The original Okame sushi shop at Tsukiji was a classically rustic Edo-style sushi joint: standing-only, cramped, smoking permitted. The Toyosu version is more polished: the 13 counter seats are spaciously spread out in a horseshoe shape around the sushi chefs and the restaurant is non-smoking. The Okame staff work efficiently and amicably together, interacting warmly with guests while adding special touches to their sushi, like a brush of house-made nikiri-joyu applied to some of the fish slices...
Toyosu Market couldn’t be more different to its predecessor: if a visit to Tsukiji was like seeing your favourite band at a ramshackle local dive bar, Toyosu is like a stadium gig. While in Tsukiji you’re in the thick of things, mingling with the vendors, at Toyosu visitors are not allowed into the wholesale areas, be it seafood or fruit and veg, and have to take in the action from the observation galleries above. Still, some things remain the same: there’s great food.
When visiting Toyosu, even if you’re not going for the tuna auction, go early – as in crack-of-dawn early. By around 10am, the market has mostly wrapped up and the restaurants will involve a significant wait. Food options are spread out across the three buildings: the Intermediate Wholesale Market Building, the Fruit & Vegetable Building and the Management Facilities Building, which you’ll pass through on your way to the Wholesale Market Building.
Some of the popular restaurants from Tsukiji has made the move to Toyosu – to continue serving the market’s 65,000 workers and also to make sure they get the freshest seafood by sticking close to the source. But it’s not all sushi; Toyosu Market offers a good range of options from old-school coffeeshop fare to tonkatsu, soba and more. Here are our favourites.
