Urban dining myth number one: The closer you eat to Tsukiji, the better quality the fish must be.
Well, yes and no. The crucial thing is not location (chefs drive down there in the morning from all over town) but experience. For any restaurateur, having the right contacts in the market helps, as does knowing what's absolutely freshest. What's essential, though, is being able to prepare it.
Myths number two and three: There's no middle ground when eating out round Tsukiji -- you either have to pay through the nose for upmarket ryotei fare or huddle with the market workers in cheerful, no-frills proletarian eateries which tend to close shortly after midday. Plus it's shitamachi, where Edomae traditions die hard and the locals are arch-conservatives who like things the way they've been done for generations.
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