If you are in Tokyo and can make it to the Tsukiji fish market early this is a must for anyone.
I arrived at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan one morning at 4:30am to have a chance to watch early morning fish market auctions. I did not realize one actually had to have certain permission to be there and was quickly escorted out within minutes by officials. I was pretty bummed out until I walked by a shop that had a group of people standing in line at about 4:45 am. I quickly jumped into the line and tried to find out what we were waiting for, haha. People told me “This is the top sushi spot here at the Tsukiji fish market and one of the top here in Tokyo hands down.” My well thought out response after learning this was “Cool!!”

Sushi Dai has a set menu of what the chef has picked to serve on that day which takes the guess work out of dining there. Very cool.

The whole restaurant is super tiny and only seats about 12 people so getting video was a task in itself. I used a 16-35mm wide angle lens on my Canon 5dMk2 to try to get video when I could.


The chef at Sushi Dai had a great personality and there was showmanship in everything he did.

The fact that I had no idea I would be dining here all by chance at one of the best places for sushi in Tokyo is amazing to me when I think about it. Check out this horse mackerel…..Yes it was as fantastic as it looks.




I will never forget Sushi Dai but it makes eating sushi now a bit of a let down, just hard to compare to the best when I look back. If you are in Tokyo and can make it to the Tsukiji fish market early this is a must for anyone. Expect a line but just know “It will be worth the wait”.

Location: Sushi Dai