I had a chance to have an extended layover during my flight back home to Indonesia last December. Here’s a story of my super early morning adventure in the Tsukiji Fish market trying to find sushi.
My flight in Tokyo arrived around Friday afternoon. After getting some dinner, I decided to get some rest. Thanks to jetlag, I was awake at around 4am. Can’t get back to sleep, I remember something about people lining up to get sushi at the Tsukiji Fish market early in the morning. I always hesitated to do this during my previous visit to Tokyo, since it was too much of a hassle (not much of an early morning person). But I looked at maps and apparently the market is only about 10 minutes walk from where I’m staying, so I figured I’d give it a shot.
There are two famous sushi shop in Tsukiji fish market. The most famous one is called Sushi Dai. The line usually builds around 3am, and the shop opens at 5. I arrived onsite around 4:30am, and this is what the line looks like:
Keep in mind this is in the middle of winter and it was quite cold that morning. The shop seats 13 people at a time, and most people coming in order the ‘omakase’ (chef’s choice) set and usually lasts for 45 minutes. I did a rough count and there were probably roughly around 70-75 people in line. I decided I didn’t want to wait that long. So I moved to the second shop - Sushi Daiwa. I was the 7th person in line. Definitely doable.
At 5:30 the door opens at Sushi Daiwa and we were let in. The shop is really small with just bar seating, but I really like it a lot. We’re able to interact with the sushi chefs directly, giving it an intimate feeling. I don’t speak Japanese, but I can tell from the gestures. When the chef asked me something, I just said ‘omakase’ and he understood immediately.
We were served a nigiri sushi one at a time, placed directly on our personal plate right after it was made. This is the best since I’ve learned that sushi is best eaten right after being made. The taste was none like other. The fish was fresh, and the rice has just the right amount of vinegar, both complementing each other making it one of the best sushi experience I’ve ever had.
My favorite was definitely the otoro (fatty tuna). It just melts in your mouth and giving it such a flavor explosion. Truly delicious.
After the set ends, the chef asked as if we wanted more. Or at least that’s what I thought he was asking (I don’t speak Japanese, remember? :p). When it was my turned, I just said ‘shirako’. He understood right away. The person next to me heard me said that and smiled, while his face expressions said “good job”. 
I heard a few other people ordered the same thing. If you don’t know what it is, I’ll let you Google it yourself 
So for a complete omakase set + an extra otoro + shirako, cost me around 4500 yen. Not the most expensive sushi meal I’ve ever had (that honor belongs to Sukibayashi Jiro), but definitely not inexpensive. It was definitely worth it for me, considering it’s almost impossible to sushi this good anywhere else. If you happen to be in Tokyo, it’s definitely worth it to make an effort to try out this place. But even if you can’t, there will still be many places around town to get good sushi.
This is just part 1. There will be a few more stories I’d love to share in the near future so stay tuned!
