Endō Sushi Central Market Branch — Restaurant in Osaka

We've had sushi 3 different times on this trip: 2 times in Tokyo and 1 time here at Endo Sushi in Osaka. Unfortunately this was our least favorite sushi restaurant. We arrived at 9:15am on a Monday and there was no wait. It seats about 19. We sat at the counter. The menu consists of 4 different sets of 5 sushi, all 1300 yen + 10% tax. You order the sets by the number 1-4. We ordered all 4 to share among my partner and I + 2 x miso soups at 350 yen each + 10% tax. Total came out to 6490 yen = $43 USD which is actually more than what we paid at the first 2 sushi restaurants that we went to that was far more superior to Endo. Cash only.

Service was alright. It was fast. There is no filming allowed, not even your food. You can only take photos. We sat at the counter. None of the sushi chefs looked friendly or happy to see us. Another staff was hovering behind me, maybe making sure I'm not filming?

Of the 4 sushi sets, we liked maybe 4-5 pieces out of 20 pcs. My fav were the toro and hotate. Nothing else really stood out, it was mediocre at best. Definitely had better uni and salmon elsewhere. Sushi rice was a bit mushy. We did like that they only give a little of it. Miso soup had a lot of baby clams and Japanese ginger and was a bit salty. We should have just ordered 1 to share. Or skipped all together.

We left at 9:35am and there was still no wait. We took a taxi here. Didn't want to walk that far from a station. Overall, not worth a return visit or trip and we don't...

TL;DR: Fresh, reasonably-priced sushi spot tucked away in the corner of the Osaka Fish Market.

For someone with a horrible sense of direction, I somehow managed to figure out that the entrance is on the back side of the ramp as you walk into the plaza. There's no graceful path to walk to the restaurant, as some jaywalking was required. This is a long-winded way to say that it's worth it finding this restaurant.

When I got to the tiny sushi restaurant at 9:15am on a Saturday, there were 6 people ahead of me in line. There's no sign-in sheet system, so less than 15 minutes later, I inched to the front of the line. I could have been seated had my party been there with me. Because of the simple prix fixe sushi plates (priced at ¥1,050 + 8% tax), turnovers are impressively quick. The restaurant is small, though can accommodate several 4-person parties, as well as the bar.

I ordered Maze #1, and then the scallop and crab leg sushi a la carte. Although every piece was incredibly fresh and tasty, the Hamachi, Anago and Tai were my favorites. From one of the photos, the miso soup (¥300) comes with a boatload of clams!

The service was outstanding, and as I suspect many tourists have successfully discovered this place, the service staff can communicate...

You can't speak Japanese, what you need to know.

You can ask for an English menu. It will show the choices of "Maze" you can choose. There were 4 options for me. Going early helps. Sushi for breakfast. It opens at 6.15am, I was there at 7.30am. It was full, had to wait a short while. Not too bad. Do not waste food. There is a charge for it. They will ask you if you can take Wasabi. Wasabi is in their sushi, so if you can't, make sure to tell them to leave it out. Ginger is to cleanse your palette after each sushi. You can omit it. The soy sauce and brush is given per table. Lightly brush soy sauce on your sushi. One stroke is more than sufficient. I like to leave it out on some of my sushi. The miso soup is unlike most miso soup you have drank. There are clams and ginger slices and a huge load of chives in it. Super rich in flavour. You can order more than 1 type of maze after finishing the first. Additionally you could order a specific sushi selection, but the price is not fixed and you would need to ask for the price.

Other than that, I highly recommend it. It was a small place 3 sets of 4-seater table and 2 sets of 2-seater...