Day 2: Tsukiji Fish Market 築地市場

Toei Oedo Subway Line - Tsukijishijo Station

I initially planed to spend my first full day of shopping around the Shinjuku area but things didn't really go as planned.  I didn't expect my jet lag to be this bad.  On our first night arriving at Tokyo, we returned to our hotel and slept early around 10:30 p.m...  I was shocked when I woke up in the middle of the night and looked at the clock...”What! 12:30 a.m.?” Did I only sleep for 2 hours?  How come it felt like I have slept the whole night through?  O.K. May be this is just one of those mid-night wake up calls.  So I tried to go back to sleep.  After what felt like another long night sleep, I was awake again.  This time it was 1:30 a.m.  No!!! I kept waking up almost every 1 to 2 hours.  The rest of my family also experienced the exact same problem. 

After several of these periodic naps, I finally decided to wake up at 4:00 a.m...most shops in Shinjuku don't open until 10:00 a.m., what am I going to do between 4:00 to 10:00?  This was way too early.  Finally I decided to change my itinerary.  Originally I had planned to visit the Tsukiji Fish Market on the 4th day, which opens very early in the morning.  This may be a good place to go instead. I had all the time to re-check my train schedule, confirm that Tsukiji Fish Market is open on their web Calendar and take our time to wash-up and get dressed.  We finally left the hotel around 6:00 a.m.  That was also when I had the chance to take some nice pictures on the Southern Terrance when no one was around. 

To get to the Tsukiji Fish Market (築地市場) from Shinjuku, we took the Toei Oedo Subway Line (都営大江戸線 大門方面) from Shinjuku station (E-27) to Tsukijishijo Station (E-18).  The direction of the train is heading to Daimon Station.  It takes about 20 minutes to arrive.  The closest exit to Tsukiji Fish Marketing is Exit A1.  Once we walked up to the ground level of Exit A1, the Tsukiji Fish Market (Outer Market) is just behind us.  There are lots of delivery tracks around; we have to walk through the parking area to get inside the fish market.  I didn't come for the Tuna auctions since I have already saw it on TV, but just wanted to walk around and see if there was anything interesting.  Of course, my main purpose was to taste the very, very fresh Sashimi.

Tsukiji Fish Market basically has 2 sections, the "Inner Market" (築地場內市場) and the "Outer Market" (築地場外市場).  The Inner Market is where the auctions and most of the fish processing takes place, it also has some famous Sushi restaurants. I actually saw a big line-up in front of one restaurant even when it was only 6:30 a.m...I wasn't planning to join the line, but instead to eat my breakfast at the Outer Market.  The Outer Market is a mixture of wholesale and retail shops that sell seafood, kitchen tools, groceries and also a bunch of sushi restaurants as well.  It takes about a few minutes to walk from the Inner market to the Outer market.  Both markets are basically located and connected on the street called Shin-Ohashi Dori (新大橋通).  The Tsukiji Fish Markets usually closed on Sunday and various day of the week.  Visitors should always checks the calendar on Tsukiji Fish Market's web site to ensure you will be visiting on a day that it opens. 

築地どんぶり市場 - Market Don

I have seen some good reviews on this small restaurant called 築地どんぶり市場 in the Outer Market located on the Shin-Ohashi Dori(新大橋通).  It is actually a stall which has about 6 seats and when sitting there, your back is actually facing the street.  It is definitely not those formal restaurants but the food was "GOOD!".  We ordered 2 Market Dons (市場丼), 1 Barbeque Tuna Cheek Don (まぐろホホ肉ステーキ丼) and 1 miso soup.   I don't know how to speak Japanese, but most restaurants in Japan have menus with pictures; you just need to point and order.  The Market Don is actually a Chirashi Don, a.k.a Sashimi on top of a bowl of warm, seasoned rice.  The fish were one of the freshest I had ever tasted.  The Barbeque Tuna Cheek Don is a good choice for those who don’t eat raw fish.  The Miso soup is also a must try, it has lots of small clams in there (not sure what they are actually called), but it tastes so yummy.  It should be really be described as a tasty seafood broth with a hint of miso. We were very satisfied with the food. 

築地どんぶり市場 - Barbeque Tuna Cheek Don

MUST-buy-again Nerimono from Kibun (紀文食品)

After breakfast, we went around the Outer market, got a pack of Tamagoyaki (玉子焼) and a mix pack of Nerimono (ねりもの) with fried Octopus legs.  “Nerimono” refers to any food that is made of cooked, ground fish and seasoning.  I usually describe them as fancy fish cakes.  I think the Tamagoyaki tasted ok, but a bit sweet compared to the local versions in North America, I wasn't very impressed.  However, the pack of Nerimono with fried Octopus legs has now been classified as a MUST-buy-again item on my next Japan trip.  When we got the store, they have a large variety of Nerimono, the lady even cut out some freshly fried Octopus legs for us to try.  They are extremely tasty, chewy enough to play a game of ping pong with and have a hint of spiciness to them.  Since it was so good, we had picked a variety pack with like 10 different types of Nerimono and also some Octopus legs too. By the way, the pack was still hot when we bought it. Unfortunately, we just finished breakfast and didn't have room in our stomach to try it immediate.  Otherwise, I am sure we would’ve gotten another pack right on the spot.  I actually started eating this Nerimono pack at night when we returned to the hotel. Surprisingly, they still taste so good when served cold. I thought I should point out that we forgot to take pictures of them until we were almost finished.

Both the Inner and Outer market is outdoors, so it gets pretty hot after a while and we decided to move on to Ginza even though it was still too early in the morning...8:00 a.m. 

Reference Links:

Tsukiji Inner Market (築地場內市場)

Tsukiji Outer Market (築地場外市場)

築地どんぶり市場 - 東京都中央区築地４丁目９−５ 築地商事市場
Nerimono 紀文食品 - 東京都中央区築地4丁目13番18号