Dai

Incredible meal! One of a kind. Amazing. We arrived at the market around 4:30am to wait in line. There were 24 people in front of us and the line quickly formed behind. As a party of 4 we knew the early seating would be gone, but we also had team lab tickets at 9! Tough calls. We could have... sat at 9 or 10:30 and chose the 10:30. We were sat immediately and the host took our coats and then the fun began! Our chef was SO personable. He asked about our home and our kids sports and activities. He was a baseball guy so he was interested in our son’s baseball team. Etc. The Sushi was amazing! It was so fun to watch him cut and craft each piece just for us. We had tuna, mackerel, flounder, abalone, Bonita, amberjack and others. There were flavors and spices I’d never had with nigiri. So incredible. Get the sake! So good. We also had the chance to order a la carte as we went. We ordered the largest oyster I’d ever seen and fresh octopus sashimi bc why not?! This meal would have been $300-400 or more in the US and we paid $200 for four people. Unreal. It’s worth waking up for friend!!!

Visited April 2025

I've been to Sushi Dai four times, dating back to when it was located at Tsukiji. It still has the best sushi for that price point (around $40). The service was very friendly and attentive.

Visited October 2024

The sushi is amazing -- freshest I have ever eaten. Just superb. I sat next to a Japanese sushi veteran who seemed to know exactly what was good and what to eat. Although I had the omikase -- which was awe inspiring -- I tried to follow his lead on the add-on items. It was a life-changing experience.... Get the sushi add-ons, such as giant oyster, monkfish liver, andf surf clam...they are very memorable.

Visited July 2024

Followed the advice of previous posters and joined the lineup at 4:45am. 20-30 people ahead of us. At 5am on the dot, the security guard directed the line to proceed to the Sushi Dai store front where the reservation process began. The 6am seating was filled by the time we made it to the front of th...e line so we chose the second seating (7:30am). This allowed us to explore the Toyosu fish market. The size and number of tuna in the tuna auction was beyond belief. We also took in the observation level for the vegetable market and non tuna fish market. Now on to our 7:30am seating at Sushi Dai. As each subsequent sushi piece was presented to us I remarked to my son that that last piece was my favorite. Every serving just seemed to build on the previous one. When the 9th piece was served and it was time to select what I wanted for the final serving (we had chosen Omakase option) I took some time to study the list of options. Everything we had been served was a candidate as well as a large number of items that had not been in the original 9. I chose the fatty tuna and was happy with my selection. Thank you Sushi Dai for allowing me to experience this fantastic offering.

Visited May 2024

This is unequivocally the best sushi value in the world. The omakase was 5500 yen ($US 36.18 at the time of writing). You got 10 courses (1st tamago, 2-8 sushi, 9th hand roll, 10th was choose your own (I picked uni which required 600 yen supplement). Along with the 10 courses you received green t...ea and miso soup. The sushi was highest quality. The fatty tuna, yellow tail and uni were as good as I have ever had. Everything was expertly prepared and seasoned. The chef rightly recommended against any soy sauce except for the hand roll course. A meal like this in Manhattan (where I live and usually eat Sushi) would cost at least $250 for this quality of fish. To get in the first seating at 6AM on a Monday I arrived at 345AM which put me at #4 in line. (I chose to do this on my first full day in Japan given that the jet lag naturally had me up at this time). At this time the market is not yet open, so the line started just outside the food market on a bridge of the third floor. (Note that the subway is not running at this time so you have to take a taxi unless you booked a hotel close to here). At 5AM you are allowed into the food market area. A worker from Sushi Dai met the group (that now totaled at least 50 people) and brought us down to a desk outside of the restaurant (which was not yet open). He takes your name, number of people in your group, asks for your desired time, and order. The first seating is at 6AM. (Note that only one person from the group has to be present to book the slot). I returned an hour later to sit at my reserved time of 6AM. There were 15 people total per seating. We had one sushi chef for 4 people. The omakase took about 1 hour. After you finish you are allowed to stay for longer if you wish to add on more courses or finish any alcohol you ordered. Myself and the others next to me all added on extra courses at the end (I did 3 extra pieces in total). I finished at 715. The staff was very nice and very gracious. At no time did I feel rushed after the last course of the set omakase ended. Much has been written about whether Sushi Dai is ‘worth it.’ From my perspective it is the best sushi value in the world, so it is certainly worth it from a monetary perspective-it is a virtual steal. Many are put off by the very early time you have to arrive to queue in order to guarantee a seating. The restaurant closes at around 2pm, so if you arrive too late you could have to wait for several hours before you can eat or you might not even get a seating since they stop accepting people once the bookings are filled for the day. The nice thing is that you get to reserve a time and do not have to stand in line while waiting for your turn. (Ie- you can reserve your time slot, then go wander around somewhere else until it is time to eat). I think this is a no-brainer to do on the first few days of your trip when jet-lag will have you up well before 3AM. I might even go back tomorrow…

Visited April 2024