Top 6 Food to Eat around Tokyo’s Tsujiki Fish Market
By Big Explorer - June 15, 2018
Touted as the most oldest and biggest fish market in the world, Tokyo’s Tsujiki Fish Market is one of the must-go places in the world. It has long occupied a spot on our bucket list and finally, we have a chance to experience it.
We have long heard about the tuna auction but decided not to wake up at 3am after a long day of shopping the night before.
Nevertheless, we woke up earlier that morning and journeyed to the iconic Tsujiki Fish Market to get a glimpse before it relocates. What a beautiful sight we saw and the delicious food we tasted…
At Tsujiki, where seafood is found everywhere, abundant and fresh, the last thing we would expect to see is a stall selling beef bowl. Packed with locals and tourists, Kitsuneya serves well-marinated quality beef slices and onions on rice. Imagine Yoshinoyona’s beef bowl up a few notches!
Their specialty, however, is the Horumon Bowl (beef organs and giblets on rice). Not a fan of beef organs, we opted for Gyudon (Japanese Beef Bowl), the safer option and was pleasantly surprised by the tenderness of the well-marinated beef slices. Many high tables were lined up outside the stall and we ate our meal while standing along the roadside. The beef bowl comes with a cup of oolong tea which goes really well with the beef and the best part, it is refillable (and free). If you want to indulge, order a sake (Yes, we saw locals order sake in the morning!) to go along with the meal.
An array of nicely marinated fresh seafood skewers were grilled in front of our eyes on a cold winter morning and not surprisingly, it is popular among the crowd and definitely a must try at Tsujiki Fish Market. The trendy young owners serve up freshly grilled generous portions of seafood very quickly over charcoal and what amazed us is there is almost no wait time required despite the popularity.
Spoil yourself silly with so many varieties of skewer seafood options — swordfish skewer, liver skewer, yellowtail skewer, squid skewer, salmon belly skewer, scallop skewer, eel skewer, prawn skewer etc. Each skewer cost 200 yen!
Japan, land of sushi, ramen and the underrated fish cake! We didn’t notice that the Japanese are so good in making satsuma-aged fish cake and here, we see all sort of variety fishcake take reign, with many different concoctions like — ginger, vegetables, cloud ear mushroom, sea eel, squid, shrimp, onion, cheese, corn, edamame, burdock, and carrot. Isn’t all these flavours so creative? Made of real fish meat, the creative fusion taste amazing too!
There are also many such shops around Tokyo so do explore around to see it for yourself!
Just across the street from Tsujiki Fish Market, a savoury aroma gently tugged our noses and pulled us to Gindaco, a stand-alone stall selling takoyaki. Takoyaki brings back some fond memories from secondary school days when takoyaki was first introduced in Singapore. Back then, I ate too much at a sitting and got so sick of it. It was too rich and overpowering.
Here we stand in Tokyo ordering takoyaki for breakfast! In its typical style, it is cooked fresh for maximum freshness, and literally right before our eyes. Even though the stall wasn’t crowded, we waited for a fair bit. Finally, the Cheese & Mentaiko with mochi sauce was ready and served in a cute disposable boat-like plate. The obvious difference is the size of each takoyaki, which was two times bigger than the usual ones in Singapore. What was even more amazing was that it wasn’t overly rich and had the right amount of savoury balance and a generous serving of fresh octopus!
Being fans of matcha, we couldn’t resist but try this Instagram worthy looking matcha crepe, which unfortunately failed largely in the taste department. served with whipped cream, various types of mochi, and fun-to-eat mini crispy ‘balls’, stuffed with whipped cream, the matcha crepe collapsed quickly, and halfway through the crepe, it got a little tasteless.
Ironically, this mini cafe also serves a variety of Japanese pickled side dishes as well as fried chicken wings. We spotting these fried chicken wings while we were eating the matcha crepe and couldn’t resist and ordered some. Surprisingly the chicken wings were delightfully tasty and crispy, well seasoned in rosemary and paprika — what a treat!
Do visit Tsujiki Fish Market before it relocates! An unique experience not to be missed!
We have long heard about the tuna auction but decided not to wake up at 3am after a long day of shopping the night before.
Nevertheless, we woke up earlier that morning and journeyed to the iconic Tsujiki Fish Market to get a glimpse before it relocates. What a beautiful sight we saw and the delicious food we tasted…
Beef lovers, try Kitsuneya — Delicious Beef on Rice
At Tsujiki, where seafood is found everywhere, abundant and fresh, the last thing we would expect to see is a stall selling beef bowl. Packed with locals and tourists, Kitsuneya serves well-marinated quality beef slices and onions on rice. Imagine Yoshinoyona’s beef bowl up a few notches!
Their specialty, however, is the Horumon Bowl (beef organs and giblets on rice). Not a fan of beef organs, we opted for Gyudon (Japanese Beef Bowl), the safer option and was pleasantly surprised by the tenderness of the well-marinated beef slices. Many high tables were lined up outside the stall and we ate our meal while standing along the roadside. The beef bowl comes with a cup of oolong tea which goes really well with the beef and the best part, it is refillable (and free). If you want to indulge, order a sake (Yes, we saw locals order sake in the morning!) to go along with the meal.
Seafood Skewers — Delicious Street Food
An array of nicely marinated fresh seafood skewers were grilled in front of our eyes on a cold winter morning and not surprisingly, it is popular among the crowd and definitely a must try at Tsujiki Fish Market. The trendy young owners serve up freshly grilled generous portions of seafood very quickly over charcoal and what amazed us is there is almost no wait time required despite the popularity.
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| Our orders — eel and scallop skewers! |
Spoil yourself silly with so many varieties of skewer seafood options — swordfish skewer, liver skewer, yellowtail skewer, squid skewer, salmon belly skewer, scallop skewer, eel skewer, prawn skewer etc. Each skewer cost 200 yen!
Authentic Satsuma-aged Traditional Fish Cakes
Japan, land of sushi, ramen and the underrated fish cake! We didn’t notice that the Japanese are so good in making satsuma-aged fish cake and here, we see all sort of variety fishcake take reign, with many different concoctions like — ginger, vegetables, cloud ear mushroom, sea eel, squid, shrimp, onion, cheese, corn, edamame, burdock, and carrot. Isn’t all these flavours so creative? Made of real fish meat, the creative fusion taste amazing too!
There are also many such shops around Tokyo so do explore around to see it for yourself!
Fun-to-eat Seafood Snacks
Many shops are seen selling dried seafood snacks, some shops are generous and allow sampling which is great! Who doesn’t like to eat free samples? plus you will know exactly what you are getting. Tip: walking further into Tsujiki Fish Market for the best bargains! These shops are usually cheaper with a friendlier owner.
Other interesting sights at Tsujiku Fish Market...
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| If buying an entire box of white strawberries are too expensive, why not buy skewered white strawberries? |
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| Exotic food crab brain with miso served in a crab shell |
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| Fish hanging by the thread in the middle of the market greeted with smiles from a tourist |
Just around the corner…
Have a (Takoyaki) 'Ball' at Gindaco
Just across the street from Tsujiki Fish Market, a savoury aroma gently tugged our noses and pulled us to Gindaco, a stand-alone stall selling takoyaki. Takoyaki brings back some fond memories from secondary school days when takoyaki was first introduced in Singapore. Back then, I ate too much at a sitting and got so sick of it. It was too rich and overpowering.
Here we stand in Tokyo ordering takoyaki for breakfast! In its typical style, it is cooked fresh for maximum freshness, and literally right before our eyes. Even though the stall wasn’t crowded, we waited for a fair bit. Finally, the Cheese & Mentaiko with mochi sauce was ready and served in a cute disposable boat-like plate. The obvious difference is the size of each takoyaki, which was two times bigger than the usual ones in Singapore. What was even more amazing was that it wasn’t overly rich and had the right amount of savoury balance and a generous serving of fresh octopus!
Tsukiji Happy Ice Cream and Fried Chicken Wings
Being fans of matcha, we couldn’t resist but try this Instagram worthy looking matcha crepe, which unfortunately failed largely in the taste department. served with whipped cream, various types of mochi, and fun-to-eat mini crispy ‘balls’, stuffed with whipped cream, the matcha crepe collapsed quickly, and halfway through the crepe, it got a little tasteless.
Ironically, this mini cafe also serves a variety of Japanese pickled side dishes as well as fried chicken wings. We spotting these fried chicken wings while we were eating the matcha crepe and couldn’t resist and ordered some. Surprisingly the chicken wings were delightfully tasty and crispy, well seasoned in rosemary and paprika — what a treat!
Do visit Tsujiki Fish Market before it relocates! An unique experience not to be missed!
