A note on the words: a kaisen-don is a bowl of rice topped with sashimi. Chutoro is the medium-fatty belly of the tuna, between lean akami and rich otoro. This visit was in January 2020 — prices and hours will have moved since.
Table of Contents hide
Maguro-tei on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Drinkers, thank you for waiting. It is Hangover Meshi time.
From Akihabara, heading towards Kanda, I walked over towards Shoheibashi.
It was about lunchtime and I had not eaten, so I looked for something — and what caught my eye was Maguro-tei.
Going by the name I assumed it was a seafood rice-bowl place, and going in, there was anime playing and a fair amount of artwork and merchandise on display — a very Akihabara sort of shop. You would never guess from the severe exterior.
A specialist in seafood rice bowls. Every bowl is made with a large portion of rice, so order with the quantity in mind.
Maguro-tei menu (as of 2020)
Seafood rice bowls
Sashimi packed right across the surface of the bowl. And the rice is a large portion.
* These are the prices as of my visit in January 2020. They have very likely changed since, so please check the latest at the shop.
I had been going to have the Maruki-don, but I wanted chutoro — the medium-fatty belly of the tuna — so I changed to the Taisei-don.
This was a mistake.
Thinking about it now, the menu did say “made with a large portion of rice”. Even so —
— the quantity is enormous. Be warned.
They said it would take a little while to make, so I settled in to wait.
Even here you can sense something is up.
After a while the bowl appeared, and I flinched slightly at the sight of it.
This is the Taisei-don.
An enormous quantity of sashimi on top of the bowl. And the rice is packed right up to the surface of the bowl.
I realised this might be beyond my stomach’s capacity — but
— you do not know until you try.
Or rather, this is a different order of “large portion” altogether.
The staff asked whether they should bring me a plate.
Kind of them — but that is not quite the issue.
I moved all the sashimi onto a plate and worked through the rice heaped up to the brim of the bowl alongside it. The sashimi is fresh and good.
The alum smell on the uni bothers me slightly, but it is plenty good enough.
I worked through it little by little, but I could see myself giving up partway, so I decided to at least finish all the sashimi.
In the end I finished with about a third of the rice left in the bowl.
Well — not knowing is no excuse. I had left food, so I apologised to the staff and left.
They said “that is quite all right”, but it was a waste. An unexpected giant portion — though if the quantity had been right I think I would have enjoyed it thoroughly. Do be careful not to go large.
If it is going to be a quantity this alarming, it would help to have the weight written down so one can judge.
May you meet something good to eat today too.
Maguro-tei (seafood rice bowls / Shin-Ochanomizu Station, Ochanomizu Station, Awajicho Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.0
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
