If you like food (OF COURSE YOU DO) and want to witness Japanese culture in action (SURE), head on down to Nishiki food market in Kyoto.
It’s a long corridor stretching multiple blocks, chock-full of shops and grocers peddling fresh food at reasonable prices.
If you’re lucky, you might stumble across some free samples.
I get a kick out of this apple display — that stream of water keeps the apples rotating in a circle.
This gentleman notices me photographing his apples and smiles for the camera. Then I purchase an apple.
Squid or octopus? It’s a game everyone can play while strolling this market.
Confession: this BAG OF FISH EYES really grosses me out.
If I had a use for a cute decorative box, I would buy one of these:
I purchase one of these savory pops. It’s got sweet potato, pumpkin, and carrot.
I have no idea what this is. It looks like some sort of solid jelly slathered in peanut butter?!
This is my favorite stall in the whole place — sushi pops!
It’s just hunks of raw salmon or tuna on a popsicle stick, with some lemon juice sprinkled over it.
It’s not the high quality fish I had with Ayumi, but it’s fresh and cheap and I go back for seconds.
Down one end of the market is a dessert section. I try one of the jellies below left. And I recognize those small brown and white scoops below right — it’s an edible decoration served with ice cream in Japan. Sort of ginger-flavored, if memory serves correct.
I stop at this ice cream and donut shop (THE BEST KIND OF SHOP, RIGHT?).
Your eyes do not deceive you; I get an ice cream sundae AND donuts drizzled with chocolate.
The Nishiki market is worth a visit if you’re in Kyoto. This handy guide from CNN Traveler may be helpful. I’d suggest going at lunch time, as it shuts down around 5pm. Happy snacking!
Yum
So many tasty treats here. I think food is my favorite part of traveling
Great post; I didn’t know about Nishiki and if I can ever get back to Kyoto I’ll have to take a stroll around the market!
The sashimi (sushi requires rice) looks great, even if it’s not the best you’ve had. Since this is my first time on your site, I don’t know if you got to try raw fish in Tsukiji yet. If you haven’t, I suggest adding that to a future itinerary.
I found your site while researching a little bit about the jellies you saw and tried; I believe those are called namagashi – at least they’re a form a wagashi.
The “ice cream decoration” next to it is called yatsuhashi, and is cinnamon flavored. It’s generally a souvenir sweet, but the raw version is delicious too! I hope you got to try it. I’ll have to try some yatsuhashi with ice cream, because that looks really good.
It’s always fun discovering another traveler’s blog! I look forward to browsing around and seeing more about your adventures.
Thanks for the comment, Ryan! I just checked out your blog and your photos of food in Japan are mouth-watering. And thanks for providing the proper names for those dishes (namagashi, yatsuhashi, etc.). I did make it to Tsukiji very early one morning but we didn’t eat there, just observed the chaos of the market. I loved my short time in Japan and hope to get back some day!