Tsukiji Tama Sushi Ginza Core is a long-established sushi store located on the second basement floor of the Ginza Core building. Being literally right next to the A4 Exit of Ginza Station on the Tokyo Metro, its location is second-to-none!

The storefront showcases huge lines of delicious-looking model sushi guaranteed to whet your appetite as you step in.

The interior is in authentic Japanese style with a casual, friendly atmosphere. Both counter and table seats are available, with the all-you-can-eat course only available at the counter.

Being by the counter, you’ll be able to eat while watching each piece of sushi being handmade by an experienced sushi master. Seeing the fresh ingredients handled with such care makes one truly feel they’re in good hands.

For the all-you-can-eat, you’ll need to visit with at least two people, and the prices are 5,480 yen for men, 4,380 yen for women, 3,280 yen for elementary school-aged children, and 2,200 yen for children aged 3 to before elementary school. There is no time limit, so feel free to relax and eat at your own pace!

There are over 100 different types of sushi available at Tsukiji Tama Sushi Ginza Core. This includes fish, shellfish, cooked or fried food, gunkan sushi, sushi rolls, and more!

While there’s no specific order you need to try them in, we recommend starting with light ingredients, moving on to fatty, rich ingredients, and then returning to something lighter at the end. This will allow you to eat more and relish a pleasant aftertaste.

However, as the store manager says, “if you want to eat a lot of sushi, we recommend this order; however, you should always feel free to eat the kind of sushi you like as you please.”

Eating expensive, premium ingredients like fatty “otoro” tuna alongside fresh, seasonal ingredients and creative sushi renditions seems the best way to go!

Incidentally, according to the store manager, Tsukiji Tama Sushi is the origin of the sushi roll, which has become one of the most popular Japanese foods in the world. They apparently sold it for the first time during their Ginza store opening roughly 50 years ago. If this is the kind of sushi you like, you’ll be pleased to know that there’s a stellar lineup available!

To order, each person will write what they want on their individual order sheet. You can order one of each kind at a time, with a maximum of 10 pieces in a single order. Most people will generally eat between 35-40 pieces of sushi before calling it a night, making us feel pressure to at least match this! With our mouths watering, we began to choose our first round!

The “best ingredient of the day” and the rare sea urchin are limited to two pieces per person. If you wish to order the sea urchin, you’ll need to pass your ticket over to the staff. This system, unfortunately, had to be implemented due to the steeply rising price of sea urchin; however, doing this means that they’ve been able to continue serving the good stuff!

There is also the “sushi of the day,” which isn’t written on the photo menu, along with a plethora of additional limited edition ingredients. You can learn what to get by asking the chefs about their stock and what’s currently in season. There’s also lots of salmon to enjoy, including raw salmon alongside grilled and marinated.

We’ve challenged ourselves to two different courses for this article - one for beginners and one for seasoned sushi lovers. Let’s dig in!

Seeing as we finally had the chance to devour as much sushi as we wanted, we first decided to follow the all-you-can-eat sushi trick by starting with lighter ingredients. For this, we recommend white-fleshed fish, shiny-skinned fish, and shellfish.

We opted for ten different ingredients; salmon, striped jack, sea bream, squid, shrimp, dotted gizzard shad, mackerel, horse mackerel, Japanese halfbeak, and Japanese scallop. The strangely named “dotted gizzard shad” is one of Tsukiji Tama Sushi’s top 3 recommendations and boasts a nuanced taste flavored with the potent rind of yuzu.

Tsukiji Tama Sushi always pays extra attention to serving their ingredients with optimal flavorings, such as soy sauce for horse mackerel and irizake for Japanese halfbeak. In particular, the irizake (an ancient Japanese condiment made by boiling down pure rice sake with pickled plum, kombu, and bonito flakes) is the perfect accompaniment to light dishes like white-fleshed fish and shellfish.

Complemented by a few extra light offerings such as red tuna and egg, we moved onto the next stage in the battle against our stomachs to fatty and rich sushi. Here, popular ingredients include sea urchin, medium-fatty tuna, seared tuna, and “engawa” sushi.

We also naturally chose to order several sushi rolls, which originated at the store, including a salmon roe roll, shrimp/cucumber roll, and eel/cucumber roll. The amount of sushi rice used was also small, making it easy to stuff into our mouth to eat more overall. This is also true for the sushi rolls, which were tightly rolled with only a little rice compared with most.

Continuing, we ordered a round of salmon/avocado rolls, scallop, roasted scallop, fatty salmon, and crab meat. The scallop comes both raw and roasted, with the roasted version exuding a flavorful fragrance with the soft aroma of yuzu, making it a particular delight.

These rolls also follow the current Japanese trend of “moedan,” which are colorful cross-cut sushi and more designed to be visually appealing. Eating these in between the regular sushi provides a great accent to your all-you-can-eat lineup!

For the final round, we went back to the lighter sushi. For this, I definitely recommend getting the eel (salt), which is one of the top 3 sushi selections and the finishing favorite for many regular customers.

While the standard “tare” sauce version is absolutely delicious, the salted eel is out of this world! You can thoroughly taste the natural sweetness of the eel that is usually hidden by the rich tare, culminating in an unforgettable gourmet experience. Being lightly seared, it is also highly fragrant and a treat for the senses!

Sushi Beginner Kumiko Ordered the Following:
Salmon, striped jack, sea bream, squid, shrimp, dotted gizzard shad, mackerel, horse mackerel, Japanese halfbeak, Japanese scallop, red tuna, egg
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Sea urchin, medium-fatty tuna, seared tuna, engawa, roasted scallop, fatty salmon, salmon/avocado roll, salmon roe roll
↓
Crab, shrimp/avocado, eel/avocado, eel with tare, eel with salt

Next up, we’ll allow a seasoned sushi connoisseur to choose and eat in their own unique way.

As sushi fans will already possess a thorough understanding of what kind of sushi they like, we recommend ordering your favorites first before your stomach becomes too full. Being all-you-can-eat, you can order freely without the fear of ruining your meal, so why not take the chance and try something a little special or an ingredient you usually don’t eat?

First up, we ordered sea urchin, red tuna, roasted salmon (with spring onion-tare sauce), roasted engawa (lemon-salt), dotted gizzard shad, pilchard (with soy sauce), and the in-season, limited-edition autumn mackerel with kombu, blood clam, and whelk. In terms of shellfish, blood clam and whelk are apparently the next most popular after scallops.

Tsukiji Tama Sushi Ginza recommends ordering fatty ingredients roasted. Roasting melts away excess fat, yielding a melt-in-your-mouth texture and divine fragrance. In particular, the roasted engawa boasts a topping of lemon salt to weave together further an invigorating aftertaste. It’s surprisingly easy to eat, making it equally ideal for beginners too!

Continuing on, we ordered a round of Tsukiji Tama Sushi rolls, including a salmon roe roll, shrimp roll, medium-fatty tuna roll, tuna/pickled daikon radish roll, spring onion/mackerel roll, and the “super California roll.” The sushi rolls wrapped in crunchy nori seaweed are the most delicious. We recommend ordering them 1-2 at a time to match a regular eating pace.

During our store coverage, the manager made us a plate of sushi containing all his recommended ingredients. It consisted of marlin, roasted engawa, medium-fatty tuna, greater amberjack, autumn mackerel with kombu, marinated tuna, marinated greater amberjack, and eel. In addition to roasted ingredients, the inclusion of marinated sushi truly showcased the breadth of styles offered at Tsukiji Tama Sushi.

All-you-can-eat at Tsukiji Tama Sushi also includes unlimited rounds of miso soup. The oceany aromas pair perfectly with the sushi.

If you’re bringing young children, the staff can also make an adorable mini salmon roe sushi roll in children’s sizes. In addition to the remarkable ingredients, the comfortable atmosphere and environment of the store ensure that you thoroughly enjoy your time here!

Sushi Lover Maki Ordered the Following:
Sea urchin, red tuna, roasted salmon, roasted engawa, dotted gizzard shad, pilchard, autumn mackerel with kombu, blood clam, whelk
↓
Salmon roe roll, shrimp roll, medium-fatty tuna roll, tuna/pickled daikon radish roll, spring onion/mackerel roll, super California roll, salmon roe gunkan roll
↓
Marlin, roasted engawa, medium-fatty tuna, greater amberjack, autumn mackerel with kombu, marinated tuna, marinated greater amberjack, eel

With warm hospitality and a playful atmosphere, there’s much to enjoy at Tsukiji Tama Sushi Ginza Core! When leaving the store, we were also given several cards featuring the Japanese names of sushi cleverly drawn into the shape of the sushi itself. On the back are some special deals to use for the next time we visit.

We couldn't believe our ears when we first heard that the average amount of sushi eaten is between 35-40 pieces! However, we managed to down more than 30 pieces each in the end! We achieved this through the sushi ordering plan outlined above, so try to follow our lead and see if you can do as many as us! However, be careful not to order too many at once, as the store doesn’t allow takeout, and any leftovers will go to waste.

Through the scrumptious sushi and warmth of the store manager, the all-you-can-eat course at Tsukiji Tama Sushi Ginza Core ensured we left with both our stomachs and hearts full. Next time you’re craving sushi in Japan, use this article as a guide and make the most of this incredible cuisine culture!

*The information in this article is accurate as of November 2021.
*Due to COVID-19, changes to services and opening hours along with temporary closures may occur. Always check the official website or social media for the latest information before making plans.