Kyoto: Nishiki Market

Friday morning we said goodbye to my sis, K and j and took the shinkansen back up North to Kyoto.
Japan 290

We ate a green tea muffin on the way. D wasn’t too keen on the red bean filling inside and there wasn’t much matcha flavor.
Japan 292

After checking into our room (more on that later), we took the bus to Nishiki Market for lunch. The market is made up of a long, narrow street filled with various food vendors.
Japan 294

Japan 293

Although probably made with tourists in mind, D wanted the tuna roll. There was a little wasabi inside, and D thought it was the best he has ever had.
Japan 297

These fried balls were wrapped in bacon and smelled good. We asked what was inside and the woman said “onion”. We thought it was some sort of bread and bought one. Turned out it was fishcake! Not my favorite, though D managed to eat most of it.
Japan 295

D’s co-worker had told him that he had to try takoyaki (ball-shaped dumplings with octopus). We passed by a takoyaki stall and a whole group of school kids were chowing down on them. D looked over the menu, and tried to ask the kids what the difference was between the three different choices.
Japan 298
I think the kids were laughing at us when they saw our faces, as it was obvious that is was our first time. There was another couple from the UK that assured us that they were delicious, and that they loved them.

Japan 299
They weren’t bad…I tried to think of it as calamari. However, I wasn’t too fond of the liquidy-chewiness of it all. I actually ate two, but then on my third one, I had a bite that was extremely fishy-tasting. I didn’t want to spit it out in front of everyone, so I managed to get it down. However, I was desperate to buy something else to get the taste out of my mouth.

The UK couple recommended that we get one of these next:
Japan 296
Baby octopus on a stick! (Tastes like candy!) Um, I don’t think so.

Instead, we went for freshly fried kinako (soy flour) donuts with brown sugar and whipped cream.
Japan 302
So good. And a good palate cleanser.

D tried some unagi (eel) on a stick.
Japan 300

Grilled mochi dipped in a salty-sweet sauce.
Japan 301

Freshly baked wasabi senbei (rice cracker) wrapped in nori.
Japan 303

So, that was probably one of our more interesting eating adventures. We were ready for some more sightseeing.

You may also like

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *