Sushizanmai — Restaurant in Tokyo

Sat at the bar counter, and honestly it was the worst choice if you're a foreigner and not white. Better to just sit at the table away from the chefs.

We ordered one big platter of sushi to share, it was huge easily enough for 2 girls like us (the pic is below). Halfway through, the chef in front of us suddenly said to us, "one person one meal". Our bad we didn't know the meal etiquette in Japan, but at least in a tourist heavy place like tsukiji market, they should've known better to properly handle this situation. Not many tourists know about this. Put a big signboard or put a big warning sign in the ordering tablet or tell this to us before we have our meal, not halfway through while we were eating.

What made it worse was the 2nd chef. He gave a sour face to 2 Korean guys beside me just bcs they asked to get the leaf in the sushi. Also at one point he sneezed, then afterwards went to touch the sushi.

The sushi itself was fine, and the servers were polite, but the attitude of the sushi chefs just ruined the whole experience. In a market like tsukiji that lives off tourists, you expect warmth and professionalism. Not sour faces, or sneezing over food. Sushi is supposed to be enjoyed with a peace of mind, not with judgment hanging over you. If you're a foreigner and not white, do yourself a favor and sit at the tables, far away...

I believe there are 3 SushiZanmais at Tsukiji, and we opted to skip the one that had the most people in line with their luggage to go to this inner one. We didn't have to wait very long, perhaps 15 mins or so on a Thursday 11 AM and got seated at a 2-seater table.

Easy to understand English menus and we ordered the #1 and #2 most popular sushi sets which was the Sushi Deluxe & the Tuna Set.

Each were $29 (a steal!) but surprisingly the food took a long time to come out. For the duration of our 10 day trip, this restaurant took the longest to receive food! Almost 25 minutes but when our food came, all irritation dissipated because it looked so beautiful.

There were 2 pieces in the Deluxe Set that made me scratch my head. One was just a bunch of green onions on top of rice, and the other was I believe really compacted fish eggs sandwiched between kelp then fried. I could've done without these 2 pieces but the rest of the set was really fresh and enjoyable.

Everything was great in the Tuna Set though!

And then the MISO SOUP. They arrived in these GIANT bowls that I've never seen offered before and they are as big as my head.

We paid in cash because it was our last day and needed to use it but they do accept CC as well.

Overall solid place to get sushi when you don't want to wait for The Big 2...

Textbook definition of a tourist trap. In reality, this Sushizanmai location is “sloppy sushi with a side of shockingly horrible service”. During my experience, I witnessed a 3rd floor waiter yelling in frustration, “drink! drink! water! tea! drink!” at a table of tourists because they couldn’t speak Japanese while taking drink orders.. The other diners, including myself just watched in dismay then proceeded to quickly and quietly finish our sloppy sushi. Simply put, the people working there are unhappy and the vibe is quite evident.

In terms of food, the quality of fish is decent but what one would expect at a fish market and certain price point. However, the presentation is abysmal as if the chefs have little pride in their work or interest in things like: making straight, neat cuts, arranging sushi uniformly and consistency. I should have read some of the negative reviews prior to my visit as my experience doesn’t seem to be a fluke or just...