nishiki market

we didn't take long time in tofukuji so it was almost lunch time when we decided to go somewhere else. husband was really tired so he decided to just take taxi to nishiki market. so we were in nishiki market in just short time. since we were too full from yesterday's ramen fiesta, we decided to just eat here and there at nishiki market. if you wanted to know what to get in nishiki, you could check paolo from tokyo's youtube (here). it's been awhile since i watched the video, so i only remembered some of them. and some we're not interested in trying, so let me tell you which one we decided to try. oh and before we get there, i had to tell you that nishiki was one long road full of food or fresh food sellers, and the other road was full of shops and several cafes. compared to tsukiji, nishiki was way cleaner. it had floor covered with tiles and it wasn't as wet as tsukiji and not that smelly either.

nishiki market

- first we tried the grilled oyster. the oyster was medium size, and it was way bigger than the ones in my home. it was delicious. i just wished i could eat more and it was cheaper. the sauce was okay, not too salty not too sweet. i didn't remember which stall, but there were lots of other store selling the same thing, so probably you would have some luck. the stall didn't just sell oyster, but they would grilled them all.

grilled oyster

- the octopus with quail: this time i remembered the stall name. it was kai. the one that's mentioned by paolo. there were several sizes of this octopus, from small to XL, and it had different prices as well. they sold those in a bunch too. since husband didn't want to try it, i got the small one myself. and it was delicious! basically it was an octopus, the head had boiled quail egg inside it. and the red color on the skin was probably the sauce and it was sweet. combined with a bit savory taste from the egg, it was delicious! definitely recommending this.

octopus with quail

- fish cake: the pouch said A2A2, so hopefully it gave you a hint about the stall. all i can remember was that the stall was on the corner. they had one side for selling the food and the other side with several empty seats so people could sit and eat before moving on. yep.. i forgot to mention that it was forbidden to eat and walk, so most stalls would have several seats in front of or inside their stores so their customers could sit and eat. this stall basically sold anything with fishcake. they sold the original one and others had added ingredients, like mine. i picked the one with added sweet potato. there was also another menu, which was the fishball with takoyaki sauce, definitely looked a lot like takoyaki. husband tried that one. mine was delicious. somehow i never thought about combining fishcake and sweet potato, but it tasted good together, though not mind-blowingly good. the fishball, however, was something that i definitely would recommend. it was tasty and somehow takoyaki sauce tasted good with the fishball. it also came on rice cracker plate, so you basically could eat the whole thing together. the seating arrangement, however, the outside seats were okay, but the inside seats were too narrow. even i got my knees scraped the wall in front of me. so i bet people bigger than me would have difficulties eating there. if you found the stall, definitely tried the fishball.

the pouch

fish ball with sweet potato

fishball with takoyaki sauce

- actually we ate wagyu beef skewer but it was chewy and a bit hard, even though we asked for medium doneness. the sauce was just so-so, and it wasn't cheap at all for a skewer, so definitely didn't recommend this one. the stall was near a cafe, so make sure don't try that one.
then we split. my husband bought takoyaki and it was cheap, he said. but i didn't try it since i was at sashimi/sushi stall. so i can't say anything about it.
- salmon and salmon roe rice bowl. i've been wanted to eat another one since i bought one at tsukiji. let me tell you though, all seafood were pricey even in japan. especially high-demanded items, like uni and salmon roe. it was about 1300 yen for a bowl of salmon and salmon roe. it was more expensive for a bowl of salmon roe itself. but if you liked sashimi, then you should try one. the salmon was sweet and fresh and the salmon roe was also fresh. but the portion was smaller than the one sold at tsukiji. they also served miso soup as side dish and free flow of water. i really appreciated the water since most stall didn't offer water. but they sold other bottled beverage though. the miso soup had this tiny clams in it, made it salty than the one we used to have here. but the miso soup was tastier, perhaps because they added seafood in it.

salmon and salmon roe bowl

then husband had a rest at some cafe, we didn't eat anything there, but we had to order separate drink. the waiter made sure to tell us that. so after that we walked for awhile and found a karaage stall that paolo also recommended. it was a bit far than the other stall, almost near the shrine. the karaage stall had various flavors to choose from but since this was our first order, we decided to try the original one. there were small, medium and large sizes too. i think we ordered the small one since we were still full. the chicken was tender and juicy, and it was super hot! they deep fried it once more upon ordering. but it was a bit salty for our preference. but we've been trying to eat more healthy food back at home, so probably everything tasted a bit saltier than it used to be. anyway, it was a good karaage, definitely tried it if you could.

chicken karaage

there was this taiyaki stall next to the karaage stall (back when paolo made the video, the taiyaki stall wasn't there yet). usually taiyaki would have red bean paste as its filling, but this stall had various filling choice, including chocolate. since it was rare to find chocolate filling in japan, i decided to give it a try. honestly, i didn't know how taiyaki should taste like, so for me the batter felt a bit thin. if it was supposed to be fluffy and soft like cake, then it fell short. but if it was supposed to be thin and bit crunchy, then it also came short since it was thin but not crunchy at all. anyway, it was okay, but if you're looking for more authentic taiyaki, then skip this one.

taiyaki with chocolate filling

that was all that we ate at nishiki market. there were a lot more food to enjoy. there were some chicken skewer that we didn't try, the shishamo fish (the one that's paolo recommended, we found the stall, but we didn't try it simply because i couldn't eat the whole fish.. i couldn't imagine swallowing the head and tail), the tamago, and many more. if you wanted to try lots of food, you'd better came here with empty stomach. don't forget to bring lots of cash since most stalls didn't accept credit card.