When it comes to Tsujihan, TikTok and Instagram users should be pretty familiar, as there was a period when Tsujihan appeared in social feeds and reels every 5 scrolls. It was so viral that almost all food bloggers visited them and posted about their experience
Before I started planning for my Japan trip, visiting Tsujihan was already part of my plan due to those viral videos. After watching tonnes of videos, I decided to visit the branch at Ark’s Hill as that was recommended to have the least number of queues. I arrived slightly before dinner time, and there was a short queue ahead of us
We waited approximately 30 minutes before we got a seat at the counter tables. You can choose between 4 different courses and also choose to add on toppings accordingly to your preference. We were handed the menu while standing in the queue, so we could slowly decide on which menu to order. You can also customise your bowl with add-ons like extra sea urchin, extra salmon roe and more
The restaurant was constantly full, and each group took 30 minutes to an hour to finish the meal. We were shown to the end of the counter, where we could watch the rest of the restaurant. We can hang our jackets on the hooks provided near the walls and also store our bags beneath our chairs. As the food preparation counter is right in the centre of the restaurant, customers sitting near the Chef can see them work on each bowl meticulously
We took the supreme course since we were looking forward to this meal for months. The meal started with the Chef serving us sliced sashimi sea bream fish with miso sauce and soy sauce. The fish was sliced thickly, and the miso sauce brought out the natural sweetness of the fish better
Next, we were served our bowl of kaisen with a mountain full of toppings like Ikura, sea urchin, crab meat and other seafood. The toppings were fresh and full of umami flavours and went extremely well when paired with rice. The serving of the rice was just enough with the seafood toppings
When you are 1/3 or halfway done, you can ask the staff to help include the fish dashi into the rice bowl to enjoy the rice bowl with an additional depth of flavour. The umami flavour from the seafood toppings mixed with the light broth gave the rice a clean taste
I saved a few pieces of the sea bream to be eaten with the soup rice as instructed by the staff, and dumped them into the rice with broth. This semi-cooked the fish and changed the texture slightly, but did nothing for the soup flavour, which I didn’t really like, so I would recommend eating it raw
Overall, the meal was nice, but it was definitely overhyped. The combination of fresh and delicious ingredients did not make the bowl unique, as it is easily replicated elsewhere. The broth was light and gave the bowl a different depth. I probably will not queue for a long time for it, but if it were empty and I was hungry, I would not mind having it as a meal again
Address: Japan, 〒107-0052 Tokyo, Minato City, Akasaka, 1 Chome−12−32 Ark Mori Building, 3階
Opening hours: 11 am to 9.30 pm
Bear Travels . Bear Eats . Bear Cooks 