This was not your typical brunch, leisurely taken after a stroll through a Saturday market…this was a wake-up-before-the-crack-of-dawn, head-off-to-the-docks-to-find-a-sushi-stall-in-a-fish-market kind of Saturday breakfast. We were looking for Endo Sushi in Osaka’s Central Fish Market (similar in some ways to Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market, where Ito and I had tried our first, super-fresh, early morning sushi breakfast a year ago).
All seven of us (Ito, John, JR, Anne, Arvin, Erika and myself) had agreed to wake up at 5am–give or take 30 minutes for those of us who didn’t wake up on time, LOL!–to catch the first subway train out, before walking the rest of the way to find the little stall in the midst of the huge market.
A hundred year-old establishment, Endo Sushi in Osaka serves the freshest catch of the day and is open from 5am-2pm. We were there at dawn, but the place was already full…luckily the wait wasn’t too long.
We were served melt-in-your-mouth sweet eel, sea urchin, seabream, fatty tuna (the only item that’s repeated) and yellowtail…
…followed by japanese squid, sweet shrimp, sea scallops, fatty tuna and pink salmon. The sushi is lightly brushed with soy sauce (not dipped) and no wasabi is served just palate-cleansing ginger shavings.
The servings are generous so when a third plate with a different selection was offered, I was way too full and reluctantly declined (even if the taste buds were still extremely willing!).
I have to say, Japan’s fish markets have become my favorite places to enjoy the freshest, most authentic, most delicious sushi dishes…yummmm! 🙂
PS- Fashion tip: This is, after all, a fish market so wear boots or shoes that can take walking on puddles of water (and possibly getting dripped on by wet, fishy-smelling liquids :P)
