A Salaryman's Super Chirashi Bowl at Sushidokoro Marui in Ginza, Tokyo

When in Japan for work,  I try eat where the normal salaryman eats.  This has led me to some of my favourite restaurants -- the food is always good, served fast and most importantly is reasonably priced.  On this last trip to Tokyo, my colleague took me to a sushi place in Ginza -- an area where prices are usually on the high side.  But surprise, surprise -- I had a fantastic lunch at normal salaryman's prices.

Sushidokoro Marui is hidden somewhere in the back streets behind Matsuya Department Store.  We arrived way past the lunch hour on a Saturday so the entrance was devoid of the usual long queue of office workers.

Sushidokoro Marui is compact --  the sushi counter  on the ground floor seats just six people.
While there were vacant chairs in front of the sushi chef, we opted to take our meal upstairs in less cramped surroundings.

 There are just 11 items on the lunch menu.   Marui caters to salarymen and OLs or office ladies who need to get back to work right away and thus, do not have the time to lengthily ponder the question "What am I going to eat today?"
I find it so amazing that most of the sushi offerings fall well below 2,000 yen.  Such a bargain for sushi in the Ginza district.

 I ordered the Zukeana Chirashi which is a bowl topped with grilled soft anago and slices of dark red maguro.  A raw quail's egg sits atop the fresh ingredients, ready to be poured over everything.    Bright yellow tsukemono or pickles,  fresh perilla leaves, a smudge of wasabi and other greens make this bowl so colourful, vibrant and appetising.

 The fresh quail's egg mixed with the sticky sushi rice complemented and tied all the flavours together.   This was definitely one of the best chirashi bowls I had ever had!
Once I got past the surface of the bowl  I found more meltingly delicious tidbits mixed in with the sushi rice.  There were bits of tamago, mini umami-laden globules of tobiko, pieces of ebi, salmon,  shredded nori ... each bite yielded a new texture and surprise.
It was such a delicious and satisfying lunch bowl and at 1,300 yen -- definitely a culinary steal!
Marui -- I will be back!