10 am, and the market was bustling. Tourist and locals walking fast, speaking even faster, only slowing down as they approach each little stall. The Tsukiji market is the largest fish market in the world and it swallowed us whole. We wandered its winding alleys, craning our necks, curious and salivating over everything.
We entered a skinny alley, so tight people turn sideways to let others walk through, and a woman parted a plastic curtain for us. A narrow sushi counter with two men quietly eating rice bowls, and a chef with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. It was like he had a secret he couldn’t wait to share. We sat down, we pointed at pictures on the menu, we ate. I had the best tuna bowl of my life.

That’s the top photo and it had maguro (tuna), chutoro (fatty tuna), otoro (extra fatty tuna), chopped tuna, and tamago (egg) on top of rice. This was one of the most delicious and memorable things I have ever eaten, and it blew away all my other sushi experiences. They already had me at fatty tuna, but extra fatty tuna"" The sashimi was soft and silky, and melted in my mouth like ocean butter.
I wish I remembered how we got to that little counter. I wish I wrote down directions, took pictures of the signs outside, saved a receipt. But we were lost in the what seemed like a labyrinth, colorful and pulsing with life, and I couldn’t really think of anything else except of where we were and what we were eating at that moment.
Matt order...