A fishing experience right in the heart of Tokyo
“If fishing is interfering with your business, give up your business.”
At ZAUO, you get to fish for your food, quite literally. It’s a fishing/dining experience where fishing for your food is cheaper than ordering straight off the menu. It’s obviously not like fishing in the ocean or a lake, but instead the fish are put into fish tanks where customers are allowed to “fish” them for a fixed price. Each fishing rod costs ¥110, and you can use them for as long as your dining time permits. There are two different sections of fish, one where a simple hook is enough to get the fish, and another where you actually need to fishing bait to catch your harvest. They offer a variety of seafood, from lobsters and prawns to sea bream and yellowtail. Of course, you can choose to opt out of the fishing experience, and order straight off the menu, but where’s the fun in that?
ZAUO is a relatively popular restaurant chain, and there are several of them located around Japan, including Tokyo. For our visit, we had reserved a table at their Shibuya branch, located within 5-10 minutes of walking distance from the Shibuya JR station. It was easy to locate as they had a big sign right outside where the stairs would take you straight down to the restaurant itself. I would definitely recommend reserving a table ahead of time, as walk-ins may not be accepted.
Upper deck fishing area
When you first enter the restaurant, you will notice that restaurant leans heavily toward the fishing theme. The restaurant was split into two different levels, separated by a small set of stairs. Both decks had tables for customers. The upper section of the restaurant is designed to be like the bow of a ship. There was a large taiko drum located near the stairs, and a small fishing section right as you walk up the stairs filled with fish. And, below the bow of the ship sits the other fish tanks where the fish are located. On top of that, the moment we felt like we just entered a port or the ocean. It didn’t smell like a restaurant, it smelled like a sea port. For context, we visited ZAUO during the winter, so we expected it to be warm. But it felt more like how you’d feel if you went to a tropical beach.
The first thing we did was to enquire on how the fishing experience worked. You can choose to add fishing to your reservation on their website, however we weren’t sure at the time of reserving a table if we wanted to do so. We were informed that it costs ¥110 to rent the fishing rod, and you can share the rod amongst your group, so we decided to go with 1 fishing rod. Each type of seafood has a specific menu that allows you to choose how you want your harvest to be prepared, however some ways may require additional fees. As we mentioned earlier, there are two different fishing areas: the upper and lower deck. The upper deck requires fishing bait, whilst the lower deck did not. Naturally, as two people with no fishing experience (apart from video games), we went to the lower deck and sought out our harvest.
The first thing that caught our eye was the lobster. Located in the tank closest to the entrance of the restaurant, we picked up our fishing rod and immediately tried our hand at catching a lobster. It took a bit of getting used to, as it’s not so much fishing, but rather hooking onto the lobster with the fishing rod. Once caught, the staff came over to put the lobster into a net. They also offered to take a picture for you with your phone so you have it as a commemorative photo. After that, they asked us how we’d like our lobster prepared, in which we answered that we’d like it baked with mayo (big mistake, but more on that later). Then they took the lobster into the kitchen and the next time we’d see it would be on our table, ready to be eaten. We had also caught 3 prawns to be prepared as tempura.
After the lobster and prawns, we turned our attention to the sea bream right under the bow of the ship. It turns out, many of the other customers were also interested in them and were taking turns catching their harvests! Naturally, we wanted to join in on the fun and employed our fishing rod again. After a couple minutes, we managed to snag a rather large and feisty sea bream. Like the lobster, the staff came to assist us and transferred the fish onto a larger hook where we could hold it up and take a picture with. I say feisty, because this sea bream was constantly wiggling, despite being out of the water for about 2 minutes at this point. What I didn’t notice was that since its mouth was gouged by the hook, each time it wiggled, there was blood splattering. The blood would end up on parts of my shirt (small droplets, nothing that would make me look suspicious) and I wouldn’t notice until toward the end of dinner. As the sea bream was a larger fish, it could be prepared in 2 ways, so we decided on getting half of it as deep fried (think, fish and chips) and the other half as sashimi.
Now that we’ve covered the fishing, let’s cover the dining.
The first item that was served was the deep fried sea bream. We were pleasantly surprised by this dish, as we didn’t expect it to be so good. The portion was admittedly smaller than I’d like, especially for two people. But the flavor of the fish was amazing, incredibly soft and juicy. It was cooked perfectly. The tartar sauce that came along with it paired very well, and a squeeze of lemon juice over the fish elevated the dish. We were left wanting more by the time we’d finish it.
The prawn tempura came soon after, and unlike the sea bream, we couldn’t complain about the portion size. After all, we were the ones that caught only 3. Unlike other places that I’ve tried in the past, this tempura was done perfectly. It wasn’t dripping with oil, neither did I feel heavy and greasy after eating it. It was incredibly light and I could’ve done with a few more pieces (should’ve caught more). With the crispy golden exterior and a piping hot interior, it’s easy to describe this as a great dish. However, I do have some complaints with it. Firstly, I’m the type of person that loves to eat the head of the prawn (don’t judge), so I appreciate it if the entire prawn is cooked. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t hot, it was warm, bordering on cold. I have no doubt that the prawns were cooked through, but it was disappointing to not be able to eat the heads.
Next up was an item that I had ordered off the menu, the Rich Crab Cream Croquette. I am a huge croquette fan, and when I saw it, I couldn’t help myself. Again, it came with a slice of lemon which I squeezed on top of the croquettes. Like the previous 2 items, the croquettes came out with a crispy golden exterior. I opened them up instead of biting into them, knowing they were piping hot, and I was right. A small amount of steam escaped with the cream oozing out onto the plate. Trying them made me remember why I love well-made croquettes; the warmth of the cream with the flavor of the crab is incredible. It tasted of the ocean, in a good way. My only complaint was that there was no sauce served alongside despite being in the menu, I wish the sauce was served so I could try the pairing together, but oh well.
Then came the sea bream sashimi, plated somewhat menacingly with the fish head on the side. With 20 pieces of sashimi between the 2 of us, we were excited to try it out. Each slice of sashimi was so thinly sliced, you could actually see the serving plate through the sashimi! It also came with wasabi on the side, should you enjoy your sashimi with it. After the first bite however, it became apparent that maybe sea bream sashimi was not the best choice for us. I felt that the fish was a bit too boney and perhaps it would be better if it was cooked instead. Maybe it was because it was sliced so thinly, but I also found out that when you dip it into soy sauce, it would just cover the entire slice. That meant that you wouldn’t be tasting the fish with some soy sauce, but instead soy sauce with some fish. Nonetheless, we finished the plate and a staff member soon came over to clear our table, but not before informing us that the sea bream carcass could be made into miso soup if we wanted. Naturally, we said yes!
About 20 minutes later, the miso soup arrived. From my experience, miso soup is normally a side dish to complete the ensemble. It’s not something that I order separately at a Japanese restaurant. But this miso soup definitely changed my perception. The miso soup I’ve had in the past is normally made with just miso and tofu, but since this had sea bream in it, the taste of the soup changes dramatically. The soup had the taste of the ocean, and the remaining flakes of fish from the carcass tasted so good, it melts in your mouth. Honestly, after the first sip, my partner and I looked at each other wide eyed because of how great it was. Needless to say, we drank the whole bowl and were left wanting for more.
You might be wondering, I’ve described all the food, except the baked lobster in mayo. Well that’s because it literally took about 2 hours for it to be served. Throughout dinner, I was so eagerly waiting for this and my eagerness turned into impatience. By the time it arrived, I was just happy we didn’t catch a lobster for naught. It was… disappointing. The meat was easy to peel from the shell since it was fresh, and the mayo was sweet and wasn’t overpowering. It was definitely delicious, but it was soured by the fact it took too long to be served.
By the end of dinner we were definitely stuffed. The total for the dinner (including drinks) was ¥22,517, or S$217. A hefty price to pay for a meal that included some hands-on work. So was it worth the price, and would I do it again?
In my opinion, it was definitely worth the price. Honestly, it was a very unique and satisfying experience. I will admit that a dinner that costs S$217 where you have to work for your food may seem odd and peculiar. But apart from actually fishing in the ocean, where could you go that lets you catch your own food and eat it within 2 hours? Given the chance on another trip, I would definitely visit ZAUO again, however I might choose a different branch, as the basement did feel a bit stuffy at times.
I would recommend anyone who’s into seafood to try this place out. It’s a popular restaurant chain with multiple branches throughout Tokyo and Japan. I would also recommend making reservations in advance to avoid disappointment. We made ours about 3 weeks in advance as we were visiting during the Christmas/year-end period. We also did not choose to select the fishing on our reservation, but doing it online gives you a selection of how you want your fish to be cooked after catching them. If you’re not into the whole fishing experience, you can always order from the menu like I did with the croquette. I would also advise on maybe not wearing white, in case you get blood on you like I did.
Overall, I’d definitely rate this a solid 7/10. The only downside was how slow it took for the lobster to arrive and some of the portions were a bit smaller than expected. The fishing was definitely new to me but a fun experience.
