Ichiba Sushi

Ok, this is no Sushi Dai or Daiwa Sushi but we didn’t have to waste our precious time in line for 2 hours. I think I can live with that because folks, not only do locals come here, we were only in line for a little over half an hour. I honestly had no idea what we were lining up for. I couldn’t find the place on Unilocal until after having eaten here so this was pure luck to have stumbled upon a gem. It’s really tiny with a sushi bar that seats about 12 people. Menu has photos making it easy for both chefs and customers.
I had the G Menu (¥4,000) which was a chirashi bowl consisting of tamago, uni, chotoro, otoro, chopped tuna, and tobiko over rice. The freshness is sublime and the cuts are beautiful. I wish there was more for the price tag it came with.
Omakase A (¥3,800) was what my better half went for. Each sushi was placed atop a banana leaf in front of him and they all looked mouthwatering. My only gripe is, because the sushi chef is too busy and does not speak very good english, there’s no telling if each sushi was to be eaten with soy sauce or not. I also had to ask several times the type of fish served and sometimes not really understanding. The restaurant is super quiet so I kinda didn’t want to be that loud person asking too many questions. Also, the picture showed there was uni in the set but he never got one. Then again, omakase means chef’s choice.
Sit, order, eat, and go. Everyone knows the drill since people are waiting outside. Follow that code, come early (closes at 3pm), and be sure to bring enough cash. Credit card not accepted.

Sushibun next door had a two hour wait, and my better half was NOT going to wait that long. The market was busy on 30 December (as it would be closed the next day). A much shorter half an hour wait, and we were in the door to Ichiba Sushi, the last sushi restaurant on the left when you are facing the busy row, and next to Sushibun). Choosing Menu B at 3000 yen (Menu A looked like it had Uni, sea urchin roe, not my favourite, and a few other more possibly challenging dishes), we had a beautiful selection of sushi with perfectly soft rice, amazing pickled ginger, and as expected, seafood so fresh that it really does taste different than anywhere else (except the other two times I’ve eaten at Tsukiji!). Also, a beautiful miso soup. Hey, if someone had offered me a place at one of the other super-​busy restaurants without such a wait, I would have been curious to try them… but I couldn’t find any fault with this marvelous sushi breakfast, and what I think is a quintessential Tokyo tourist experience.

Ichiba Sushi is the located on the very end of the the same strip of restaurants where the famous Sushi Dai and Daiwa Sushi are. As others have mentioned, there is no English name to this place on the outside. Believe it or not, we found this place by randomly standing in line. Thanks to Unilocal,I was able to find out what this place was called by matching the pictures of the outside from the pictures other Unilocalers have posted hehe. Wait time for this place was about 30 – 45 minutes with more local diners than foreigners. There is a menu/​poster standing outside so you can decide on what you want before you go in. You order by picking the letter of the sushi set you want. The sets are DIRT CHEAP compared to the states, with the most expensive set being around (3800 yen = $ 30). There are no English words, so just go off of the pictures. Don’t make things complicated by being picky and trying to order al a cart. I guarantee you, everything on your plate will be amazing, even if you’re a bit squeamish about raw fish. But then again… what the heck are you doing at a fish market? You won’t find a California roll or a Crunch roll with shrimp tempura sorry.
The sushi was everything I imagined it to be. Melt in your mouth and SO. FREAKIN. FRESH! Being a sushi snob, I was totally in sushi heaven. Cuts were generous, rice to fish ratio was perfect. Every sushi set comes with a bowl of steaming hot miso soup (dare I say the best miso soup I’ve ever had?) and hot tea. This place is tiny with maybe 10 seats at most. You eat, you pay, and you go. Don’t sit there and be a dick and lollygag. Remember people are waiting in line outside after you.

Delicious! I came back during my 2 week trip because the sushi was so good. I love the brine of the uni and the shisho flavor of the ikura. I don’t normally eat tuna at home but it’s so good here. Their soup is also delicious — made with fish broth anf a delicate seaweed called aosa. My only wish would be to let me know when they are switching out something in the omakase. I know. It’s omakase (up to the chef), but I hate raw abalone. :(

This was a life changing sushi experience. There was no way I was going to spend 2 – 3 hours waiting for Sushi Dai — I just don’t have the patience and there are so many other things I want to eat in Japan. We saw Ichiba Sushi was full of local looking people and after a quick 10 minute wait we were whisked right in. They even found a way to seat our group of four next to each other so we could enjoy the experience together. The A Set premium Omakase was about $ 35 dollars and came with the best miso soup we had on the trip. The rice was seasoned perfectly and each piece was melt in your mouth. Don’t think I can eat sushi again in the states…

Best freshest and sashimi large cuts in my life!!! Definitely worth visiting the (2) gods who filet and prep ur platter!!! Not on Unilocal since nothing in English advertised on their business. You’ll have to look at my photos to find exact location within Tsukiji fish market. No line formed by foreigners yet. Exceptional !!!