Travel Log: Eating at Sushi Dai@ Tsukiji Fish Market

The last time I was here in Tsukiji was many years ago, before the ban of visitors in the auction site. I didnt bother then, I didnt bother now. I came here the last time but I missed out on the 2 famous sushi joints. This time round, going with my galfrens, we decided to brave the 3 hours long wait in line. You should have seen the shocked expression of my Japanese hotel's concierge when I said 3hours. He thought it was madness! hahaha!

We arrived at 8.30am and the line was already crazy long!!! So it was chatting and playing i-phone to pass time, as well as the eagle eyes of counting how many patrons are going in and out of the tiny place!

By this time, most of the other stalls are empty except for sushi dai which still has a long long long line waiting to enter their premises just for a taste of their infamous fresh sushi. So like the many others before and after us, we stood in line patiently waiting..and waiting..and waiting....

Finally after almost 3 hours, we finally reached the "entrance". While waiting from the outside, we peeked into the tiny establishment and started to "grumble" about how slow some people are eating inside. Collectively, we were urging them on from outside to hurry up and eat, stop talking! stop taking pictures! Stop laughing! Just stuff it into your mouth and GO!

What was worse was the old granny in this picture, and the single women. The granny has got to be the world's slowest eater. She probably only chew on one sushi while people next to her had gone on to theor 3rd and 4th!!! It was frustrating to see her eating soooo slowly, and talking, and sipping her tea in ultra slow motion. Ok...after 3 hours, the wait was really killing my feet..and so patience and a growling tummy was not making me the nicest lady on earth.

What was even pissing us lot out here waiting in the cold was this crazy specky woman who brought along her stupid Paddington bear with her. I simply could not believe a grown up woman like her to be taking out her bear and putting it under the sushi serving table, and as she ate, she WAS PATTING and TALKING to her bear! I nearly fainted!!!! Seriously! How old are you again woman?

Probably hearing our curses from outside, the old granny and the crazy paddington bear woman stood up and left. Clearing out seats so that the next 7 of us could get in and have our turn. The chefs were still so damn chirpy after 7 hours since they opened shop, excluding the buying fish hours. How the hell do they do it? Smiling away, working away... RESPECT!

The meal at Sushi Dai is not Ala-Carte. You get to choose between the Omakase (~3950yen) or the cheaper meal (~2780yen). However, the cheaper option does not give you the Uni (sea urchin) and the Otoro. Which idiot will pass up on fresh Otoro and Uni here in the home ground of fresh seafood?

Ever since I watched the documentary of the increasing pace of possible "extinction" of Blue fin Tuna. I kind of stopped eating Otoro （おトロ）for a year now. However, being in japan, remembering the taste of the soft buttery melting fish, I told myself I would restrict to one piece only. This singular piece made my abstinence from Otoro on other days totally worth while! Just look at the darn marbling!

 Sweet tamago. I dont usually eat eggs in Sushi joints. This is an exception. It was warm and not sickly sick!

I have to declare that before this, I had only eaten uni once in my entire life. After which, I always shudder at the thought because the last one I had was terrible. So this time, I confronted my usual disdain and popped this straight into my mouth. I had the greatest shock in my life.

The damn Uni （ウニ）was sooooo freaking sweet! It was almost like it was raised in syrup water or something. I have never ever expected or tasted any seafood so sweet! It was OH MY GOD goodness! If my eyes could grow any wider, it would be popping out of its socket! I am officially a converted fan of Uni in Japan!!! It's orangey, its not even the weak plastic yellow sick looking shit you see in some stores outside Japan. This is the real deal!

 Marinated tuna. Its fresh but doesnt have that wow factor for me.

This fellow arrived on my table still wriggling and moving. I was all ready to pop it into my mouth when my galfren grabbed my arm and asked "Will it stick to my tongue?" I started laughing. Of course not! This is not octopus! It's shellfish! The taste was unbelievably fresh!

I typically hate to eat fish that you can see pieces of skin on it. They tend to be very fishy. Frying them seemed to be the only way to eat them without the repulsive stench in Asia cooking. However, when my gf and I pop this into our mouth, we were completely stunned by the fact that it was sweet and not a single smelly fishy taste! This is what freshness is about!!!!! 

いくらもおいしいですよ！

At the end of the Omakase meal. You get to choose the last sushi of your choice. I was undecided between Otoro and Uni. Otoro was obviously more expensive but since I dont typically eat Uni elsewhere, I went for my second uni...no regrets there! My gf picked chu-toro (semi fatty toro) and she said it was equally good!

Before I left, I waved for a happy shot for all the chefs I am thankful for the good meal today! Thanks guys for your hard work.
こころから、感謝しました！ごちそうさまでした！（お腹がいっぱいですよ！）

Osaka - Takosen

Go anywhere in Osaka and you will be greeted by a variety of food. However, one of the local staple is the Takosen. It is basically the tako balls sandwich between 2 crispy prawn cracker, mixed with mayo and other sauces. This is a must have in osaka.

we had ours along the way back from the Aquarium, stopping along the street for a quick rest and filling up our tummy with this yummy treat.

Osaka - ENDO sushi

During one of those days I was by myself roaming, I headed off to try Endo sushi which I had heard so much about. I woke up too late to go to the one in Osaka central fish market. So instead, i went to the one located in the mall off Kobayashi station 京橋店（京阪モール内）



address = 大阪府大阪市都島区 東野田町2-1-38 京阪モール5階

I didnt have a lot to choose from and the day I was there, they didnt have Otoro, so I settled for Chutoro instead. It was equally fabulous frankly. The pieces were delicate and sweet, freshness was second to none. I only remembered to take closeup pictures when I was almost done with my chu-toro sushi.





Service wise was a little lacking for a jap restaurant...polite but not too welcoming [warm]. Maybe it was the sushi chef's bad day.


WEBSITE = http://www.endo-sushi.com/shokai.html

Osaka - Jiyuken Japanese curry rice

Also tried out Jiyuken one of the older curry store in Osaka.

Frankly, I thought the food was only average and nothing to rave about. To be fair, there are a lot of varities to choose from, so maybe we didnt pick well and ended with something averageho knows... However, the lady owner looks really like those Japanese lady from older period with her rather whitish makeup and hairdo... she looks as ''vintage'' as the store itself.

Osaka Dodonburi - Kanidoraku Honten -Grilled King Crab Leg

When you are in Osaka DOTONBURI, you simply cannot miss out on eating the grilled king crab leg from Kanidoraku Honten.



It was fabulously delicious, sweet and juicy...i HAD several servings to sedate my cravings.... The store is the very first stall right next to the walkway linking to my Cross hotel.






After I had tried it and fallen in love with it myself, I instigated my brother and sister in law to go for it as well.... heee heee.





The store has a gigantic crab sign above. One has to be really blind not to see it....

address = 542-0071 1-6-18 Dotombori, Chuo-ku, Osaka City

website = http://www.douraku.co.jp/kansai/

Osaka Okonomiya KIJI

I just realised I had completely forgotten to blog about my Osaka trip...how lazy can i get..

Then again, there really wasnt much to blog about. It was all sightseeing and eating. Of course, I made my brother and sister in law walk so much [in osaka and nara and kyoto] that their legs were aching so much, and they actually lost weight after they got back. The funniest thing was that I was such a tough boot camp trainer that they relish the fact that I had gone back one day earlier before them, so that they can snooze till late and rest for their last day in osaka. haaaaa haaaaa. From there, my brother told me they decided to keep up with the 'healthy'' lifestyle and continue exercising back in sg.

Osaka is a great place for food.

One of our all time fav was the okonomiyaki place at the Umeda Sky building, which came highly recommended on the osaka tourist website, and other bloggers.

It is located at the basement, known as Kiji. A non conspicuious little store. we almost missed it. The store set up is simple, plain and old, reeking of cherished, sentimental nostalgia. The menu are written in Japanese on the wall, and there were sooooooo many name cards and photos plastered all over the place, with fond memories left behind from earlier customers, dating as far back as a decade.

The owner, a yasashii oji sama [kind old man] came to us and asked us where we were from. I managed to hold simple conversation with him and he was relatively 'taken by the fact I knew their language enough that he said he would make 2 special okonomiyaki for us. Perhaps he treats other tourists equally kindly, i dont know for sure but its always nice to be respectful.

We had countless servings, though some communication mishap had us landed with a few wrong okonomiya. so much so that we had too much noodles and too little meat... towards the end, my brother and i finally realised the name of the item we want, written on the picture on the wall to our left. damn... too late. we were completely stuffed to the brim.

When we were leaving, I thanked Oji-san again for his wonderful meal. He surprised us when he told us that he will give both the cutlery set to both my nephews as souvenirs for this trip. I was really thankful for his kind gesture. He didnt have to but his nice act certainly left a deep impression on this trip, apart from the fact that his food was delicious...

If i had a chanceto return or recommend, this is definitely the place to go. [ I cannot rem if they have any english menu] IMPT note, Do note seatings are limited, so it will be good to go early.

location = 531-0076 B1F Umeda Sky Bldg, 1-1-90 Oyodonaka Kita-ku Osaka
opening hrs = 11：30～21：30　

Niseko Food Talk

Food...glorious food.

With our constant nightly ripping of smelly loud farts going for us, I reckon we probably overate every night... (^-^) Who would resist good food?!!!

I was often famished and so I didnt take much pictures. Also, half the time I was skiing and it was too much of a hassle to bring my camera along. For those moments I remembered, here there are.

We had dinner one night at J.Sekka (Hirafu),Bang Bang (Hirafu), Rin (Hirafu) and another 2 nights at the Northern Niseko Resort, which is in Annurpuri. I personally would like to try staying here one time only for the reason it is a ski in/ out hotel to the door steps. However, Sekka lodge is just as good and we prob got a better deal out of ours.

That aside, the hotel's Japanese restaurant "An-Non" is SERIOUSLY GOOD! When we work out the price conversion, the meal is actually comparable if not cheaper than a meal out in a fancy restaurant in HK! Bear in mind we are eating really fresh seafood like fatty tuna sashimi, broiled snowcrab leg, BIG FAT scallops and the buttery tasting beef. Funny how we keep thinking yen is strong but after being here, meals still work out cheaper if u compare it to dining spots of the same yardstick.

At An-nonMy husband said this is the BEST tempura prawns he had ever tasted. previously he had never been a fan because the batter was never light and crispy without being oily, and prawns cooked just right. Here, he actually proposed ebi Tempura twice in a row! Our personal fav were the Fatty Toro Tuna that doesnt taste nor look anything like fish, and the beef which is so sweet and soft. By the time I rem the camera, my beef were all gone in a flash.


For the sake of demonstrating the ratio of how big the scallop was, I decided to "model" my hand for it, and also a very much satisfied diner when the butter steamed scallop is all gone.
J.Sekka was alright but I felt it was more catered to a caucasian crowd and the seafood wasnt as big and fresh as a typical Jap restaurant.



Bang Bang is a yakitori place and supposedly recommended by those ski mags, so i see way too many expats here. Never a good thing when u do not see much Japanese. Dont get me wrong. It's decent and fresh food, but I felt, my money would be better spent somewhere else. Too much hype I think. However, the distinctive FANTASTIC singular dish I love here is their scallop. How on earth they get such huge scallops with all the pink juicy bits is unfathomable.




Rin is a typical Izayaka, family style. The food is alright and value for money, but not exactly spectacular. It's just the produce is sooo fresh that it is almost a sin to ruin any dish. Their tofu salad and grilled snapper stood out the most that night we feasted.