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After the first part of our Mr. Sato-lead tour of Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market, we’re sure a lot of our readers are excited to see what else our resident gourmand had for us. And now the wait is over! Here are the last four sushi establishments as visited by Mr. Sato and his daring accomplice in raw fish consumption Nakano.

Whether you’re preparing for your first trip to Tokyo or just looking for some great places you might have missed, this is one article you’ll definitely want to read!

Our first stop in part two is Sushi-bun, which, sadly, does not allow photography inside. So, we can’t show you what their sushi looks like, but we can let Mr. Sato and Nakano tell you about it!

First, as you may have surmised from the no pictures rule, Sushi-bun may not be the most friendly place for tourists, but the food is first class. After eating here, Mr. Sato told Nakano, “This is going to totally change the ranking! It was so good!” As for Nakano, he singled out the broiled conger eel as being particularly good, saying that they were so soft and fluffy, you almost couldn’t pick it up with chopsticks.

Sushi-bun costs about as much as the places we saw in the first part of Mr. Sato’s sushi crawl. The omakase course is 3,675 yen (about US$30), though they have less expensive courses as well.

Moving on, the pair found themselves at Ichiba-zushi, an establishment that is apparently very particular about their raw, natural ingredients.

Unfortunately, despite their attention to detail, it seems that Ichiba-zushi wasn’t quite the right match for Mr. Sato. Nakano also said that while there was some good sushi there, it just didn’t stand up in comparison with the previous places. It might just be a case of bad timing, but it looks like Ichiba-zushi wasn’t as delicious as their other stops. Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it! Everyone has different tastes after all.

Here are a few snapshots of the sushi available at Ichiba-zushi, where the omakase course is also 3,675 yen (roughly $30).

We’re almost done with our tour! And our second-to-last stop is Ryu-zushi!

Like Ichiba-zushi, Ryu-zushi is very picky about their ingredients. They even have a poster outside the shop of all the fish being served with information about where they were caught!

However, it looks as if Ryu-zushi wasn’t quite pass muster for our dashing reporter, though in it’s defense this was based on its “cost performance.” At 4,200 yen (about $35), Ryu-zushi is the most expensive place the duo ate at. As for Nakano, he found the food tasty, but, like Mr. Sato, pretty expensive comparatively speaking.

But maybe these photos of their sushi will convince you to go anyway!

And our final stop on this two-part tour is Iso-sushi!

Located near the Tsukiji-shijo (“marketplace”) entrance, Iso-sushi also stands next to Chinese and Western restaurants, which are operated by the same owner. But how is their sushi?

“It’s pretty good!” Mr. Sato told Nakano, adding, “It’s a bit above average!” Which seems like praise…we think? Well, based on his smile, it seems like he’s a fan of Iso-sushi.

Costing 3,670 yen (around $30) for their most expensive set, Iso-sushi is priced around the middle of the pack for Tsukiji sushi restaurants. Check out some photos below!

Now that we’ve gotten through all eight of the sushi restaurants on the Mr. Sato Mouth Fun Sushi Ride in Tsukiji-shijo, let’s see how our favorite gourmand ranked all of them! We also have some additional comments on the restaurants to help you better decide where to eat at the fish market.

1. Sushi-bun
For Mr. Sato, this was like the dream team. Other places might have one or two specialties, but at Sushi-bun, everything is top class. But, if he had to pick one stand-out, he’d go with the broiled conger eel. “It’s like eating super high-quality sweets.”

2. Okame

In particular, Mr. Sato loved the medium-fatty tuna (chu-toro) here. Even with all the tuna they ate over the day, this was by far the best individual dish of all eight establishments. “None of the other restaurants can compare.”

3. Daiwa-sushi

While Sushi Dai may be more popular, for Mr. Sato’s money, Daiwa-sushi is just as good. He especially praised the balance between the fish quality and the shari (sushi rice), saying it created a great overall effect. While others are waiting in thr huge line for Sushi Dai, you can sit back and happily enjoy your sushi here.

4. Iwasa-sushi

Mr. Sato seemed pretty happy with the three-pieces-at-a-time pace of this restaurant, though he wasn’t such a big fan of the shari. However, this could be chalked up to personal taste, so if you like your shari a bit drier, you should check out Iwasa-sushi.

5. Iso-sushi

The sushi chef was quite friendly here, but it seems that Mr. Sato was a bit disappointed with his own order. He ordered the most expensive set, but after looking at what other customers got, he realized that the 2,500 yen limited set was probably a better deal. Keep that in mind if you go to Iso-sushi!

6. Yamazaki

“To be honest, I don’t have much of an impression of what this place was like. It was very orthodox sushi, without anything to really complain about.”

7. Ryu-zushi

Of all the places they ate at, this was the only one where they didn’t put out chopsticks for the customers. Probably the owners thought that the sushi was best eaten by hand, but that could be a bit of a sticking point for some. The sushi was very orthodox, but, again, there was nothing to complain about taste-wise. However, considering the cost and the fact that the restaurant also didn’t offer any soup, Mr. Sato had to give it a low ranking.

8. Ichiba-zushi

For Mr. Sato, this felt more like a neighborhood sushi restaurant, just some place that you might visit occasionally if it were nearby.

We also have a ranking from Nakano! See, you don’t have to take everything Mr. Sato says as law…but it probably wouldn’t hurt if you did.

1. Daiwa-sushi

Nakano chose Daiwa-sushi for the number one spot for its excellent sushi and its “Tsujikiji-shijo” vibe-a great place to really get the full effect of eating in one of the world’s largest fish markets. He also added that explanations are provided in English for tourists!

2. Sushi Dai

While Sushi Dai and Daiwa-sushi are roughly of the same quality, you can expect to wait a lot longer here, dropping it down to second place.

3. Iso-sushi

Third place goes to Iso-sushi thanks to its inexpensive menu and specialty items. Nakano recommended it for anyone on a budget who’s also looking for the Tsujikiji-shijo atmosphere.

4. Sushi-bun

“This place is really good. In terms of price, there’s not much to complain about either,” Nakano said, though in terms of “cost performance,” he said it was average.

5. Yamazaki

Though Mr. Sato wasn’t a big fan of Yamazaki, Nakano thought they were pretty good. It was the cost (and poor cost performance) that had him placing the establishment in the number five spot.

6. Okame

“It was good but average, and there’s not much to say beyond that.”

7. Iwasa-zushi

“This place was also pretty good, but very orthodox. There’s not much to add.”

8. Ryu-zushi

Nakano liked the sushi here and said that it was pretty good, but also added that the high cost and the fact that they didn’t get soup really lowered its ranking.

9. Ichiba-zushi

“It was about the same level as any standard sushi place where you pay 100 yen (about $0.83) per piece. It was good, but not something you’d go all the way to Tsukiji-shijo for.”

Finally, we have a bit of advice from Mr. Sato himself for tourists coming to Japan from overseas!

● While menus that have English are pretty helpful, places that have English menus aren’t usually that great. This is because they’re just trying to make money off of tourists and often their sushi isn’t usually that good.

● In particular, Ichiba-zushi is full of foreign tourists, but their sushi isn’t very good, so you should avoid it.

● You’ll probably want to skip places that offer rice bowls, since if the sushi is good, you shouldn’t need any extra rice.

And that’s it for our tour of Tsukiji-shijo sushi restaurants with Mr. Sato! Be sure to share your favorite if you’ve had a chance to stop by the fish market!

All images © RocketNews24
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