Tsukiji Hajime Sengyoten — Restaurant in Tokyo

The Best Hidden Gem in Tsukiji – Better and Cheaper Than the Market

I found the best restaurant in the Tsukiji area it’s cheaper and better than both the restaurants and the street food inside the Tsukiji Fish Market. I went there twice during my trip to Japan, and both visits were unforgettable.

First Visit – Friday (Seafood Curry Day)

On Fridays, the chef only serves seafood curry, and it costs just ¥1,000 — honestly, the best ¥1,000 I’ve ever spent. The dish came with hokkigai (surf clam), squid, shrimp, and hotate (scallop). You can even ask the chef for extra rice for free, which I highly recommend — it helps you enjoy every last drop of the curry.

This was the best curry I’ve ever had in my life. The curry paste was incredibly rich and flavorful, and the seafood was unbelievably fresh. I didn’t even leave a single grain behind — it was that good.

Second Visit – Monday (Seafood Donburi)

On Monday, the chef offers a customizable seafood bowl (donburi). You can choose three types of seafood, or let the chef decide for you. Options include two types of tuna, salmon, hotate, tako (octopus), and hamachi (yellowtail). The bowl costs ¥1,000, and you can add uni (sea urchin) for ¥500which I absolutely recommend.

The seafood slices were thick around 1.5 cm fresh, and full of flavor. The bowl is served with seaweed soup (not miso), konnyaku (yam jelly), and Japanese pickles, which complete the meal beautifully.

For last this restaurant only have one chef I recommend you to arrive before restaurant open at least 10 minutes but if you arrive late you have to stay patient trust me it will worth for your...

What is it about Japan and their one-man shops? This place is immaculately run by Master Hajime Watanabe, and you won't hesitate to call him Meister after you visit. Kindly man with a small shop, enough to accommodate at most 8-10 guests at one time, and standing room only, but get there at 11am and there is already a long queue... When you get your turn, you won't be surprised at the reason for its popularity. Just about the freshest sashimi bowl in Tokyo... And no wonder, as the shop is a stone's throw away from Tsukiji, just about the world's biggest fish market. But still, Hajime-san is someone who takes extreme pride in what he's serving. Three types of fish in a bowl - salmom, maguro and white fish, plus uni upon request. Uni bowl costs ¥1500, just the fish costs ¥1000. You won't find a fresher bowl of raw fish elsewhere, it's absolute perfection. It's amazing too how everyone maintained the disciplne of queuing (we stood in line for an hour), only to STAND and eat for 15 minutes. But everyone did, and maintained the discipline with nary a whisper of complaint, testament to the quality they fully expect from Hajime-san. Will visit again to relive this unforgettable experience and to savour the creamy...

If you’ve been to Tsukiji new market before you might already taste a lot of fresh seafood and enjoy the market vibe. Well, this one is different and located away from Marketplace. The quality of Sashimi is even surpass marketplace. The menu is Sashimi-Don style which can be customize to your choice. So, sorry it won’t be any English menu there for you. But don’t worry you can just tell the Master to craft the recommended for you if you’re not speaking Japanese and also add some topping of your choice. The starting price for 3type Sashimi-Don is 1,000JPY which MUCH CHEAPPPERR than marketplace but with great quality. The only downside is the waiting / queuing time is a bit long because the Master soloing everything by himself from cooking, serving, cleaning, managing to cashier. (What a legend he is) so please be patient or fueled yourself with some appetizer first. But you won’t be disappointed by the quality and friendly...