Yamazaki

When I was first doing research for Tokyo and Tsukiji Market, my guidebook was telling me that Sushi Dai is the most popular sushi restaurant in the entire market. It suggested that I try Sushi Daiwa instead. Except nowadays, its suggestion, Sushi Daiwa is also boosting 2+ hour lines because of the overflow from the Sushi Dai line!
After further research online (thank you TripAdvisor!), I discovered Yamazaki, located, literally, right smack in between Sushi Dai and Sushi Daiwa. We arrived around 6am, 30 minutes after it opened and waited about 45 minutes to an hour for two people. There is probably only about 11 seats in the entire restaurant so be prepared to wait once it gets closer to double-​digit times.
Yamazaki offers a small menu consisting of a few sushi sets and chirashi. They also have an a la carte menu as well as special daily offerings. We ordered a set to share but then ordered a few pieces off the menu straight from the chef. Our chef was super nice and the entire restaurant is pretty English-​friendly. The highlights were definitely the fatty tuna, fatty salmon, abalone, and the firefly squid with 3 tiny squids on top. The Uni was a standout as well. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Yamazaki and highly recommend it if you don’t want to wait in line for the two usual suspects.

We weren’t early enough for Sushi Dai or Daiwa, so we started a line at this place around 5:50am per a friend’s reco. And boy, did we not regret it at all! This place was freakin delicious and satisfying. Especially for only waiting 30 mins to eat sushi breakfast!
We got the top set menu called the ‘kiku’ for 3900yen and added the alfonsino after seeing everyone else get it. The ‘kiku’ had 11 pieces and a miso soup. This set had everything we wanted to try — medium and super fatty tuna, Hokkaido uni, fresh eel of 2 flavors, mackerel, and even squid — so it was easier than ordering ala carte. This is also the first time that I had mackerel that didn’t have a fishy taste which is kinda remarkable to me — perhaps a testament to its freshness? (I’ve only had US sushi as a fyi but I’ve also had some high end places and all of those mackerals were fishy.)
The chef was really friendly and even cracked a few jokes. The hostess was sweet and brought us green tea while we were waiting. The patrons generally try to eat quickly and leave, with the exception of a few. While this is a better 1 – 2 people type of place, we noticed they try really hard to seat parties of 4+ together as the seats open up.
Overall, a really great experience for my first time at the fish market. I can’t imagine how much better the popular places are. If you think about it, they all get the fish at the same place. I hear the main difference between this place and Sushi Dai is the price. You’re playing 700yen ala carte vs. 500yen. For $ 2, I rather not wait 3hr+ after an already early morning during vacation!

We were a bit unsure since Yamazaki had the shortest line of the shops in Tsukiji Market but the others ahead of us seemed enthusiastic so we decided to wait the hour and a half for a seat and we are so glad we did!
Only about 11 seats, but the sushi is so fresh, priced well and service is efficient but warm and welcoming. It was a little cold the morning we waited outside and we were brought cups of hot tea. Once inside, we had more endless hot tea and miso soup to start.
There are sushi sets or you can order a la carte. Cash only. Definitely worth the wait and I’d do it again in a heart beat.

Got to Tsukiji at 7am, too late to even consider Sushi Dai or Daiwa Sushi. I knew there would be plenty of other great options though! This place had the shortest line (although only 12 seats, versus Daiwa Sushi’s 20 seats) so I think the line at Daiwa moved faster. We got seated after an hour and a half of waiting.
This place has amazing fresh fish and extremely pleasant and accommodating chef and managers. This was a fantastic 9am breakfast. I got the Kiku which was 3900 yen for 11 pieces and miso soup. The eel was amazing so I ordered another a la crate, along with the filefish (yum!) and the live clam (the chef hits it and you see it move before he puts it on your plate). A large beer was 600 yen.
I’m back at 530am to try Daiwa and Yamazaki just opened their doors with no line at all! If I hadn’t been here yesterday I’d be tempted to skip the Daiwa line and pop my head inside for more…

Despite waiting in line for almost an hour and a half at 9AM, we were glad we did because the fish was sooo fresh and it was just a great experience to have at a fish market. This was my first nigiri/​omakase meal on my vacation and it was not cheap but beyond worth it. The sushi chefs were nice and even though their English was limited, the menu was in Japanese and English and we just pointed to what we wanted. We kept ordering more and more as we neared the end of our meal, yep it’s that good. They serve unlimited free hot green tea which was soothing and comforting after waiting outside in the cold March weather.
I chose the Sakura 9-​piece set for 3200 yen then separately ordered today’s special: alfonsino, file fish, and Japanese cockle. The cockle was definitely interesting and good. As the chef took it out of its shell and prepared it, right before he placed it on my leaf mat, he smacked it to show it moved and curled up, still alive. It tasted almost like an oyster, different but very good. My favorites were: fatty tuna, alfonsino, uni, and Japanese cockle.
Give it a try but be sure to go to the market really early cause it gets crowded with long lines. There are only 12 seats inside.

Do yourself a favor and order as much «Alfonsino» as you can eat. Hands down the BEST and tastiest piece of fish I’ve ever had in my mouth. Soooo much yum in a special bite!

Good service. Tourist friendly. Kids welcomed but to be honest, there is not enough space.

Best and the freshest sushi your taste buds will ever enjoy! In fact, this place as ruined all other sushi restaurants for me. The restaurant is located right next to the fish market. It is small and there will most likely be a line outside but make sure to wait. They give out green tea to the crowd as you patiently wait to be seated. The staff is absolutely wonderful and helpful! This is a must try if you are ever in tokyo!

We lined up for sushi Yamasaki on our first morning in Tokyo. The line is much less daunting than its two neighbors: sushi Dai and Daiwa (?). We waited about 10 minutes before being seated.
The staff is helpful and friendly.
The menu is simple. 5 options and a comprehensive a la carte menu is you want to double down on a particular type of fish.
For $ 25pp this is a fantastic deal. Highly recommended.

The scallop is amazing, and the fatty tuna is a once-​in-​a-​lifetime experience. This is Tsukiji sushi for people who can’t spend four hours in line. The main chef is friendly and speaks English well, and they serve cold green tea to customer waiting in line outside! Amazing sushi, great customer service.

Don’t Sushi Dai, sushi live at Sushi Yamazaki!
Okay, so in full disclosure I haven’t been to Sushi Dai so I can’t say who is the big tuna or who comes out on top but I can tell you who won’t put up a stop (part of the continuous stop and go in line at Sushi Dai). That’s Sushi Yamazaki. Japanese natives I spoke to still say Sushi Dai is worth the wait but for those of us with a plane to catch and want to try some of the freshest catches of the day without delay will love Sushi Yamazaki just as much.
It is located to the left of Sushi Dai and in full disclosure it has its own line albeit one that is much, much shorter.
The small (I would say 10 seats total) restaurant is about the size of a walk-​in closet but it is that intimacy and coziness that I think adds to the experience. What you’ll find is both you and your neighbors salivating and making nom nom noises with each sushi piece brought out. This is best illustrated by the fact that our right hand neighbor was Go-​Pro-​ing his meal in real-​time and our left hand neighbor was continually saying «this is the best I ever had!» We were guilty of taking photos of these beauties but while they are pretty on the outside they are better in taste.
For around $ 33 (3900 Yen) you can get the Kiku 11 pieces which comes with everything. Fantastic price for high quality sushi.
You can opt for Sakura or the Fuji which are 9 pieces each. The Sakura comes with Uni whereas the Fuji doesn’t so I’d opt for the Sakura.
This is one of those meals where you just don’t want it to end and even 11 pieces was way too little.

Can’t wrong wrong in Tsukiji Fish Market… We tried Yamazaki randomly and it was great! Everything tasted so fresh and full of flavor with just the right texture. The wasabi also was a good amount, as there wasn’t too much. Miso soup was complimentary with the meal. I tried several types of sushi including some kappamaki (cucumber roll) which I don’t usually see on the menus. It seemed like this restaurant was very foreigner friendly as everything was in English and the sushi chef was really nice.
While this restaurant was really good, I think any restaurant in this little area would be pretty good with the fresh fish caught that morning.