TacoCat's TrEats #50: Sushi so Oishii you'll want salmore 🍣
Hey Steemit!
Yay we're back with another Made in Japan contest! Man I can't believe it's been about 2 months since the last one. I'm always so excited for these because 1) Japan is my absolute favourite country, and 2) I looove Japanese food and am always happy to share my favourite haunts from Japan.
Anyway, today I want to share a famous restaurant chain in Japan called Sushi Zanmai; which serves the freshest and (probably) most affordable sushi in Tokyo!
We first found out about this restaurant during our first trip to Japan in late 2015, when the flagship store just opened in Tsukiji fish market.
It was suuuper crowded and there was even a film crew so there was no chance of us trying it then. So I promised myself that the next time we visited Japan we would try it. And that's exactly what we did!
In August 2016, we participated in a short exchange program with Keio University and got to go to Tokyo again and we made sure to go back to Tsukiji and gave it a try!
The interior of the restaurant features some simple and comfortable decor. There are 2 types of seating areas - the counter area where you can see the chefs making the sushi right in front of you, and the regular tables. We opted to sit at the counter of course, to get the full experience.
They have quite a substantial menu, with various types of sashimi, nigiri sushi (with rice only) and maki (with rice and seaweed), as well as different combination sets.
Source: tripadvisor
They also have temaki sushi (sushi hand rolls) and quite a few varying donburi (sushi bowls) as well.
Source: tripadvisor
They also have English menus, so you don't need to worry about language. To order, each table/customer will have an order sheet, and you just have to indicate which sushi you want and the quantity on the paper and pass it to the chef/waitress. You can also indicate if you don't want wasabi under the sashimi like me.
During our first visit, we tried a number of different nigiri sushi to see which fish we liked the most. Since Sean is not really keen on raw fish, I only ordered 1 or 2 of the different types.
So first was salmon and shrimp:
Next was saltwater eel (or anago in Japanese)
Freshwater eel (or unagi):
Crab with roe:
And I think this is mackerel and some other fish I can't remember:
3 different grades of tuna (which I personally found a bit too fishy):
Ultimately, we decided that our favourite ones were definitely the anago and salmon. And soon, it became our go-to order at Sushi Zanmai.
This was with tuna maki:
Anago is Sean's favourite, since it's not fully raw. The eel is blowtorched a little bit on the top and glazed with a sweet sauce after. So the perfect anago sushi would be warm, and lightly burnt on the edges.
But I know Sean likes it more burnt like these ones on the bottom left:
My favourite is definitely the salmon. It's so fresh and smooth; it practically melts in your mouth. I could easily eat 10 of these in one go. And it's one of the cheapest nigiri sushi they have!
Other than being famous for its affordable sushi, Sushi Zanmai is also known for its founder! If you've heard of Sushi Zanmai or eaten at one of their 42 outlets in Tokyo, I'm sure you'll recognise this man in front.
Or have at least seen a statue of him in front of the shop.
This man is Kiyoshi Kimura, or "Tuna King". He is the head of Kiyomura Corporation which runs the Sushi Zanmai chain of restaurants. Kimura spends A LOT of money on huge and high-quality tuna at the fish auctions in Tokyo's fish market (used to be Tsukiji, now at Toyosu). In 2019 during the first new year's auction, he paid a whopping $3.1 million yen (USD$1.8m) for a giant bluefin tuna (278kg) making it the world's most expensive tuna ever auctioned!
Source: TODAYonline
All his statues at the shopfronts is of him posing with the tuna he won at auctions!
During that first time we ate in Tsukiji it was right in the middle of summer in Tokyo and the fish maybe wasn't at its freshest. But it still tasted alright, and since then we've eaten at Sushi Zanmai quite a few times, and I make it a point to eat it at least once every time we go to Japan.
When we brought my relatives there, we had a real feast!
And since most of their outlets are open 24 hours, it's also a good place to go for supper!
I remember going to their Ikebukuro outlet with a friend at 3 AM after we were gaming the whole night. 😅 That was super fun!
So if you're ever in Tokyo and have a hankering for some of the freshest sushi, definitely check out Sushi Zanmai!
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Restaurant Information
Sushi Zanmai
Japan, 〒104-0045 Tōkyō-to, Chuo City, Tsukiji, 3-chōme−11−９ 築地スクエアビル 1F
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Sushi Santa
Roe roe roe
Thank you for sharing the deliciousness of this place. I hope I will visit it one day. Wow, this is the real Zanmai. (We hv one in KK too, the best I enjoyed.) #prayforCOVID19tocease #thanks
Glad you enjoyed it! Oh haha I know there's Sushi Zanmai in KL too but I think those are not the same as the ones in Tokyo. Yes you should definitely give it a try one day!