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Behind the Counter at a Secret Japanese Wholesale Market Restaurant
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Behind the Counter at a Secret Japanese Wholesale Market Restaurant



Behind the Counter at a Secret Japanese Wholesale Market Restaurant

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Today I’m going behind the counter and deep into the kitchen of Iseya Shokudo, a local family owned Japanese restaurant, tucked away inside of this relatively unknown wholesale produce market, about a 6 minute walk from Tokyo’s JR Okubo station. When entering Yodobashi market, through the southern entrance, you have to carefully navigate past the delivery trucks and bustling workers, to find this Tokyo hidden gem. Serving typical Japanese set meal dishes made with the market’s freshest vegetables and other carefully selected ingredients. This shop has been a favorite among market workers and locals since 1951. It’s truly a well-kept secret-even among locals. Since the market is open 24 hours a day, this shop opens it’s doors every morning at 5AM, to serve market workers looking for a meal after a long all-night shift. But in order to keep these hours, Tanaka san’s dedication has him starting his prep around midnight. And he decides what to serve on the day based on the ingredients available at the market, writing down day’s special on the shop’s menu board before opening

Iseya Syokudo Restaurant
– https://maps.app.goo.gl/14K1SMKGL3JCqdao9
– https://iseya-syokudo.com/

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31-2 Udagawacho, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0042
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44 Comments

  4. @Scottsgamerlounge

    These behind the counters are my favourite! I love seeing the hard work that goes into what they do. Hopefully we get another one of these soon! 🙂 keep up the great work

  5. @Syncav

    Love the content. And thanks for translating with a clear voice. David Atenborough of the Japanese lifestyle?

  9. @TipToeVertigo

    I get the love and dedication they have, but you have to take time away to yourself here and there. That’s too intense of a schedule

  10. @Jianfa88Tsai

    Billion dollar insight. Max profits by ordering 1% more food ingredients and require the chef to taste test the sashimi or food ingredients (to test for spoilage) before serving to the VIP diner.

    ### Billion-Dollar Insight: Enhancing Food Quality and Maximizing Profits with a 1% Surplus Strategy

    *Key Idea: Preempting Spoilage with a Chef’s Taste Test and a 1% Ingredient Surplus*

    Ordering 1% more food ingredients and requiring the chef to taste-test sashimi or food ingredients before serving to VIP diners ensures food quality, reduces spoilage risks, and maximizes long-term profits through customer satisfaction and brand reputation.

    ⸻

    ### Supportive Reasoning: Quality Assurance Enhances Customer Experience and Loyalty

    VIP diners expect impeccable food quality, and any slight compromise in freshness can damage a restaurant’s reputation. By ordering 1% more ingredients, the restaurant ensures that even if some portions are slightly less fresh, they can be discarded without financial strain. The chef’s mandatory taste test acts as a final quality checkpoint, preventing subpar ingredients from reaching customers.

    This strategy mirrors high-end sushi restaurants like **Jiro Sushi in Tokyo**, where the chef personally inspects and tastes ingredients before serving. Such meticulous quality control not only prevents food poisoning incidents but also reassures high-paying customers that they are getting the best.

    Additionally, luxury brands understand that perceived exclusivity and quality drive premium pricing. Restaurants that adopt rigorous quality checks can justify charging higher prices, increasing profit margins over time.

    ⸻

    ### Counter-Argument: Increased Costs and Operational Challenges

    Some may argue that ordering an extra 1% of ingredients leads to waste and unnecessary expenses. Perishable seafood and high-cost ingredients such as *bluefin tuna, wagyu beef, and uni (sea urchin)* have tight margins, and excessive ordering could reduce profitability if not managed properly. Moreover, requiring the chef to taste-test every ingredient might slow down operations, particularly in high-volume service environments.

    A potential countermeasure is to integrate *smart inventory management systems* that adjust purchasing dynamically based on historical data, weather conditions (which affect seafood availability), and VIP bookings. Additionally, *partial sampling* (rather than full taste-testing for every piece) can maintain efficiency while ensuring quality.

    ⸻

    ### Action Point for Improvement: AI & Data-Driven Predictive Ordering

    To refine this strategy, *AI-driven inventory management* could be implemented to optimize the 1% surplus dynamically. By analyzing past ordering patterns, ingredient spoilage rates, and VIP booking trends, the system can recommend **exactly how much extra stock is necessary to prevent shortages without excessive waste**.

    Restaurants could also use *rapid spoilage-detection sensors* to complement the chef’s taste tests. These sensors detect microbial growth in seafood before it becomes unsafe, reducing reliance solely on human judgment.

    ⸻

    ### Final Thought: Are You Investing in Prevention or Paying for Reputation Damage?

    Would you rather spend a little extra ensuring quality or risk a single bad review from a VIP diner that costs your business millions in lost credibility?

  11. @Mrfrontrow

    Amazing dedication!!! By the the way. I'm heading to Japan and Tokyo the end of March for a stay of about 3 and half weeks. I'll keep an eye out for you. LOL!!!

  12. @파인애플핏짜

    파올로 영상 보면서 많이 느끼지만 왜 한국 국내 여행들을 안 가려고 하는지 이런 영상들 보면 알 수 있는 듯

  14. @ageoflove1980

    I wish these people all the best, however I do think people in Japan glorify working hard a bit too much. What these people are doing cant be healthy, both physically and mentally. I think the owner would agree with that because he wants a different life for his daughter.

  16. @EllienVitan

    Everyone with his mouth wide open when she said she is working from 3 am to 10 am…. Why do people do this?

  18. @smalltreefern

    how is it healthy to have such working hours? nobody should work such a long shift. insane that this is seen as dedication and not incredibly unhealthy standards

  28. @alinatr2693

    I hope she's ok,3am-10pm is very long😮

    The people in all of your videos work so hard and serve such quality food with so much love and thought behind it!!!

  31. @asianxXASSasin

    Me and my friends just visited this place yesterday for our last day in Japan. Did not see you made this video but it was funny to find this and the lady did ask how we found out about it. Just realizing now she’s probably asking because of this video!

  35. @leecolley139

    I just received my Palo from Tokyo original hot sauce. It is delicious on fish, noodles, sashimi and fried rice. I am going to try it on everything!! The heat and flavors are just right!

  42. @bvireannah1806

    my kid is in his tokyo now ,,,they will go to the vending machine is the sauce in a glass bottle as they r gonna bring it back to america ??/ please 🤔🤔🤔

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