Traditionally, a kaisendon (海鮮丼, Seafood rice bowl) typically involves a simple rice bowl with slices of sashimi (刺身) placed on top.
Tsujihan’s kaisendon is vastly different, rather than sashimi slices, they use a seafood paste made using a variety of sashimi ingredients, topped with an in-house blend of shoyu (醤油, Shōyu, Soy Sauce). Then to take it a step further, the bowl is changed into a chazuke (茶漬け) by adding a hot tai (鯛, Sea Bream) dashi (出汁) into the rice bowl, gently cooking the seafood and turning the bowl into a porridge like dish.
From the starting appetizers, slices of tai sashimi in a sesame sauce, to the raw seafood bowl, and lastly to the seafood chazuke, having a meal here at Tsujihan is like taking your tastebuds on a course meal journey.
There’s only one dish at Tsujihan, their kaisendon with prices being extremely reasonable, starting at around ¥1,300 for the basic bowl, and the more premium bowls being the basic bowl plus zuwaigani (ズワイガニ, Snow crab), ikura (いくら, Fish Roe), and uni (雲丹, Sea urchin).
What often strikes people about eating at Tsujihan, is how the ambience gives off the vibe of being at a high-end sushi bar, the ingredients themselves taste fresh and of a high-quality, and yet you often can’t believe the value that you are getting for the price that you pay.
Even for people that aren’t big fans of raw fish, having the hot broth poured onto the seafood bowl allows them to also savor the freshness of the seafood, and the umami of the broth. It’s truly a unique dish that stands out from other kaisendon across Japan.
