TOKYO, June 26 — When you’re in the land of fresh seafood like Japan, it feels like a sin not to indulge in the abundant catch of tuna, sea urchin, ikura and more.
Purists will say to go for an omakase but sitting through course after course feels stifling, so the quicker and easier-on-the-wallet option was kaisendon, a rice bowl topped with the fresh catch.
One viral spot for kaisendon is Nihonbashi Kaisen Don Tsujihan, a restaurant chain with many outposts scattered throughout Tokyo.
Some outlets like the Nihonbashi location, are more popular and have long queues. Upon the advice of a Tokyo resident, we went to Tsujihan at Ark Hills, Akasaka, which has a shorter wait time.
Social media has popularised it with its eye-catching bowls, which feature a mound of scraped tuna from the bones known as nakochi, combined with shrimp, whelk, geoduck clam and squid.
Each counter seat offers a bird’s-eye view of how these bowls are made, from the laborious mixing of the seafood in a huge stainless steel bowl to the entire plating process.
Layer by layer, seafood is added to the tower of tuna, starting with the sea urchin followed by a small bowl of ikura, allowing the orange-red eggs to tumble down and demanding a snapshot to capture its glorious enticement.
How you eat your kaisendon is up to you.
One can slowly savour the rice sprinkled with sesame seeds with a little of the tuna, or perhaps just the ikura with a dab of soy sauce or wasabi.
Impatient ones can also mix everything up to relish it with a spoon.
It’s the next part that makes Tsujihan worth a stop: once you have eaten around two-thirds of your kaisendon, ask for a scoop of the boiling hot, creamy red bream broth to be poured over it.
Now you have ochazuke, similar to a Teochew porridge, where rice grains mingle with the hot broth and seafood.
Don’t forget to add the yellowtail cut into sashimi too as it will gently cook in the broth.
With a belly full of warmth, it’s definitely an experience you don’t get here.
Prices for a basic bowl (Ume Course) range from 1,350 Yen (RM34) for the mixed tuna and salmon roe to 3,900 Yen (RM99) for the Tokujo Course that combines the basic bowl with extra crab and double portions of sea urchin and salmon roe.
Upgrade your kaisendon experience with premium tuna cuts paired with creamy sea urchin at Umi No Sachi Musuko, a small eatery in Kanda.
Most of their diners are Japanese salarymen with an occasional tourist like me who found their way there.
Just before the place opens, they post the handwritten menu outside for all to see and select which bowl they want to spring for.
There’s tuna sourced from three regions — Mimaya, Funka Bay and Fukouka — all in a bowl with different cuts.
Engawa, amberjack and bluefin tuna with different cuts can be ordered too.
What I wanted was a bowl of premium tuna cuts (fatty, medium-fat, and nakochi — tuna scraped from the bones) with sea urchin for 5,500 Yen (RM140).
Limited seats (21 in total) are available; early arrivals are ushered to the five counter seats or the four tables designed for groups of four.
Behind the counter, the owner swiftly cuts the tuna to place in the bowls.
He first layers deep red nakochi on the rice, then he piles on the thick slices of medium-fat and fatty tuna.
The final flourish is a generous scoop of creamy, gorgeous orange sea urchin.
A bowl of miso soup topped with tiny dark-shelled clams, known as shijimi is also served, imparting a deep intense broth to clear the palate.
Eating every part of the bowl is fun: mix the nakochi with rice, sometimes combine it with the briny sea urchin or enjoy each piece of the tuna dipped in soy sauce with wasabi.
The bowl is substantial, filling you up nicely.
Regulars speed through their rice bowls, eager to leave for a break before returning to work and allowing others to get their lunch.
Here, this kaisendon isn’t over-photographed like Tsujihan’s; the focus is solely on relishing the beautiful bowl of fresh tuna with sea urchin.
Nihonbashi Kaisen Don Tsujihan
Open daily: 11am to 9.30pm
Website: @tsujihan-jp
Umi No Sachi Musuko
First floor, Miyagawa Building East,
12 Higashimatsumotocho,
Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Open: 11:45am to 2pm, 6pm to 11pm.
Closed on weekends and public holidays.
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
* Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
