The massive tuna sushi platter at Tsunao

Tsunao is a popular sushi joint in Tsukiji outer market (that survives and thrives despite the move of the main market). It was my first stop during a trip in late December 2019.

The visit

It is a relatively small eatery in one of the busy alleys constituting the outer market. It only has a Japanese sign, but the tuna imagery makes it easy to spot.

It can get cramped inside. They have also some tables upstairs.

It took some time for them to bring my order. It was a busy Saturday morning. But I was there for a reason and when my main dish arrived I was not disappointed. Tsunao is famous for their massive tuna sushi platter sporting 20 pieces of nigiri with six different varieties of tuna.

On the one side, there were 2 pieces of fatty tuna (o-toro), 2 pieces of seared fatty tuna with blowtorch, 4 pieces of medium fatty tuna (chu-toro). I now notice, by comparing what I got with their poster outside advertising the dish, that they shortchanged me by 2 pieces of fatty tuna (replaced by two more pieces of lean tuna). What a shame.

Then there were two pieces with negitoro (minced tuna) and 10 pieces of “normal” lean tuna, five of these soaked in sauce. I had no problem finishing the dish.

I also ordered their seared tuna takaki with miso. It was only lightly seared and that was good.

At the end I was offered a complementary miso soup.

Another signature dish of the restaurant was a bowl containing tuna collagen and covered with a meringue. I do appreciate their creativity.

The check

6,570 yen (61.5 USD) was the final check. The sushi platter was a whopping 5,500 yen. I am sure that you can find cheaper tuna sushi around. Still was a good start of the trip.

Where in Tokyo:
4-14-7 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku.
In Japanese: 東京都中央区築地 4-14-17.
Tip: it opens at 6.30am (and closes at 3pm), it is a good place for a sushi breakfast!

Dining at Palette at 137 Pillars House

Palette is the Western restaurant of the 137 Pillars resort in Chiang Mai.

137 Pillars House is just a beautiful place. I would call it a urban resort as it is located in a central area of Chiang Mai.

The visit

Upon my arrival a kind receptionist escorted through the maze of mini villas to the restaurant building. Palette is located on the upper floor of a reconverted old building that used to be the headquarters of a trading company.

The dining room was extremely intimate with just five tables.

They had a tasting menu that looked interesting, but I noticed it only after my meal.

There was a complimentary bread basket.

I had a Thai Iced Tea. Better than water that was just overpriced.

There was an amuse bouche, a piece of slow-cooked chicken.

My first dish was their signature smoked salmon roll. The salmon was filled with cream cheese. A very tasty dish.

My main was a tuna steak. These was a proper tuna steak, rare inside. And it was a reasonably-sized portion. All the condiments – mash, carrots, tomatoes – were delicious.

Then I asked to have my dessert in the Jack Bain’s Bar on the same floor. It was a very classy bar with a vintage style.

The dessert was a coconut creme brulee served with biscotti.

The dinner was above my expectations. The menu including a little bit of everything, from pasta to pizza and burgers, did not seem very promising. But there were some gems on the menu and the three dishes I had were all winners.

The check

Final check was 1,271 THB (40.5 USD). A reasonable check if you take into account the refined dining environment.

The service was handled by two young guys. They were ver friendly and I even left a tip, but they were not able to explain the dishes in English. Not a big deal, but I would have expected the hotel to staff their flagship restaurant with professionals that could deal with the overwhelmingly foreign audience.

A little bit too many mosquitoes, but overall recommended for a diversion from Thai food in Chiang Mai.

Where in Chiang Mai:
2 Soi 1, Nawatgate Road, Tambon Watgate.
Website: https://137pillarschiangmai.com/en/dining/

Tuna feast and demolition show at Maguro Shoten (and a tip to save some money…)

Maguro Shoten is one of those touristy places that do things right. If you like tuna, this is a great place. Apart from the variety of tuna dishes, you can also see their daily demolition show and learn about the anatomy of a tuna.

The visit

I had a reservation at 6.15 on a Sunday with the goal of attending their famous demolition show that takes place at 6.30pm on weekends (I believe it is 7.30pm on weekdays).

The restaurant is located in the basement of a building in a busy street of Shinjuku.

I arrived at around 6pm and I was seated at the counter, right in the middle of all the action. Ordering took place through a device providing an English menu. I had several dishes before the show.

This was a piece of “skin meat”. With the help of a spoon I scooped up all the delicious tender meat.

I ordered their fried tuna. Delicious, but a bit heavy.

A very popular dish was the bucket of sashimi. The pieces of sashimi were placed on a “dome” of ice.

A very special dish was this dark tuna meat, from a region rich of veins. Quite a strong flavor. I will pass on it next time.

I also tried the tuna eyeball. It was very gooey and every bit of tissue was edible.

I believe this ball was the actual eyeball… there was actually an hard “ball” covered by tissue. This dish was mostly for fun. It was not disgusting, but nothing I would like to try again.

Around 6.30pm the staff gathered everyone in the restaurant in the main dining room to see the demolition show. Seating at the counter, I had a front-row seat. The show was well managed. There was even a screen with English translation. The two cooks provided information about different species of tuna and its anatomy.

Then they invited customers to play paper-rock-scissor with them (all against one…). It was a rock and I kept my palm open. I was one of the winners getting a special card entitling me to a free dish with meat harvested from the freshly cut tuna.

This was the dish I won.

Finally I was one of the two customers who could order the precious kama-toro (a fatty meat from the tuna’s collar even more prized than the famed o-toro). It was a great finale for this memorable dinner.

The check (and some tips)

Final check was 8,810 yen that became 7,810 thanks to a discount… The discount was a coupon downloaded from Voyagin (for free) entitling the holder to get 1,000 off for every 5,000 yen spent. So in the end I spent 72 USD. For what I ate it was a very good deal. I can think of restaurants where just the last dish would cost that.

I also pent 800 yen (7 USD) for the booking through Japaneazy service. The reservation was not really necessary, but I do not regret the price since it guaranteed me a seat at the counter that gave me the best view of the demolition show.

Where in Tokyo:
1-23-14, Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-0021
In Japanese: 〒160-0021 東京都新宿区歌舞伎町1-23-14 第1メトロビルB1

Seafood restaurants at Nagahama Fish Market

Nagahama Fish Market is a major wholesale market in central Fukuoka. It is a 10 minute walk from Akasaka station. The real market is only opened to the general public on the second Saturday of every month (from 9am to noon) and there are reports of long lines.

However, the market office complex (pictured above) hosts a number of seafood restaurants (the cluster is called ichiba kaikan,市場会館, market hall, in Japanese). These are spartan eateries, very affordable, where workers of the market and the nearby offices eagerly go for lunch. Some open very early to cater to the fish market’s workers schedule. It was a discovery in Fukuoka. I loved it. The seafood was very fresh and lunch menus were changing daily. I had lunch several times to try as many of the restaurants as I could.

The directory is pictured above. All the action is on the ground floor. Upstairs there is a small seafood museum (but all in Japanese).

Ichibazushi Uotatsu (魚辰)

First restaurant I will mention is located near the entrance and it a conveyor-belt sushi joint called Ichibazushi Uotatsu. The seafood was really fresh. But it was not easy to understand the price of the seafood on the conveyor-belt; this coupled with all of their “rules” made the visit unpleasant and I just had a few dishes. You can also order a la carte.

Okiyo (おきよ)

Okiyo is located in the back of the building and it is easy to recognize from the blue curtain (noren). They had an English menu. Most lunch menu were prized 700-800 yen and come with rice, miso soup, tofu, and pickles. I had deep-fried amadai. Impossible to find a better value in Fukuoka for a seafood lunch set.

Ichigyo Ichie (一魚一栄)

I went to Ichigyo Ichie for their fresh sashimi (1,400 yen), but they also had tempura and classic Fukuoka dishes like sesame mackerel. The sashimi set had over a dozen slices of sashimi: tuna, seabream, octopus, squid, salmon, greater amberjack. It came with miso soup, rice, pickles, and a salad as it is customary for these lunch sets.

Fukuuo Shokudo (福魚食堂)

Fukuuo Shokudo will get my award for the the nicest owner. He was very friendly and wanted to know where I was from. I ordered a tuna bowl with various cuts of tuna. The set had a large bowl of clam miso soup, tofu, and pickles. For 1000 yen (less than 10 USD) it was a great value. I also added a grilled mackerel for just 400 yen. Many dishes were on display on the counter inside the restaurant and could be picked juts by pointing my finger.

Of the most interesting eateries, I think I only missed Hakata Uogashi (博多魚がし). There is also a Chinese restaurant if you crave for it and a shop (see picture below).

This cluster of seafood restaurants was a great discovery and I would gladly have lunch in such a place every day of the week!

Where in Fukuoka:
3-11-3, Nagahama, Chuo-ku.
In Japanese: 中央区長浜3-11-3.
Tip: go a bit early, like 11.30am, to beat the lunch crowd.

Dining with authentic Italian food at Barolo in Ningbo

I do not know all the story, but the restaurant Barolo has a real Italian chef in the kitchen and offers very interesting and authentic Italian dishes. Barolo is a town and wine from Piedmont, a Northern Italian region. It is remarkable and deserves a review since Ningbo does not stand out in terms of non-Chinese food. Here’s the write up of my two visits.

The visit(s)

The restaurant is located in a shopping and entertainment complex called The East Shore, not far away from downtown Ningbo.

One interesting thing about the restaurant is that they always have a lot of specials available (ask for the blackboard) on top of the regular menu. Also, they organize special events time to time. On my first visit they had porchetta and on my second visit they had a number of tuna dishes.

On both of my visits the bread (with some diced tomatoes) was supplemented by a croquette.

The porchetta dish was quite big, suitable for two people to share. It was very good.

Porchetta is a boneless pork roast part of the Italian tradition prepared with garlic, rosemary, fennel, or other herbs.

During the “porchetta night” I also had homemade gnocchi with veal ragout. It was a very delicate dish, from the specials.

The dessert was an homage to the Piedmont tradition, a gianduiotto mousse.

In my second visit I had a tuna tartare with buffalo cheese cream puffs. The cheese was a very good complement.

I tried their ravioli filled with cheese. Another very delicate dish beautifully presented.

The main dish was grilled tuna (rare inside, tataki style) with vegetables and a spinach sauce. Perfect dish, again very professionally presented.

To “cap” the meal I had a bonet, a cake that can be described as a cross-over between creme caramel, blancmange and chocolate pudding that has been prepared in Piedmont for centuries.

The check(s)

The first meal, with two courses and dessert, cost me 414 RMB (62 USD).

The second check was 670 RMB (100 USD) for appetizer, pasta, main and a dessert. The check above shows 720 RMB, but there was a mistake in the price of the main dish and I did not pay that.

Barolo is an excellent restaurant, its food and presentation is up to five-star standards. It could be a restaurant in Shanghai. Unfortunately quality costs and the price point is not cheap.

Where in Ningbo:
No. 3-5, The East Shore, Yinzhou District
In Chinese: 东岸里广场.
Tel: 0574-87078717

An unexpected tuna omakase in Seoul

Playing on Kakao Map app (in Korea Google Maps does not work on mobile devices…) I noticed a tuna restaurant not far from my hotel: Donggang Tuna (by the way, Donggang is a port town in Taiwan famous for its seafood including bluefin tuna). I needed to check it out.

The visit

I showed up at the door of the small restaurant shortly after 6pm and I was welcomed by a waitress and the chef. It looked like a one-man show. I already liked it.

They did not speak English and there was no English menu, but by looking at the pictures uploaded on Kakao Map I understood that the restaurant served primarily set menus and I was fine with that. I opted for the 70,000 WON set menu, de facto an omakase (there was one more expensive for 100,000 WON and a couple at a lower price point). I think it is also possible to order individual dishes.

I was seated at the counter, right in front of the chef that would hand me most of the dishes throughout the dinner.

I was promptly offered a welcome dish that I would describe as an Italian risotto with mushrooms (it was not quite a porridge, or maybe something in the middle).

Then the seafood started to flow… the first dish was a mix of sashimi including a piece of dried fish roe.

Then the chef started to serve sashimi from cut different parts of the tuna. I never experienced so many different cuts. For a tuna lover like me, this was amazing.

Meantime, more hot dishes were coming from the kitchen. The first was boiled abalone with a chunk of roe.

Miso soup.

Then three pieces of sushi were lined up on the serving dish: tuna was supplemented by a piece of salmon belly.

A pair of grilled items: a whitebait fish and a meaty prawn.

More exotic tuna sashimi.

A bowl of jellyfish.

One more whitebait fish, this one came full of roe. There was also a piece of eel not pictured.

Then from the kitchen they brought a piece of tuna head. The chef helped me to clean it and there was a surprising amount of meat to eat.

More tuna sashimi!

Then I was invited to taste a pleasantly refreshing piece of vegetable root (with its leaves).

The check

The final check was 70,000 WON (the fixed price) or around 62 USD. Tea was included.

This was a great meal. I loved all the dishes. Some of the tuna cuts were very rare and overall 62 USD for this kind of food is a very reasonable price point.

This is a restaurant I would not mind visiting again in the future.

Where in Seoul:
83, Yonsei-ro 2-gil, Seodaemun-gu
Look up Donggang Tuna on Kakao Map.
The restaurant has a website all in Korean.

Eating sushi at Yamataka Seafood Market in Hong Kong

Yamakata Seafood Market in Wan Chai is touted to bring the Tsukiji market experience to Hong Kong… well, I beg to disagree, it has really little to share with Tsukiji or any other Japanese market. Actually, it looks like a small-scale clone of Taipei’s Addiction Aquatic Development. I would describe it as a multifunction dining and shopping space.

The visit

I easily reached the venue by ferry (see the tips at the end of the review) from TST. It was around 2pm and there were relatively few customers. That was a relief because it is not a spacious place. With a lot of people it can really get overpowering.

I went past the supermarket area where seafood and Japanese products are for sale.

In the supermarket area you can find deluxe sets like the one pictured above including a small lobster.

They have quite a few fun Japanese soft drinks.

Past the supermarket area there are a number of individual dining spaces, each one specializing in a different type of Japanese food. They also have an area for lectures and demonstrations. Time to time they organize tuna cutting shows.

At this counter they were serving among other things lobster rolls. Other stations serve donburi, oysters, various cooked foods, and so on. All based on fresh seafood of course.

Finally, at the end of the pier you get to the sushi bar. They do not offer the most comfortable seating arrangements, but the view of the harbor is great. You are given a menu where you can tick off the items you want to order.

I had my unmissable serving of tuna sashimi.

Then I had a tuna mixed platter including fatty and medium fatty tuna.

Then I also ordered some additional pairs of nigiri: scallops, mackerel, amberjack and hammachi.

Overall the sushi was good and fresh, but there was really nothing that made wish to be back soon.

This was the menu available on June 2018:

The check

The check came to 430 HKD (55 USD) for 12 pieces of sushi and a portion of sashimi. Not cheap at all, but being Hong Kong not outrageous either.

Overall it was fun to eat there; I definitely would recommend to go during off peak hours to avoid crowds. Also, they may have other dishes worth trying apart from classic sushi and sashimi (those lobster rolls…). The variety of available seafood is another plus.

Where in Hong Kong:
2/F, Wan Chai Ferry Pier
Pro-tip: it may sound counter-intuitive, but the best way to get there is from Kowloon (the opposite side of the harbor). Take the Star Ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier to Wan Chai Ferry Pier. Upon disembarkation the seafood market is just around the corner. Super easy. Going there from Wan Chai station is a painfully long walk dodging footbridges and construction areas.
Visit their website for more information. Have a look at their seasonal offerings.

Eating at the two major fish markets in Sapporo

Sapporo has two major fish markets that are open to tourists: the Nijo Fish Market and the Central Wholesale Market. In both markets restaurants where to have fresh seafood, especially donburi, abound.

Central Wholesale Market

The stores of the Central Wholesale Market occupy the two sides of a street in the North-Western part of the city. I got there by taxi (not the cheaper way), otherwise it is a 10-15 walk from the nearest metro station.

The stores are one another’s copy… they have an area where they sell seafood and usually have a section for the restaurant. I checked in in a restaurant located in the building pictured above at the very start (or end?) of the street. It was called Kita No Ryouba that had a nice air-conditioned section for non smokers.

The piece of resistance of my meal was a donburi with tuna and fatty tuna. I enjoyed it.

I also had a grilled squid hat was very good.

The donburi cost me 2,480 yen before tax (around 22 USD). The total check, including a drink, the squid, and taxes, was 3,623 yen (32 USD). Not wholesale prices, but elsewhere in Asia the same amount of fatty tuna would have cost much more.

The Nijo Fish Market

The Nijo Fish Market occupies two blocks in downtown Sapporo. It is very easy to reach from Odori metro station and a favorite among tourists.

I had lunch at Donbori Chaya Nijo Fish Market.

I had fatty tuna again!

Then I had a miso soup that was particularly rich:

Finally, I had two grilled scallops:

The restaurant was tourist-friendly with payment systems catering to Chinese customers and exhibiting a halal notice.

Total check: 2,780 yen (around 25 USD). The fatty tuna was particularly well priced.

The verdict

Fish markets are a must-go attraction in Japan. The two Sapporo markets that I visited were a bit disappointing. Hokkaido is the seafood hot spot of Japan and I was expecting something more (in terms of variety and possibility to get fresh seafood on the go).

The Central Wholesale Market is not worth the trip. If back, I might visit Nijo Fish Market again since it is so conveniently located and fatty tuna seems to be so reasonably priced.

Uni galore at Tsukiji outer market in Tokyo

I was escorted to this restaurant by a friend during a visit in Tokyo in June 2018 and we had an excellent dinner. If you like uni (sea urchin) this is a great place. Uni has become a fashion for fine dining establishments. It is difficult to find any upscale restaurant that ignores it nowadays. I even had a burger with uni once in Hong Kong! It is a fancy ingredient. But to taste the real deal you need to be in Japan. Hokkaido is perfect, but Tokyo is supplied with all the uni you might ever fancy.

The visit

The place, located in the so called Tsukiji outer market, specializes in sea urchin. At the entrance they have a sign indicating from which regions in Hokkaido they have fresh uni available for the day. The sea urchin from different regions varies greatly in taste and texture.

This is a casual place. We were escorted in a air-conditioned room with counter seats and we were promptly handed wet towels and an appetizer. This is the kind of compulsory appetizer you get in some Japanese restaurants to justify the cover charge (better than in other restaurants where the cover charge is levied with nothing in return; worse than in those restaurants that do not ask you for this… Japan is not consistent).

The appetizer was smoked duck meat and uni. I must say it was delicious, a very creative and thoughtful combination. Worth the 500 yen I guess.

Their signature dish is a rice bowl (donburi) with five varieties of uni that may change daily.

The picture above shows the varieties that were available for the day.

And this was the majestic bowl with uni. I could taste the different textures and slightly different levels of sweetness in the different types of uni. A very delicious dish. The dish also came with a piece of nori (dried seaweed) that could be used to prepare a hand roll filled with rice and uni of course; a couple of pieces of cucumber, some shreds of nori and a couple of pieces of pickles were also provided to help modulate the flavor. Personally I did not add any soy sauce, I just wanted to enjoy the original unadulterated flavor.

I also made sure to order some tuna sashimi, two pieces of medium fatty tuna (my favorite) and two pieces of regular lean tuna. This was some of the best tuna sashimi I ever had: fresh, big meaty pieces and absolutely tasty. Worth the hefty price tag.

The check

We spent around 8,000 yen each (around 71 USD). That’s not a cheap meal by any standard, but fresh uni is expensive and the prices were in line with other establishments. I would say that the sashimi was also not absurdly priced given the size of the pieces. Actually, I might go back just to eat sashimi next time.

It is not clear what will happen to this part of Tokyo now that the Tsukiji market is relocating for good, but I am pretty sure these restaurants will stand, at least in the short term.

Where in Tokyo:
Tsukiji Itadori Uni Tora Naka-dori Branch
1F, Kaneshin Suisan Bldg., 4-10-5, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Restaurant information in Japanese.
At the moment open daily from 7am to 11pm (last order by 10pm).

An izakaya in Higashi-Nihombashi, Tokyo, where to try tuna dishes

I love tuna. When I saw an izakaya specializing in tuna and seafood near my hotel I decided to try it for a late night snack.

The visit

The place was still open at 10pm, I believe it is open till midnight.

It was a very spartan place with stools. I think they wanted to reproduce the feeling of a place inside a fish market.

First I was handed some boiled tuna as a compulsory appetizer.

For less than 8 USD I got three nigiri with lean, medium-fatty and fatty tuna. No complaints about the freshness of the tuna.

But the highlight of my visit was this tuna cutlet… It reminded me a gyukatsu because the tuna was, as expected, raw inside. It was much better than the deep fried version I had at Sushi Zan Mai a few evenings earlier. I loved this dish.

The menu was only in Japanese and they had some other dishes I would not mind to try in the future, such as deep fried fish, fire grilled scallops, tuna donburi and such.

The check

Appetizer, two dishes and a soft drink came to 2,754 yen (around 25 USD). Mid-range prices, but the tuna cutlet alone was worth the visit.

I wound NOT recommend anyone to travel to Higashi-Nihombashi just to visit this izakaya, it was nothing special. But if you are in the area, this can be a great place for a late night snack or meal (not so many places are open till late in this area). It is next to a yakiniku restaurants I have also reviewed. Both the yakiniku restaurant and this izakaya belong to a group called Vitality that operates multiple restaurants and brands across Japan and overseas.

Where in Tokyo:
Japanese name: 魚党東日本橋店
3 Chome-11-5 Higashinihonbashi, Chūō-ku, Tōkyō-to 103-0004, Japan
Address in Japanese: 〒103-0004 東京都中央区東日本橋３丁目１１−5
Tip: Tip: take the Asakusa line and if your coming from South (i.e. Ginza, Haneda) take the B4 exit of Higashi-Nihombashi station. If you are travelling from north (i.e. from Asakusa or Narita) take the B3 exit and cross the street.