Kyoto’s 400 Year-Old Kitchen: Nishiki Market
Nishiki Market, Kyoto
Come hungry because there’s so much food here that you won’t be able to try everything. Nishiki Market is located in Downtown Kyoto. We spent about 3 hours here just leisurely eating and shopping. We love to try a little of everything, so we didn’t sit down to eat at any of the restaurants. BUT don’t walk and eat because that’s rude in Japan. So please eat where you bought the food, and return the trash to the stall you bought the food from.
Here is a roundup of everything we ate:
Kushiage
Shrimp, sweet potato, fish, unagi, and scallops.
You’ll find these fried skewers up and down the market and around Kyoto. It’s deep-fried skewers ranging from seafood, vegetable, meat, and fishcakes. Tbh, some of the things we ordered we didn’t really know what it was. Just order with your eyes and what looks good. The batter is light, but after eating multiple fried things halfway down the street, we were pretty fried out.
Sugi Honey Shop
If you love honey, they got a variety of different honey for flavoring teas, desserts, or just water. Our favorite flavor was Yuzu and blueberry. They have samples so you can taste everything before you buy.
Fishcake with Quail Eggs
Fishcake with Quail Eggs
It was ok. It’s what you expect. Fishcake and quail eggs
Seafood
There were multiple seafood stalls, and we just chose one with the best-looking Otoro and uni because that’s what we can’t say no to. The prices are lower than in Tsukiji.
Otoro
Uni
Fried Conger Fish
Light, flakey, and not fishy.
Wagyu Steak
For how big this was, it’s definitely worth it. The meat wasn’t A5, but it was still super fatty and soft. I actually prefer it A4 or A3 because it’s less heavy and you get to eat more!
Fried Conger Fish
Wagyu Steak
Warabi Mochi
If you love soft melt-in-your-mouth jellies, then you have to try this type of mochi. The one we got here was really good, and if you don’t have the stomach to eat it there, we brought it back and enjoyed it at night!
Gyoza
Nothing special, so we recommend passing.
Soy Milk Doughnut
This is one of those highly recommended food items to get here at Nishiki. We got it plain because we didn’t feel like eating anything sweet. The doughnut was good fresh. It was soft and warm, but once it cooled, it was a regular stale doughnut. We didn’t find this to be too different from regular batter doughnuts besides it being slightly on the lighter side.
Ice Cream
This trip has turned Johnny into an Ice Cream fan, so we had to end with it. It’s unbelievably creamy and milky. Even if you don’t like ice cream, we urge you to try their milk-flavored ones. It’s honestly life-changing.
