We had a very full day planned for our last full day in Tokyo. So aided by a bit of jet lag, we got to start early.
Tsuta Reservations
One of the things that was highly recommended to us by a number of our friends was to visit a ramen restaurant called Tsuta. Tsuta is the first ramen restaurant to be awarded a Michelin Star and we were eager to see what the hype was about. However, in order to get a spot in this 9 seat ramen bar you need to go early to get a “ticket”. There are limited tickets available each day. Each ticket corresponds to a seating time, and you will need a thousand yen deposit to cement your spot. At around 9AM, there were plenty of tickets left (Your mileage may vary). We picked a 2:30pm time slot, paid our deposit and set off for our next stop!
Tsukiji Fish Market
Another stop we really wanted to make was to visit the Tsukiji Fish Market. A short 20 minute metro ride from Tusta.
We first arrived at this modern building that had seafood stores and stalls. After spending 15 minutes fawning over the varieties of seafood we started to think that this was a little too “clean” to be the fish market we heard so much about.
We decided to walk a little more and eventually found it. It’s a huge complex full of different fish stalls and little motor carts darting all over the place. This was more like it! I think part of the fun is dodging the carts and seeing everyone inside the fish market conduct regular business, paying no mind to the tourists brave enough to enter. One of the downsides to this though, is you aren’t allowed to take photos within. In fact some of the workers are quite adamant when they see someone raise a phone or camera in their direction.
I may or may not have tried to sneak a few shots (hence the odd framing) but its a very bustling and interesting place. If you’re a fan of seafood, then its certainly worth a stop.
Umai Sushikan
How can you visit the fish market and not try some fresh sushi. There are many small sushi shops on the edges of the fish market. There are a few that are highly regarded and it shows. They tend to have long line ups outside. I’ve learned so far in Japan is you can’t really go too wrong when it comes to food. So instead of waiting a few hours for the “best” restaurant. We rounded a corner and found a less busy sushi shop called Umai Sushikan Tsukiji Market. We all ordered a few items from their menu and were very pleased with our food. Everything seemed authentic and was certainly very tasty. I’m not sure how much better the busier spots were. Maybe I’ll find out in the future!
Odaiba – Gundam
We still had a bit of time before making our way back to Tsuta ramen. We had wanted to visit Odaiba to see the life size Gundam sometime during our stay in Tokyo. Since the fish market is very close to Odaiba, we decided to make a short detour to check it out.
Odaiba is a man made island with futuristic architecture on it. It’s beautifully laid out and a place to spend more time exploring on a future trip. But for today we exited the train and made a beeline to the Gundam, though I did manage to snap a few pics of the area.
For those of you who don’t know, Gundam is a popular Japanese animated series set in the future. It features these large “building sized” robots doing battle with one another. I’ve been a casual fan for a while and thought this was a very unique!
When I finally saw it, I was amazed! I didn’t expect it to be as big as it is. It truly is the size of a building. Not only that, it is also meticulously put together. The makers of this spared no detail. From all the different parts of the armour to the “safety” decals on each plate, this was a very life like representation of a Gundam!
I had taken a few pics and was ready to leave when music started playing over the loud speakers and the Gundam started to “move”. A few of its armour pieces shifted and and lit up, while its mask opened up in a way to “transform”. While it was awesome that it did this, I was hoping for more movement but sadly this wasn’t a “real” Gundam. All in all, if you’re a fan, its definitely worth the trip out to see it!
Tsuta Ramen
It was finally time to make our way back to Tsuta ramen. We hopped back on the metro and returned to where we were earlier in the day. By the time we arrived, there was a line outside the doors and we were a bit disappointed that our reservation didn’t get us in right away. However, because they can’t account for the duration of stays for each guest the time slot is a rough estimate and that once you hold a reservation ticket you’re guaranteed a spot. So even though we had a slot between 2 and 2:30 we ended up waiting a little under an hour before we were seated.
When you do get near the front of the line, an employee will come out, exchange your ticket for your thousand yen deposit back and ask you to go into the front of the shop to place your order from the vending machine (common in many Japanese restaurants). Afterwards you rejoin the line (where you left) and wait until a seat is ready. By that time your order will be just about ready for you to consume once seated.
It was only a few minutes before our orders were in front of us after sitting down. Just by looking at the bowl you can see a great deal of attention was paid to the making of the bowl of noodles. After snapping a few photos we all took our first bites (slurps) and we immediately realized just how amazing the ramen was. We’ve all had ramen before but this was something else! Ramen isn’t something that either Salmonella or FunkyCat normally go out of their way for. But even they said this was different and the best tasting ramen they’ve ever had.
I can’t recommend it enough. I was worried that after the build up and the long wait, we’d be disappointed with the meal. However, that wasn’t the case. Check out Tsuta if you’re in Tokyo, I doubt you’d be disappointed.
Akihabara – Manga stores/Toys
After our late lunch, we wanted to show FunkyCat Akihabara, since he didn’t get a chance to see it the day before. By the time we arrived at Akihabara, it was night time and the whole area was lit up like Vegas. Akihabara and especially the “electronic town” portion of it is made up of large manga/anime shops, hobby and toy stores and multi floor arcades. If you’re a fan of anything fantasy related, manga related or video game related, this is a place you should check out.
Initially all the Akihabara lights and activity is daunting, but once you start exploring the area you soon realize it’s all rather focused. People spend a lot of time looking at figurines, trading cards, models or simply playing video games.
Yoshinoya– Beef and rice
We spent a few hours in Akihabara before our stomachs started growling again. Salmonella suggested we go into this chain store called Yoshinoya. They primarily do bowls of rice with different types of toppings. We all made our orders and they efficiently brought us our food. I had a set which included some salad, rice with pork on top and some soup. It wasn’t Tsuta ramen but it certainly hits the spot when you’re hungry!
Tokyo Metropolitan Building Observation Tower
Our final stop for the evening would be the Tokyo Metropolitan building observatory. It offers an elevated view of the city for free. Instead of going to Tokyo Tower and paying to get to the top for a view. We went for a more cost efficient alternative and enjoyed our time up there. It was the end of a long day so we didn’t spend too much time up top. For the short time we did, we were able to appreciate how amazing Tokyo is.
The jam packed day pooped us out. It was also our last day in Tokyo before we fly out tomorrow en route to Okinawa. We retired to our airBNB to pack and get ready for the next leg of our journey.