Continued from the last post about Kanazawa. One of my favorite areas to target in the various Japan cities are their fish and fresh food markets, for both the variety of seafood and vegetables. Omicho Market is Kanazawa’s largest food market and was established during the Edo period (over 280 years ago). What I love about Omicho market is that the streets and stalls are enclosed in a covered building. The market spans several large streets and houses over 200 shops and stalls. We arrived at around 9:30 am. My wife and I actually have lunch reservations, so the market was more for our kid’s breakfast and lunch.
One of the reasons we love these areas across Japan is that street food is abundant and varied. Street food itself is amazing, as you get to sample a little bit of everything. It is casual and more importantly in Japan’s fish market, they are tasty and clean.
One of the areas we bee-lined to was the unagi shop. We love unagi in Japan as they make them soft, delicate, and so flavorful. We have only eaten unagi at dedicated restaurants in the past, but the ones at the market were quite good.
We ordered one of the more larger pieces for the kids to share. Unagi even in the market is not cheap at close to $40, but they are so delicious. Soft and buttery, they have no muddy taste.
We also sampled the grilled ayu (sweet fish) and miso gindara (black cod). Ayu is a favorite of ours and we mainly have them grilled as a yakimono course in our kaiseki meals in ryokans. The ones here, in particular, had a belly full of fish eggs, making them an even rarer delicacy.
Next to the unagi stall was a croquette vendor stall. It was something that caught our children’s attention. Croquettes are mashed fried potato dumpling, with mixed in meats or vegetables. My younger son devoured his minced pork croquette.
Being close to the Sea of Japan, Kanazawa is rich in the bounty of the ocean. As such, you have to sample the fish and shellfish from the various seafood stalls. While many of the stalls sell their items to locals who come for items to prepare at home, many of the vendors also offer seafood that is eaten on the spot. All you have to do is point and they will prepare for you.
A couple of items caught our eyes. Huge and plump jumbo shrimp full of roe and local uni were items we could not resist. The uni is good, but the shrimps were special. Shrimp with its bluish/green roe is something rarely seen in even Tokyo. During our visit, I saw them all over the place. I could not resist and had one to myself. You eat the shrimp raw and it was creamy and sweet. The roe itself had a nice crunchy texture as they popped in my mouth. Lastly, the shrimp head is shucked for some of the umami rich head-fat.
We found a vendor in the back of the market selling premade sushi. They looked fresh and we had our kids pick out some items including nodoguro and maguro sushi. Near that same vendor, was another food stall selling grilled seafood skewers. Our kids picked out some shellfish and fish skewers to finish out there breakfast. There were tables conveniently located for us to seat and eat.
I really liked Omicho Market and it’s my favorite fish market I visited. Everything feels very orderly and I love the fact that all the stores and stalls are in a fully covered building. We headed back to the hotel as my wife and I had reservations at Komatsu Yasuke, which will be the next post to come.
Market information:
Address: ５０ Kamiomicho, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-0905, Japan
Hours: 9am-17:00 (but most shops close by 14:00)