A note on the words: sashimi is raw fish sliced and served plain, and shari is the vinegared rice a sushi chef presses under it — so ordering sashimi is sushi without the rice. Kaisen-don is a bowl of rice topped with assorted raw seafood. Edomae sushi is the old Tokyo school in which the chef cures, marinates or simmers each topping before it reaches you. Otoro is the fattiest belly cut of tuna and akami the lean red cut; sayori is halfbeak, amaebi sweet shrimp, akagai ark shell, tsubugai whelk, and kawahagi filefish. Kimo-joyu is soy sauce with the fish’s own liver whisked into it. Fugu is pufferfish.
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Iwasa Sushi on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
So, Hangover Meshi. After a wander around Tsukiji, we decided to try Toyosu as well, and took a taxi over. It was my first time inside Toyosu Market, and there turn out to be tourist facilities like Senkyaku Banrai, and even hot springs. Since we were there, we thought we would find somewhere inside the market and have some fresh sushi! — and so we arrived in the restaurant row. Wherever it is busy, it is truly busy!
There are kaisen-don and morning sets and so on, but honestly I just wanted to pick at whatever I felt like while drinking. A kaisen-don is a bit heavy first thing in the morning. I was drifting along thinking such thoughts when the people at “Iwasa Sushi” called out to us: a la carte, sashimi only, anything you like! Truly, this is what they mean by just the boat I needed!!!
It is a sushi restaurant, but eating too much shari first thing in the morning is a little much, so
I asked them to pick whatever suited and lay it out as a sashimi platter, something to nibble on alongside a drink!
The first beer of the morning — irresistible! Why is morning beer this good?
Sayori, otoro, amaebi, akagai, akami, and a white fish — what was it again.
One taste and: delicious! There is no mistaking how fresh it is. The melting texture of the otoro, and the savor is lovely too.
Sayori is in season right now, after all! Same with the akagai — every piece is fresh and delicious. Rather than the worked-over craft of Edomae sushi, the selling point here feels like the freshness of the ingredients themselves. As in, it is delicious without anyone having to do a thing to it.
Scallop, tsubugai, squid and so on.
These too were brought over at the chef’s discretion, and every one of them was tasty! You do not get to eat fresh shellfish all that often!
The best. The highballs go down fast.
Next, kawahagi with kimo-joyu.
Exquisite. With the kimo-joyu there, I half start to think it beats fugu.
Drinking from the morning while picking at exquisite sashimi — that is just the best! Delicious!!
So there you have it — it was seriously delicious, ha ha.
It did add up to a fair amount. Of course every ingredient was perfect and it all tasted great, so no complaints, but I think it was on the order of 580 yen per slice (as of this writing, September 2026)! It is the version of sushi without the shari, but it feels almost exactly like sushi, doesn’t it! With five highballs, two beers and the sashimi it came to around 25,000 yen in the end, so it turned into a rather lavish breakfast. Still, splashing out like this once in a while is fun!
Iwasa Sushi (Sushi / Shijo-mae Station, Ariake-tennis-no-mori Station, Shin-toyosu Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.4
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
