri that is the typical blah North American fare. I love the raw sweet ebi shrimp that you can suck the sweet, oceany goodness out of the heads. Oh, don’t knock it until you try it. #shrimpbrains

From left to right (zigzagging): Maguro | Tuna, Ika | Squid, Kanpachi | Amberjack, Ikura | Salmon Roe, Akami | Lean Tuna, Akagai | Ark Shell, Ama-Ebi | Sweet Shrimp, Saba | Mackerel.

I only had to Google one of those, suck it memory. #foodknowledgefordays

I never have good squid in Canada. It’s always all tough and chewy, but THIS WAS SO GOOD. So melty. Much tender.

We also had to sample some tuna after seeing their frozen carcasses on display for our gawking pleasure.

From left to right: Akami | Lean Tuna, Chutoro | Medium Fatty Tuna (Upper Belly), Otoro | Fattest Tuna, Aburitoro | Broiled Fatty Tuna, Negitoro | Tuna & Leek

Or from left to right: where Kelly would like to be come summer, where Kelly will probably end up, where Kelly currently is. The fattiest.

Also, because I read/saw/watched/dreamt somewhere that a restaurant’s Tamago (sweet egg omelette) is the test of a chef’s prowess with the art of sushi, we ordered a single Tamago each:

This was too cold and too much egg for my liking.

The sashimi, 2 tuna samplers, 2 nigiri, and probs 2 tea (you win, normal memory) set us back ¥6,194 slash $75 Canadian dollars slash my dollar is totes suckage.

~fin~

SUSHIZANMAI TSUKIJIEKIMAE
Address: 4-11-9 Tsukiji, Chuo, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan
Telephone: 03(3541)1117
Open: 24 hours