Love Sushi? Eat Here When You’re In Tokyo

By Mark Wiens 38 Comments
Best sushi in Tokyo
Awesome sushi in Tokyo

You can research and research about the restaurants you want to eat at when you travel…

Love Sushi? Eat Here When You’re In Tokyo

Sushi in Tokyo – Here’s A Restaurant For You

But in the end, when you’re in a big city, I still think one of the best ways to find great local restaurants is just by walking around and exploring on foot.

Don’t get me wrong, you can discover awesome restaurants by doing research and searching out places that someone has written about (after all, I try to share my advice about where to eat right here on this blog).

But time and time again, from Darjeeling to Yangshuo, some of the most amazing meals and food travel experiences I have experienced, have just been completely random stumble-upons.

Best restaurants in Tokyo
When I see a line like this, I can’t help myself from joining!

Ying and I were walking around the Ginza area of Tokyo (video), actually looking for a sukiyaki restaurant I had found online, and trying to follow the notes I had taken in my trusty notebook.

30 minutes of walking in the exact area where I thought it should be, and it seemed we were walking in circles with no success.

That’s when we saw a small lineup outside a sushi restaurant, took one look at the menu (all in Japanese), and without thinking too hard, we were standing in line with everyone else.

It was just before 11:30 am, and the restaurant had not quite opened, so we were about 10th in line.

Soon they opened their doors for the lunchtime rush, and we all filed in.

We grabbed two seats at the sushi bar.

Sushi chefs
The sushi chefs here are all really nice too

The chefs were really nice, and one of the young sushi chefs even tried to explain the menu to us in English (because the entire menu was only in Japanese) – very kind of him.

Anyway, the pictures spoke for themselves, and without thinking too hard again, Ying and I ordered one of each of the lunch specials.

Sushi in Tokyo
You won’t believe how much my mouth was watering while taking this photos.

I got the nigiri sushi platter, a large plate filled with a bunch of different nigiri topped with fish and other beautiful things from the sea, and Ying got the chirashi sushi, a sashimi rice bowl.

The chefs worked quickly, trying to handle the line of hungry Tokyo lunchtime diners who had just rushed in.

Soon our order was ready, right before our eyes, and we watched the chefs assemble each piece of sushi one by one and line them up like a phalanx formation on my plate.

Sashimi rice bowl
An awesome sashimi rice bowl in Tokyo

Chirashi Sushi

Ying had the chirashi sushi, a bowl of rice topped with sashimi, and in this case, some flame torched fish (I think eel), seaweed flakes, and a raw quail egg on the top for sauce.

Japanese food in Tokyo
Raw qual egg on top for extra sauce and richness.

Unlike other chirashi sushi we ate in Tokyo, this one also had some salmon and pieces of sweet omelet on the very bottom, below the rice (sorry no photos of that, I was too happily eating to take anymore shots).

The slices of akami tuna (the red lean pieces of tuna) were incredibly buttery and pure, similar to the one I ate at the tempura restaurant.

The yolk of the raw quail egg gave the whole bowl a nice little extra richness, and the flavor of toasted seaweed and green onions made the combination absolute heavenly.

Not so different from my favorite Hawaiian poke bowl, but just more elegant and better presented.

Though this was Ying’s order, I’m lucky to have a wife who shares with me.

Price – 1,200 JPY ($11.77)

Nigiri sushi
Nigiri sushi lunch special

Nigiri Sushi

I ordered the nigiri sushi platter, a 16 item plate of absolute beauty.

Akami (the red lean tuna), toro (fatty tuna), negi toro (minced fatty tuna, one of my absolute favorites), squid, octopus, mackerel, salmon, scallop, shrimp, eel, and uni (sea urchin), among more, all made an appearance.

Here’s some more info on tuna anatomy.

Price – 1,500 JPY ($14.71)

Akami tuna
Akami – deep red tuna

Akami (the red lean tuna), is a wonderful piece of fish, the flesh is so lean and soft in texture.

At this restaurant the amount of rice was a perfect ratio for the fish, unlike at some random conveyor belt restaurants I went to in Tokyo where the rice was too much for the amount of fish.

Sushi in Tokyo
Sushi in Tokyo

Along with the red tuna, the fatty white marbled “toro” piece of sushi, that almost looks like raw pieces of pork, was another one of my favorites.

I think I could eat it all day long.

Uni in Tokyo
Sea urchin “uni”

I had uni (sea urchin) a couple of times when I was in Tokyo, and I really love it, at least in the right amounts.

This piece of sushi included a bite of rice, a slice of cucumber, and a scoop of sea urchin wrapped into seaweed.

The uni tasted a little like yellow cheddar cheese with a hint of sea to it. It was absolutely wonderful and rich and creamy.

Negi toro
Negi toro – One of the best things in the world.

I happily devoured piece by piece until my plate, and Ying’s chirashi sushi, were almost completely finished, but I saved one akami and the negi toro (minced fatty tuna) for my final two bites of sushi glory.

Sushi in Tokyo
My last bite… a sad but sweet moment.

Akami tuna down, I saved the most beautiful piece, the negi toro for my final bite to cherish in my mouth for the next few hours.

Appearing like a scoop of raw minced hamburger over a ball of rice, this minced up fatty tuna holds a dear spot in my heart. The fish was so rich, and so oily marvelous.

I think negi toro is one of my ultimate favorite pieces of sushi.

Ginza
Here’s the outside of the restaurant – Ginza, Tokyo

Sushi in Tokyo

The interesting part about spontaneously eating the sushi at this restaurant in Tokyo…

I don’t even know the name of the restaurant (if you do know the name, would love to hear from you!).

But, the good news is, if you want to eat here for an awesome and affordable sushi experience in Tokyo (in the Ginza area), look for the restaurant pictured above. It’s about a 5 minute walk from Ginza station, for directions check out the map under “Sushi Ginza.”

Though I had no idea what the name of the restaurant was, it was one of the most memorable sushi meals I had in Tokyo.

Open hours: 11:30 am – 2:30 pm for lunch and 5 pm – 10 pm for dinner

If you’re going to Tokyo, be sure to check out all my food tips here.

38 comments. I'd love to hear from you!

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  • High Rated Gabru

    3 years ago

    Nice blog post. Thanks. Keep it up!!

  • sankar singh

    3 years ago

    amazing content writing nice food blog along with picrues,Blogging is hard because of the grind required to stay interesting and relevant.
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  • Dav

    7 years ago

    Enjoyed your article. We will be visiting Tokyo in June. The name of the Sushi Restaurant, based on your Google map location, the translation seemed to be Ginza Sushi.

  • Jessie

    7 years ago

    that restaurant is Sushi Maru I
    ginza-maruisushi.com

  • Matt

    8 years ago

    Hi Mark! My wife and I just had lunch here and had such a great time, thanks for the recommendation!

  • Sang Kancil Guru

    9 years ago

    3.42 rating for this place on the Japanese review site is about right. I too discovered this place by looking at the long line, but after having seated and started eating their sushi and sake, was really not impressed. Would say it was the worst sushi I had in Japan.

    So lesson of the story: the crowd is not always right in Japan.

  • Toro

    9 years ago

    Every body, sorry if this is too late. I just found this page.
    The bar name is “Ginza Sushidokoro Marui Sou Honten”. You can call “Ginza Sushi Marui”.
    Only Japanese. You can show to Japanese around there.
    http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13002378/dtlphotolst/4/smp2/
    http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13002378/dtlphotolst/1/smp2/
    At night, $60 to $80 per person.
    Ginza Cyuoh Bld. 3-8-15, Ginza, Chuoh-Ku, Tokyo
    They moved from Ginza 2-12-10
    Tel 03-3564-8601

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hi Toro, thank you very much for sharing, yes that’s the exact place!

  • Ang

    10 years ago

    Wow! What an amazing blog Mark! I found your blog totally by accident and I am so glad I did! I am now subscribed! I was watching the youtube video “Kinect + Coca-Cola = AMAZING Event in South Korea” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9R9z7P1eME and your video on the 25 things to do in Seoul was on the side and I got intrigued and clicked. I am so glad I watched it since I am going to Seoul next Feb. I was intrigued even more and I clicked into your blog. I am looking forward to reading your blog posts on good eats in Asia! Specifically Seoul and Japan! The restaurant you went to above is on my list of places to visit!

    – your new fan from NYC!

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Hey Ang, great to hear from you. Thank you for watching my videos and checking out my blog. Sounds like a great trip you have planned, from Seoul to Tokyo, you’re going to be able to eat so much delicious food. Let me know if you need any tips. Thanks again.

  • Greg

    10 years ago

    The full name of the restaurant is apparently Ginza Sushi-Dokoro Marui Honyen. This is important because when I did a google search for Marui Sushi Tokyo, I got a place that did not match your map. I will be in Tokyo this summer, and I am definitely going to try to find this restaurant. Thank you for your writings.

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Thank you very much Greg, appreciate your help. Hope you can search this place out. It’s so good and affordable.

  • Ashley

    10 years ago

    That looks like an amazing meal! Great photos- I’m drooling over here. Need to get to Tokyo ASAP!

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Thank you very much Ashley, hope you can visit Tokyo soon.

  • lowen

    10 years ago

    Hi Mark! Great post! I’m Tokyo right now and will try to find it (but usually get lost ;)). How did you create those google maps with the pins?

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Hey Lowen, good to hear you’re in Tokyo, hope you’re enjoying the food. This is the new updated Google maps system, I’m still trying to figure out it myself, but they make it pretty easy to drop the pins into the map.

  • Yvon

    10 years ago

    Hi Mark,
    we briefly met on Monday after the conference, when leaving the Marriott. We (Valen, Camille, me) were heading to Soi 38, where the coconut ice-cream was indeed delicious!
    Just read your post and it looks absolutely amazing. I am planning on traveling to Tokyo in October and I’ll be sure to read some more of your posts.

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Hey Yvon, good to hear from you, and nice to meet you as well – glad you liked the ice cream. Ok, Japan is amazing, I think you will really enjoy Tokyo. Let me know if I can help.

  • Ken Soong

    10 years ago

    Hi Mark
    thank you for all the lovely picture you post about good food and location, I will sure take those tips provide to make my trip to tokyo great.

    Thank you

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Hey Ken, you’re welcome, thank you for reading. Hope you have a great trip to Tokyo.

  • Dee Jimenez

    10 years ago

    Hey Mark, I’ve only recently found your vlogs on YouTube. I stumbled upon them by accident after looking through videos of Japan and Tokyo, which I miss very much. Your videos are great because they cover things that are of interest to me, and they do a much better job of showing people that while Tokyo is one of the most expensive places in the world, there are still bargains to be had.

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Hey Dee, thank you very much for watching my videos and reading my blog. You must like food and travel too. Have you visited Japan before?

  • Frank

    10 years ago

    You have gotten really good at taking food porn shots over the years Mark … my stomach is growling just looking at these pics!

  • Nick

    10 years ago

    You might have just turned me onto sushi, I’ve never been a big fan (never tried good quality sushi either) but this looks amazing.

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Great to hear that Nick. And bad (or un-fresh) sushi is really bad, and good sushi is incredible. Hope you give it another shot.

  • Mike | Earthdrifter

    10 years ago

    Have you ever been to a country where people are so passionate about food?

    Really good pics and great that you showed us that Tokyo/Japan doesn’t have to be so expensive. For the quality of that food I’d say the value is amazing.

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Hey Mike, yah man I agree, the passion and quality control is unbelievable. Thanks!

  • Kharl

    10 years ago

    The name is Marui (まる伊).

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Thank you very much Kharl, really appreciate it.

  • Doris

    10 years ago

    What a deal! I’d have to pay about $35++ for that nigiri special here in Hawaii 🙂

    • Mark Wiens

      10 years ago

      Hi Doris, yah that’s what I thought too, as long as you go for the lunch specials, there are some great deals for the quality in Japan.