Maguro Mart – All tuna dinner
Shopping at Broadway in Nakano and a Tuna dinner
Shopping and a tuna dinner
After our tour of Asakusa, we headed back to our hotel by taxi. We took a few hours to relax and then departed for our dinner destination.
Dinner was at a place called Maguro Mart (マグロマート) 🗾, where we had reservations (since) it is a small place, reservations are required). Getting there was easy, although it took some time. Taking the Toei Ōedo Line (都営地下鉄大江戸線), starting at Shiodome Station (汐留駅) (E-10), to Shinjuku Station (新宿駅) (E-19). Transfer to the Chūō Line (中央線) (JC-05) to Nakano Station (Tokyo) (中野駅) (JC-06) and the destination is near. All this took approximately 50 minutes.
Nakano Broadway
From Nakano Station (Tokyo) (中野駅) 🗾, it’s almost a straight 10-minute walk to Nakano Broadway, a shopping arcade. Maguro Mart is nearby, so we took some time before our reservations to explore this shopping area. The arcade has many watch shops (the reason for the clustering is unclear) and several anime and manga stores that our son was eager to visit. Ultimately, we only purchased one small item.
We also encountered one of many examples of store and product names that look weird to us. The most salient one was Weapon Shop Nakano (中野店), specializing in Korean Cosmetics (K-Beauty), skincare, and beauty goods, not literal weapons; they offer trendy items like masks, sunscreens, and hair products, often at reasonable prices, making them a popular stop for both locals and tourists in Nakano’s subculture hub.
Maguro Mart
Maguro Mart was recommended by a friend who had lived in Japan for 8 years. Using Google Maps or Apple Maps and directions will bring you close, but the place has a tiny storefront in an alley, and you might be confused because there is no English signage outside. Look for a drawing of a tuna on a white stucco wall. The entrance is to the left.
The restaurant, small itself, is a tuna izakaya that specializes in a complete multi-course dinner focused on “hon-maguro” (bluefin tuna). You can choose the number of courses in your dinner, or you can put something together à la carte.
We had sake (Nihonshu – 日本酒) along with courses consisting of:
- Maguro Mart Assorted Platter: sashimi of various parts of tuna
- Tuna Yukhoe: Tuna tartare (negitoro) from the part called “nodou”, topped with a raw egg yolk (did I mention that egg yolks in Japan are way more orange than the pale yellow in the US?)
- Bluefin Tuna Chutoro: We were served a substantial piece of the backbone of bluefin tuna with meat attached. You “scrape” off the meat with a wooden spoon.
- Tuna Potato Salad
- Grilled Tuna
- Maguro Nanban
- and some more…
Without drinks, this came down to ¥4,000 per person (US$27 at the time). That is not bad! With our bellies full and possibly a little too much sake, we headed back to our hotel. On the way back, we came close to Bar Centifolia, and decided to try an in-person visit to get a reservation.