Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2010
Photos courtesy of Med Dining
It doesn’t matter how important the issue of tuna overfishing is for the rest of the world: the locals just can’t get enough of their fatty red maguro. Recently, a slew of specialty restaurants have opened to cater to this demand, and our favorite is Tokyo Maguro Sakaba.
It’s easy to find this spot in the office district of Hatchobori—decorated with an eye-catching lantern out front and large wooden signboards boasting the fresh catch of the day, the restaurant has a retro, izakaya-like feel. At the improbably early hour of 6:30pm, the place was already full with local salarymen and OLs drinking draft beer and laughing merrily, and we were lucky to snag the only remaining table.
Pride of place on the menu goes to sashimi, especially the bluefin tuna, bought at auction each morning in Tsukiji. We plumped for the sashimi assortment (¥1,050), which included delicious slices of ruby-red maguro, katsuo, madai (sea bream), kanpachi and warasa (yellowtail). We washed it down with a ginger-ale highball (¥409), which tasted strongly of whiskey and is not recommended for more delicate drinkers. Satisfied with our sashimi and the surprisingly delicious otoshi of sweet-simmered chunks of tuna, we looked forward to further exploring the menu.
The maguro croquette (¥430) caught our attention among the list of recommended dishes scrawled on strips hanging from the wall, and we were not disappointed. The pair of large dumplings were packed with mashed potatoes and thick chunks of tuna—not minced. Next up was a platter of maguro sushi (¥590): negi-toro, akami, chutoro and otoro. In an ordinary sushi restaurant, this assortment would cost at least ¥800, but thanks to Tokyo Maguro Sakaba’s tie-ups with local fishermen in Mie, Nagasaki and Iwate, it’s able to keep prices low. Paired with a big bowl of ara-jiru (¥304), a sweet miso soup with chunks of tuna, it was a match made in seafood heaven.
We followed this with deep-fried and lip-smacking maguro kushi-katsu (¥304 per stick). Our last orders made us realize that diners here are wise to stick with the tuna, though: the grilled salmon harasu (¥609) was rich with fat but a tad too salty, and the satsuma-age, made from amadai (¥441), was a bland fishcake that lacked oomph. We wrapped up our meal with the dessert of the day: a refreshing yuzu and black sesame ice cream (¥315 each).
Tokyo Maguro Sakaba exists primarily for those “working poor” who, like us, are in the mood for quality maguro but don’t want to end up at the local kappa-zushi chain again. We’ll drink to that.
