Inside Tokyo’s Legendary Fish Market!

Inside Tokyo’s Legendary Fish Market!

We’re in Japan at the world famous Tsukiji Fish 
Market. One of the biggest food markets in the entire world. This place is a culinary playground, 
a food lovers paradise. There are hundreds of vendors to choose from, and they’re serving 
everything from the freshest fish to the highest quality Wagyu. We’re going to take you through the 
market and show you some of my favorite bites. And we’re joined by special guest, a two time Michelin 
star chef with over 27 restaurants and 13 omakase bars, Chef Philip Frankland Lee. This is like one of 
my favorite markets in the entire world. I’ve been buying fish here for over a decade. I’m 
going to show you all the dope spots. Well, you heard it here, folks. Let’s go eat. Let’s go. 
We talked with locals about how the Tsukiji Market isn’t the spot where the big fish auctions happen 
anymore. That part moved to a newer, shinier building across the city. Still walking through 
these narrow alleyways, you realize the energy didn’t leave with the forklifts. The vendors are 
still slicing crazy fresh tuna, stacking trays of uni to the sky. There’s fresh produce everywhere. 
And that feeling that even though the official auction moved on, the real flavor of Tokyo stayed 
behind. As we explored deeper, we stumbled into vendor after vendor with food that looked too good 
to ignore. Now, before we start to eat, one thing you should know about me is my absolute love for 
sushi. I came to Japan to experience this. Well, more of a weakness for sushi. I could eat sushi 
for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This isn’t a game to me. If there’s good sushi to be had, I 
will find it, and I will eat it. Oh my god. That’s why when we stumbled upon this hole-in-the-wall 
sushi vendor run by an old Japanese couple, I knew I had to go nuts deep. Sushi counter only has 
three seats. This is the smallest sushi bar I’ve ever seen, and I’m a huge fan of it. First order 
of business, cold Japanese beers, please. So, we discovered this tiny hole-in-the-wall sushi 
counter with only three seats. They buy the fish directly from the market and they serve it to 
you here. This is kind of like an ode to Anthony Bourdain. I feel like this is something he would 
really discover and just fall in love with. I find myself saying this a lot, like this is the reason 
I came to Japan. But moments like these are really the reason I came to Japan. And this is really 
the reason I make content. You can’t get this anywhere else in the world. This is something that 
you can exclusively only find and experience in Japan. And it’s also tiny. You actually have 
to duck to walk in the entrance here. Dude, it’s so awesome to be here. Any restaurant that 
you have to duck to get into is going to be good. Should I get fatty or medium? Medium. Can I do 
one medium, one fatty salmon, two other fish? Ankimo? Ankimo? What’s monkfish liver? Maybe yellow 
tail. The buri. What is this? This is steamed monkfish liver. Yep, that’s me. You’re probably 
wondering how I ended up in this situation. This they call the Foie gras of the sea . It does taste like 
Foie gras. You know, at first I was like, eh, I don’t like that. No. I mean, so hamachi is 
typically farm raised. Only in the winter you can get Buri. Buri is essentially if hamachi 
is caught wild over a certain size. It’s kind of like how a pig becomes a hog. Whenever it’s feral 
over a certain size, actual characteristics start to change. And so that’s what we’re having 
here. This is Buri. This is why you invite a Michelin star sushi chef in Japan, because he 
will explain the intricacies of the fish. See, it’s a firmer texture. It has more of a meaty 
flavor. A little bit more like musk to it. Dude, I could actually shed tears of happiness 
right now. I want to sit here for 6 hours, eat as many pieces of nigiri as I can, and drink 
as many beers as possible until I pass out. Ask him if the Uni is fresh and good today. Okay. Okay. Good. Good. Okay. Well, that was 
the least surprising response of all time. So, he said no sauce, no wasabi, 
straight up ready to go. Chef, where is the Uni from? Hokkaido. 
Hokkaido. Hokkaido. I’ve never seen uni prepared like this. I have. But this is I’ming 
excited. Let’s go eat that a love you brother. Wow. That’s that’s I think that’s the best I’ve 
had. Okay. Very good. Wow. So cold and sweet. Cold. Sweet. Super springy. The right amount of 
vinegar on the rice really balance the sweetness of the ooni. It’s a good call. No soy sauce. Need 
it. Yeah. Often times when they say no soy sauce, no wasabi, it’s because they’ve already put 
the right amount on. This one he didn’t put any on. He just like, “Yo, you like Uni? Don’t 
put anything on the Uni.” The freshest of the Unis for itself. Whenever you’re eating 
sushi, you don’t want to dip the rice into the soy sauce. The reason is the rice is 
already seasoned with vinegar. The rice is a complete product. It is a flavor profile. 
The fish you want to season with soy sauce. You want to eat seasoned fish with vinegared 
rice. You don’t want to dip the rice in the soy sauce because then all you’re getting is 
soy sauce flavored rice with unseasoned fish. I’m in love. I’m in love with Japan. 
I’m in love with Tokyo. I’m in love with this three seat sushi bar. That was 
just everything I dreamed of when coming to Japan. And sitting there eating sushi 
directly from that dude’s hands with Phil was one of the best experiences 
of my life. Honestly, incredible. Just when Jack thought things couldn’t get any 
better, out of the shadows emerged a tuna vendor unlike any other. The fattest, most succulent tuna 
you’ve ever seen, freshly caught every morning. I mean, holy Sh**. Have you ever seen such 
ridiculously dank tuna in your entire life? We’re at the Tsukiji Fish Market 
right now in Tokyo. We just hit up the most popular tuna spot. Look at how 
insane that tuna looks. We got three different types. Give me the soy sauce 
on that piece. Oh my god. Look at that. Love the bottles. Killer. Killer. Good. No, it’s 
bad. Insane. Ready, bro. That shit’s insane. That is insane. Holy. That’s the best food we’ve 
had in Japan. The soy sauce is bomb, too. Dude, you need the soy sauce. So, check this out. 
That soy sauce, as good as it was, that’s the free soy sauce you get with your sushi at takeout 
here in Japan. The stuff that we get in America, the kingom, all that’s I mean, look, that’s free 
soy sauce. And you just said it’s the best you’ve ever had. That was the best soy sauce I’ve ever 
had. It’s really different. It was a different style, though. It’s a It’s a sweet soy sauce. 
Yeah. Yeah. This is a type of soy sauce that inspired the soy sauce that I make from scratch. 
It has a bit of sweetness to it. It has brown, umami, earthy. Liam and I kind of prefer that 
Asian sweet flavor. It shouldn’t just be like dipping in salt. Dude, that lived up to the hype. 
That was fire. That is insane. Japan gets a lot of hype for it sushi. And yeah, it deserves every 
bit of it. But that’s only skimming the surface of the incredible culinary scene here. This place 
is stacked with dishes that prove why Japan is one of the strongest food cities on the planet. 
As we kept exploring the market, the smell of something warm and comforting drifted through 
the crowd. We followed it to a tiny old school vendor tucked between stalls, the kind of spot 
locals line up for without thinking twice. So, we jumped in line with them, ready to see why 
they’ve been coming back all these years. We discovered this 2 seat counter restaurant. They have 
been cooking the same beef or in this pot for 17 years straight. 17 years. 17 years. Yeah. 
Wow. Hasn’t stopped boiling. That’s 17 years of flavor. Now, apparently, this is one of the 
most traditional meals you can get in Japan. So, what it is is it’s cooked down beef organs in 
this stew on a bed of rice topped with a raw egg. Going to mix the egg in here so it creates 
this sauce with the stew and the rice. I’m obsessed with the counter culture in Japan. All 
these small restaurants with different counters, you don’t really have that in New York. I love the 
feel of being right in the action right in front of the chefs cooking the food. It’s something that 
is very unique to the Japanese culinary scene. That was good. That was Yeah. Got the egg 
yolk on there. A nice fatty piece of the intestine. That’s great, dude. This looks 
It’s so good. So fatty. So this is tripe. It’s like the lining of the stomach. I mean, 
huge in Mexican cuisine and a lot of cuisines, but it gives like chili vibe. It’s 
the Japanese version of chili. I love organ meat. I love tripe. There’s 
some heart in here. This is so good. In Florence, one of the most famous sandwiches 
there is the tripe sandwich topped with chim jury. And it’s always cool for me to experience 
the same type of food in different cultures. Totally. So to see the Italian style of this 
dish, just see the Japanese style of this dish, Mexican style of this dish, and Chinese. And it’s 
the same ingredient, but it tastes so different. The craziest part is the whole bowl is only six 
bucks ($), which is an amazing deal because that will fill you the F*** up. It’ll fill an entire family. 
I mean, it is so good. I mean, you can see how long they’ve been boiling this for, and you 
can taste all that flavor. The side of the pot, it’s like caked on with years of sauce. When you 
think about Japan, you typically think sushi, but apparently, this is one of the most traditional 
meals you could have. And it’s also way cheaper. Definitely don’t sleep on the stewed organ meat. 
It’s legit. Don’t let the name scare you. You got to try it. Next up, we have Solasukiji. This 
stall immediately got my attention with their giant assortment of fresh seafood and king crab 
legs on display. Here’s how it works. You walk up, select what you want to order, and they cook it 
up right in front of you. Although the market can be viewed as a bit of a tourist trap, the price 
of the crab legs were still good value compared to the US. I mean, this is a big king crab, so 
$40 bucks. You wouldn’t get that in a restaurant for $40 bucks. And I mean, look at just how much 
meat you’re getting from this. Look at that piece. Oh my god. Wa. It’s not that sweet in a 
good way. It’s super salty and your teeth just cut right through it like butter. That was 
insane. How was it? It’s really good. Killer, right? I can tell. Amazing. Yeah, it’s really 
good. And they cooked it perfectly. Yeah, it’s so tender. It’s like almost medium rare, 
which is perfect. Unbelievable. You’ll start to realize a common theme in this market is walking 
by a vendor, seeing some really delicious food, and immediately wanting it. That’s exactly what 
happened with these torch sea scallops. I love scallops. One of my favorite food, so this was 
an auto lock as a stop. I can’t wait to try this. The scallop’s almost sweet. But that’s the money right there. You got to drink 
the sauce out of the shell. Yeah. Wow. Very good. That’s good. That’s so good. Money. It’s almost 
like you got to shoot it with the sauce. The sauce makes it scallop’s fine. 
The sauce. It’s butter and soy sauce. Yeah, that Thank you. Delicious. Very good. This is my 
Super Bowl. Like literally my Super Bowl. This is why I wake up every day. This is why I get 
out of bed. This is why I do what I do. This is why I love food. It’s to experience these kind of 
moments. Now, the boys need a little energy. So, we’re going to get some matchas. You know, Looney 
Tunes when Michael Jordan has his special sauce drink. That’s essentially what matcha is for 
people in Japan. It’s like their special drink. Gives them powers. Let’s include this. Yeah. 
What’s your thought process on including it? I think we include it because Japan is known for 
matcha. This looks like the most dank matcha shop. There’s a line out the front. There’s a dial 
team in there just matching black. All right, we got our iced matcha. You can’t do a trip 
to a Japanese food market and not get a matcha latte. This looks beautiful. I love the 
color of the milk and the green together. It’s not sweet, which I think is a really 
good thing in Japan. You don’t want your matcha too bitter and you don’t want it 
sweet. I’m still trying to figure out like what makes matcha elite in Tokyo. I I 
think I’m getting closer, but to be honest, I have absolutely no idea what makes matcha 
really good. But this tastes great. All right, this matcha from Matcha Stan Marooni Tokyo 
Sukiji. Killer. We walked around and we could not find matcha that wasn’t pre-sweetened. They do it 
right. So, you get the hot matcha, not sweetened, with water, not a latte, not any of this BS
And it comes with a fresh mochi stuffed with the red bean paste. So, you basically bite, sip, 
bite, sip, and it’s unbelievable. A fun part about traveling and eating foods in different countries 
is you get to try things you’ve never had before. Japan has that but on steroids. And our next 
vendor was a perfect example of this. This is like maybe the most insane stall or thing I’ve 
seen in Japan. It’s a cracker. They put a whole shrimp in and then they press it down. Thank you 
very much. Oh my god. This is maybe the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in Japan. And it’s a prawn 
stuffed and smashed inside of this cracker. Holy. What the is this? How did they 
think of this? And I don’t get how the prawn gets so smushed. Look at 
how thin it is. This was a whole prawn. It just tastes like a really good 
rice cracker with the shrimp flavor. I’m actually surprised with how much of 
the prawn flavor you get cuz I think it smooshes down and you get it kind of spread 
throughout the rest of the rice cracker. Actually pretty good. Definitely the weirdest 
thing I’ve eaten my trip so far, but I’m a fan. In Japan, it becomes obvious fast that tradition 
is the backbone of everything. You see it in the craftsmanship behind their world famous knives, 
in the care that goes into every ceremonial tea, and in the way the country’s rich history shows 
up in even the smallest corners of the market. So, Tamagoyaki is like a super super old traditional 
dish. It’s actually the way that guests would decide which sushi chef to dine with because it 
shows so much technique. Literally back in the day, you would go in and ask for tomago first. If 
you didn’t care for it, you didn’t eat that guy’s sushi cuz it meant he cared that much. So, it’s 
basically basically test of a good sushi chef, which is crazy cuz it’s not even sushi. It’s now 
become the sort of like quintessential dessert after a proper omocas. Got it. Look at how many 
layers of egg you got. It was crazy. The the dude’s flick of the wrist with the chopsticks was 
very impressive. Sniper setting in on missions. Oh my god, that’s incredible. It’s so warm 
and sweet and it’s so thick of just egg. So fluffy. Yeah. Wow. I’m a huge fan of this. 
Wow. Another incredible culinary experience in Japan. That’s a common theme that Japanese 
don’t miss when it comes to food. This market was amazing. It was probably one of my 
favorite markets in the world next to Borough Market. They’re very different. 
Honestly, part of me prefers this one, but maybe it’s just recency bias. I’m also 
a big fan of fish, and they had a lot more fish and sushi options. I’ve had things here that 
I’ve never tried before, and it was amazing. Now, we’re on the way to one of the best omas in Tokyo, 
and I cannot wait. We haven’t had any omas yet. in a right grip with a mother left 
and watch his right hand towards his No way. We just got a yes chef in the wild. That’s 
insane. No way. No way. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. No way. I like your hat. Oh, my guy. 
Let’s go. Let’s go, man. Awesome. Yeah, man. I saw your story. I don’t think I’ve actually ever seen 
you chef in the wild, so I appreciate the support, man. Seriously. Wa Yes. Wild the middle random 
fish market in Japan. That was so cool. We’re in Tokyo, Japan right now, and some dude was rocking 
a Yes Chef hat. We’re at the Sukiji market in Tokyo right now. And I saw some dude wearing a Yes 
Chef hat in the wild. This is the first time I’ve ever seen that. I’m going to go gift him a hat. 
So, if I see you wearing a hat, I got you. Yo, I got you a I got you another hat. Oh, appreciate 
it, man. Nice to meet you, man. Good show. Damn. Let’s go. This is awesome. Let’s go. Great, 
baby, man. Yeah. Have a great June. You too.

Come along with Jack’s Dining Room as we explore the world’s most famous fish market, made even more special by Michelin-starred chef Philip Frankland Lee joining us for the journey!
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