Sushi no Midori is a restaurant chain in Tokyo with quality seafood at an economical price. To maximize your return on investment, you can take advantage of the original location’s Monday-only all-you-can-eat sushi buffet. It costs ¥3,600 for men, ¥3,000 for women, and ¥1,500 for kids between first and sixth grade. None of the other locations offer this special, no matter what day of the week.

1. Take the subway to Umegaoka Station (Odakyu Line), and walk about a minute to arrive at the restaurant just before 9:00am. At the screen to the right of the entrance, hit the big blue button that says 受付. The rest of the screens have English translations to gather your party details and preferences (e.g., party size, whether you want a counter or table seat, whether you want a first- or second-floor seat). Your number should be 50 or smaller. Rejoice!
2. You can use the tea and water dispenser to the left of the entrance if you’d like: your options from left to right are cold water, hot water, green tea, and green tea. Walk north to hang out in the nearby Hanegi Park, or peruse the shelves at Odakyu OX or Y’Smart. The restaurant opens at 11:00, so make sure to return a few minutes early so that you’re there when they call your number. If you don’t understand Japanese numbers, stop inside the restaurant and check in with the staff so that they know you’re there.
3. Once you’re seated, you have 90 minutes. (I actually didn’t get kicked out even after sitting there for 100 minutes, but your mileage may vary.) You should be facing a Japanese-only menu, a small clipboard with blank sheets of paper, and a pen.
   1. You can only write down at most five kinds of items from the sections of the menu that are not outlined in blue or green. The forms these items take are nigiri sushi, 手巻 (temaki = hand rolls), 細巻 (hosomaki = thin rolls), or 裏巻 (uramaki = inside-out rolls). Also indicate the quantity of each item you’d like. Note that each person is limited to 3 pieces of ootoro nigiri and either 1 temaki or 2 hosomaki. For instance, on one sheet of paper at a time, you can order the following:
      1. 大トロ (手巻) 1
      2. 穴子 2
      3. うに 4
      4. しゃこ 2
      5. あんきも 1
   2. The おつまみ (snacks) items in the blue-outlined section can be ordered in any quantity you’d like. Add them to the same sheet of paper as the items above and also indicate the number of each item you want.
      • ホタテ浜焼き (hotate hamayaki) = grilled scallop still in its shell
      • かにみそサラダ (kani miso sarada) = miso crab salad
      • カマ焼 (kama yaki) = grilled tuna side (lots of tender fish meat)
      • 茶碗蒸し (chawan mushi) = steamed egg with mushroom, shrimp, and veggie
   3. The drinks in the green-outlined section are only available if your entire party wants to pay another ¥1,200 yen for all-you-can-drink. (Otherwise, you can get unlimited refills of green tea for free.) Do it if you’re interested in drinking as much as you’d like of the following:
      • Beer
      • Non-alcoholic beer
      • Hot sake
      • Shochu (with cold water, with hot water, with oolong tea, or on the rocks)
      • Whisky with water
      • Highballs
      • Plum wine (with cold water, with hot water, with soda, or on the rocks)
      • Grapefruit or lemon sours
      • Soft drinks (oolong tea, cola, orange juice, or ginger ale)
4. Hand your order to the closest server, politely suffixed with “onegaishimasu,” to get it fulfilled. Only soy sauce and pickled ginger are on the table, so if you want additional wasabi than what the sushi chefs put on the nigiri, ask for some. Repeat steps 1-3 as needed until you feel nauseous. Goad your neighbors into eating and drinking more than they should. But don’t order more than you will finish: you’ll be charged for any leftovers on top of the base fees.

If you are not fortunate enough to get to the restaurant by 9:00am to grab a number, you can either get one virtually on EPARK starting at 10:00am, or swing by in person anyway. However, your number will likely be in the several hundreds by then. I got a number just before 10:30, and I was already 297. I wasn’t seated until almost 5:00pm. Their seating estimate is below, but keep in mind that reality can vary depending on whether there are no-shows:

• Around 50: 11:00am+
• 100+: 2:00pm+
• 200+: 4:00pm+

Some items are seasonal, and others may sell out if you arrive later in the day. I was out of luck with getting any cod milt (白子 shirako) items at 5:00pm.

Miso soup is not on the menu, but you can order it anyway by writing it down on a sheet of order paper (みそしる).

They don’t have any desserts on the menu, so if you’re still in need of indulging your sweet tooth after overdosing on sushi, you can check out Arpajon, a nearby pastry shop.

Translation of sushi menu

Front

• まぐろもの (maguro mono) = bluefin tuna items
  • ねぎとろ (negi toro) = minced tuna and green onions
  • 赤身 (akami) = lean tuna
  • づけ生まぐろ (dzuke seimaguro) = marinated raw tuna
  • 炙りトロ (aburi toro) = torched tuna belly
  • 中トロ (chuu toro) = tuna belly (medium)
  • 炙り大トロ (aburi ootoro) = torched tuna belly (supreme)
  • 大トロ (ootoro) = tuna belly (supreme)
• 光物 (hikari mono) = silver fish (mackerel, sardines)
  • あじ (aji) = Japanese horse mackerel
  • いわし (iwashi) = sardine
  • こはだ (kohada) = gizzard shad
  • 大名さば (daimyo saba) = expensive cut of mackerel
  • 炙りサンマ (aburi sanma) = torched Pacific saury (aka mackerel pike), seasonal
  • 生サンマ (sei sanma) = Pacific saury (aka mackerel pike), seasonal
• 白身もの (shiromi mono) = white fish
  • かんぱち (kanpachi) = greater amberjack
  • エンガワ (engawa) = Japanese halibut fin
  • 炙りエンガワ (aburi engawa) = torched Japanese halibut fin
  • たい (tai) = Japanese sea bream
  • ひらめ (hirame) = Japanese halibut
  • ブリ (buri) = Japanese amberjack, seasonal
• 貝もの (kai mono) = shellfish
  • とり貝 (torigai) = Japanese cockle
  • ほたて (hotate) = scallop
  • 赤貝 (akagai) = ark shell
  • 赤貝のひも (akagai no himo) = ark shell mantle
  • みる貝 (mirugai) = geoduck
  • ほっき貝 (hokkikai) = surf clam
  • ほっき貝のひも (hokkigai no himo) = surf clam mantle
  • つぶ貝 (tsubukai) = whelk
  • あわび (awabi) = abalone

Back

• 軍艦 (gunkan) = warship roll
  • 味付けのり (ajitsuke nori) =
  • 納豆 (natto) = fermented soy beans
  • とびっこ (tobikko) = flying fish roe
  • 塩辛 (shiokara) = salted fish guts
  • 明太子 (mentaiko) = pollock roe
  • かにみそ (kanimiso) = miso crab
  • たこの吸盤 (tako no kyuuban) = octopus suckers
  • いくら (ikura) = salmon roe
  • うに (uni) = sea urchin
  • 白子 (shirako) = cod milt, seasonal
  • あんきも (ankimo) = monkfish liver, seasonal
• 巻物, 手巻/細巻 (makimono, temaki/hosomaki) = rolled sushi, hand rolls/thin rolls
  • かんぴょう (kanpyoo) = dried shavings of calabash gourd
  • かっぱ (kappa) = cucumber
  • 梅きゅう (ume kyuu) = plum and cucumber
  • 梅じそ (ume jiso) = plum and perilla
  • お新香 (oshinko) = pickled daikon radish
  • 山ごぼう (yama goboo) = pickled burdock
  • 納豆 (natto) = fermented soy beans
  • 鉄火 (tekka) = raw tuna
  • 中トロ (chuu toro) = tuna belly (medium)
  • 大トロ (ootoro) = tuna belly (supreme)
  • トロタク (toro taku) = tuna belly with perilla, pickled daikon radish, and sesame
  • ねぎとろ (negi toro) = minced tuna and green onions
  • 海老きゅう (ebi kyuu) = shrimp and cucumber
  • ひもきゅう (himo kyuu) = shellfish mantle and cucumber
  • 穴きゅう (ana kyuu) = saltwater eel and cucumber
  • 平成巻き (heisei maki) = uni, salmon roe, and minced tuna and green onions hand roll
• えび・カニ・イカ・タコ (ebi / kani / ika / tako) = shrimp / crab / squid / octopus
  • ボイルエビ (boiru ebi) = boiled shrimp
  • ボイルたこ (boiru take) = boiled octopus
  • げそ (geso) = squid legs
  • しゃこ (shako) = mantis shrimp
  • いか (ika) = squid
  • 生たこ (nama tako) = raw octopus
  • ズワイガニ (zuwai gani) = snow crab legs
  • 大赤海老 (daiaka ebb) = large sweet shrimp
  • 炙り海老チーズ (aburi ebi chiizu) = torched shrimp with cheese
• その他 (so no hoka) = other
  • 穴子 (anago) = saltwater eel
  • 玉子 (tamago) = omelette
  • かつお (katsuo) = bonito
  • サーモン (saamon) = salmon
  • 炙りサーモン (aburi saamon) = torched salmon
  • 数の子 (kazu no ko) = herring roe
  • アボカド (abocado) = avocado
  • 芽ネギ (menegi) = green onion sprouts
• ROLL 1人前8切れ・ハーフ 1人前4切れ = uramaki roll with 8 slices, or half order with 4 slices
  • 穴キュウロール (ana kyuu rooru) = saltwater eel, cucumber, omelette, dried shavings of calabash gourd
  • レッドロール (redo rooru) = red roll: salmon belly, salmon roe, flying fish roe, and cucumber
  • ノルウェーロール (noruwee rooru) = Norway roll: salmon, cucumber, crab, and red leaf lettuce
  • カリフォルニアロール (kariforunia rooru) = California roll: avocado, lean tuna, crab, flying fish roe, and red leaf lettuce
  • スーパーネギトロ (suupaa negi toro) = super minced tuna with green onions

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