Day 2: 3:30am start time.
We promptly headed over to the heralded Tsukiji Fish Market (Tokyo Central Wholesale Fish Market), to get in line for a meal at Sushi Dai.
We had walked by the prior day to see the line that was 5 hours long to get inside at lunch time, so following reviewers recommendations we got there at 4:30am for the 5:30am first seating and only had to wait for 2.5 hours to get a seat.
It was worth it.
4,000 Yen ($33) for the best sushi experience of my life.
Sushi Dai is known for being the low cost, no reservation required sushi option in Tokyo with the highest quality, freshest fish served in a traditional sushi manner, the price you pay is the wait time.
It was an 11 course Omakase sushi experience. Served one by one, individually prepared and set in front of you by one of the three sushi chefs.
It was a wonderful experience for the Americanized sushi lover who doesn’t speak Japanese. The chefs were very outgoing, with a level of service to go as far as noticing that I’m left handed and positioning all of my pieces to accommodate that.
I was wondering whether I would be able to appreciate the quality of the pieces after reading about the number of critically acclaimed omakase sushi experiences with price tags 10x this, that seem to leave the pedestrian foodie lacking. This experience far exceeded my expectations and was a completely different sushi meal than I’ve ever had before.
I highly recommend eating sushi for breakfast before the sun comes up.