Although I went to the Tsukiji Fish Market at 3:30 AM in hopes of being among the 120 lucky people to witness the fish auction, it was already full which was pretty astonishing. I wasn’t really able to sleep and was pretty much up the whole time. If I knew the waiting list would have filled up that quickly I would have gone down there earlier.

After being turned down for the tuna auction, I decided to wander around the market place, where vendors were starting to set up shop. Those actually working with seafood, were in full swing. Even the line for Sushi Dai was pretty substantial by the time I went by there, with an estimated wait time of a few hours. I didn’t really want to wait in that kind of line, so I headed over to Iwasa Sushi, which I had heard pretty good things about.

I went with the 12-piece set, which was served in waves of sushi. In looking at the fish case, most of the fish was already pre-cut which I am pretty sure is the case with most of the more popular sushi places in the market, due to high turnover and wanting to serve people as quickly as possible.

The meal started off with a clam miso soup, which had a strong miso taste and a definite shellfish salinity. It was a pleasant way to begin the meal.

The sushi was aged well, with a large fish to rice ratio. The rice was well seasoned as well. Service was very friendly too.

After finishing the meal, I was given a jar of seasoned seaweed as a gift. I also passed Sushi Dai, and the line had grown exponentially.

If the lines are long at Sushi Dai, Iwasa Sushi is a nice alternative, and only a 2 minute walk away.