Sending the kids to Disney for their holidays while I worked, we reached very late in the vicinity and looking for sustenance. Everything was a long queue except Tsujikitama.

I have been to their Honten in Tsukiji, which I was not impressed as I was spoiled for choices in Japan. But when you are left to this or an hour wait in the cold, wet weather, you take it.

The sushi cart

Although the Japanese get full credit for what we call sushi today, the inspiration for sushi is thought to have started in Southeast Asia. Narezushi, fermented fish wrapped in sour rice, originated somewhere around the Mekong River before spreading into China and later Japan.

The modern-day concept of sushi was invented in Japan by Hanaya Yohei sometime around the end of the Edo period sometime in the mid-1800s. Once upon a time, sushi didn’t require a platinum credit card to enjoy. They would most probably be sold in one of these sushi carts outside the Noh theatres, not unfamiliar to our friends in the West, like popcorn carts in cinemas. Sushi caught on originally as a cheap, quick snack to eat with the hands while enjoying a theatre performance.

Our dinner is served

There are too many choices so we decided to just order a couple of sets, a chirashi and a couple of ala carte. All sets and chirashi came with a chawanmushi and miso soup, so they were quite a bargain given that we were in Mouseland.

小町にぎり Komachi nigiri set

Komachi can loosely be translated into “small town”, this is small town nigiri sushi set. 7 pieces of the standards – tuna, sea bream, scallop, sweet prawn, salmon, chutoro and unagi, a uni gunkan and a piece of tamago to top it off.

魚河岸にぎり Uogashi nigiri set

It has nothing to do with its name – Uogashi “river bank” – most of the sushi are from sea fish.

海鮮ばらちらし Kaisenbara chirashi

A very colourful chirashi, they were quite generous with the amount of seafood layered on the rice.

Came with all our favourite seafood – tuna, salmon, ikura, pickled roe, prawn, boiled scallops, uni. Quite a lot for sharing among us.

秘伝のたれ づけ鮪 Special Zukemaguro

The word zuké is related to tsukemono (漬物, “pickled things”) and shoyuzuke (醤油漬け, marinated in soy sauce). During the Edo period virtually all maguro was marinated in a shoyunikiri in order to preserve it. Doing so not only preserved the fish, but it also kept it visually appealing as otherwise the tuna’s flesh would have turned dark when exposed to air.

The nikiri (marinade) they used was very light (not salty) but the fish was not very high quality. It was nevertheless tasty. Princess ate everything, enough said.

We ordered some more ala carte sushi not part of the sets – corn, foie gras, akagai (cockle), shrimp roe in gunkan and handroll – because the kids love them. Again, our eyes were bigger than our appetite, we struggled to put them away.

I guess food tastes different depending who you eat them with. This time, I find their quality to be OK but the overall experience was better than the last time in the Honten. Guessed I was eating with an angry stomach the last time.

築地玉壽司 Tsukijitama Maihama Ikspiari
Yubinbango279-8529 Urayasu Maihama 1-4 Ikspiari 4F
〒279-8529 浦安市舞浜1－4 イクスピアリ４F
Tel : 047-305-5783

舞浜イクスピアリ

Date Visited : Nov 2019