7 day sushi challenge in Tokyo

I love sushi! I really do and every time I have great sushi at Makoto in town or somewhere as good, I think to myself, 'I could eat this every day'. So, as it turns out, I was sent off to Tokyo for a few days of work which I (naturally) extended to turn it into a weeklong excursion and thereby set myself the 7 day sushi challenge to see if I would get sick of it after 7 days. Where a sushi restaurant did not have an English name, I've tried to give more details of the location.

Day 1: Daiwa Sushi at Tsukeji Fish Market (breakfast)

My first and best sushi meal, in fact, best meal I had in all of Tokyo was the very first meal I ate. I arrived at 6.30am and checked into my hotel pretty early before the room was ready so I set off for the fish markets with my Lonely Planet encounter that referred to this place. It was hard to find in the massive market, but absolutely worth it. There were only about 12 seats so it was always full. There is no menu. You just pay JPY3500 for the chef's special. All together I was served about 12 pieces of the freshest fish I have ever eaten. Each time I ate a piece off the small wooden board, the sushi chef sliced off another piece, shaped the rice and slapped it on my board. The toro (tuna belly) was noteworthy of being beyond delicious! It was also my first taste of sea urchin which was pretty fishy tasting but the gooey and creamy texture was a bit unnerving and I didn't finish that piece much to the chef's surprise. Even the miso soup was wonderful and filled with baby clams.

Day 2: Sushi restaurant in Kyoto, near the ANA hotel (lunch)

I needed some serious energy to pound the pavement during my 2 day and 1 night visit to Kyoto and I definitely got that if 1 castle, 2 temples and 3 shrines is any measure to go by. The concierge at the ANA hotel directed me 1 block away into the backstreets where I found this small sushi restaurant frequented by a few locals. It was the first and only time that I got to sit on a tatami mat and eat my sushi lunch platter like a real Japanese person. It was only JPY1200 too.

Day 3, part I: Musashi take away, sushi box, Kyoto main train station (lunch)

For the Shinkansen express train back to Tokyo, I grabbed this take away box from the sushi train, Musashi. It was presented in a plastic wooden-looking box complete with fake green grass, so yes, that really is authentic. It tasted even better than it looked. The crab with mayonnaise was the best part.

Day 3, part II: Sushizanmai (dinner)

It disturbed me that I'd already had sushi for lunch but wanted it again, not that I tried to fight it. A wander into Shibuya led me to Sushizanmai about 10 minutes away from that mega crossing. I stumbled upon it and decided to give it a try since it was busy and people were queuing but there's always room for 1 at the sushi bar, so up I stepped. I deviated and ordered a chirashi don for the first time. It was served with a miso soup that came with prawn heads in it from the stock no doubt. Not a 'must try' but it was pretty cheap in an otherwise busy and touristy area.

Day 4: Sushi restaurant on Level 11 of Mitsukuoka Ginza (dinner)

Having exhausted myself with another day of work and browsing the Ginza shopping strip, I struggled to find something authentic looking so I did as the locals did and ate at one of the restaurant filled floors of a designer department store. The chef's special sushi set came with some high quality stuff. This restaurant was pretty quiet as was the whole floor by around 8pm on a Tuesday night. The sushi platter was delicious though and I was given a choice of miso soup - with fish or with seaweed. I opted for the fish one which had fish chunks and bones in it. It was hearty and warming. Sadly, I can't find the photo of the platter for this day even though I distinctly remember taking it. I must have accidently deleted it as I was editing my photos on my camera. Boo!

Day 5: Hanahanrou in Park Tower Hotel, Shiodome Media Tower (dinner)

Again, I had worked a full day and needed nourishment and fast. After work, I explored the Shinjuku area where I inadvertently stumbled into the red light area and was overwhelmed by the size of the area so I headed back to the hotel for dinner. Luckily for me, there were 2 great restaurants in the Park Tower Hotel, this one and also Tateru Yoshini who has been awarded 1 Michelin star, the latter of which was not in my budget sadly. However, the sushi platter I was served at Hanahanrou was one of the most spectacular on a stone dish with a dark red miso soup. It also had a 'type of eel' on it which was all the Japanese waitress could tell me about that spongey looking piece on the plate - tasty though.

Day 6: Sushi restaurant in Shiodome area (lunch)

During the working day, I popped downstairs for a quick sushi lunch. Most office towers have 2 or even 3 levels of restaurants downstairs for minimum time away from your desk. This was nice but rather a quick and cheap lunch for around only JPY1000. It was the first and only time  I was given a steamed egg custard with my sushi set. It was creamy and smooth, as it should be with a hidden prawn tucked underneath it all.

Day 7: Sushi restaurant in Top of Ebisu tower, level 38 (dinner)

I had set out to see Mount Fuji on day 7 and came back exhausted but mustered up the energy to explore one more neighbourhood. Ebisu is quite European looking with lots of French and Italian cafes, al fresco dining and boutiques. Up one end was a European style plaza so I went up the tower for the amazing view and a rather good sushi platter, although there was no view from the restaurant. One different piece was an onigiri ball of rice served on a betel leaf.

By day 7, my love had not worn thin but rather had increased for the 'sush'. I had experienced such variety in the types of fish, the presentation, the quality and not having to decide what to eat for one meal a day made life so much easier. So, I even went for one final meal:

Day 8: Tsukeji sushi restaurant in Decks, Odaiba

Odaiba is a man-made tourist mecca but I had to go there to finally try and onsen but before that I had to eat. Decks was the first building next the the first monorail stop on the island. I found the sushi restaurant on level 5 that had been mentioned in the Lonely Planet. There was an awesome view out over Rainbow Bridge and the water from the sushi bar and the platter was fresh and capped off my sushi challenge nicely. This sushi platter came with my first and only handroll filled with minced tuna.

A few take aways:
- All the sushi chefs and waitstaff I met in Tokyo and Kyoto spoke very little English but most places had picture menus and sometimes they had the plastic models on display too;
- All sushi platters come with a big clump of pickled ginger and miso soup but not very often wasabi since this was already smeared onto the rice before the seafood was shaped on top;
- Varieties included tuna, tuna belly, salmon (only 2 or 3 plates had this), octopus, squid, omelette (not always served on rice), sea urchin, fish roe and some varieties of white fish that I couldn't identify. Surprisingly, eel was only on the one platter and it was not unagi style;
- Sushi trains are around but not all that common since the real sushi restaurants make things fresh as you order them;
- I never had a bad sushi platter that tasted funny or wasn't squeaky clean fresh.

Today is day 9, my first day back and guess what I'm thinking of having for dinner...my stomach is calling for it. Arigato Nippon!