Kanazawa’s kitchen
Omicho Market, which has a 290-year history dating back from 1690 in the Edo Era, is called the kitchen of Kanazawa. Currently, there are more than 100 shops and restaurants specializing in fish, vegetables, fruits with ingredients found locally. This market is not just crowded with the locals but also with tourists. Since Ishikawa Prefecture faces the Japan Sea, it is flush with many kinds of freshly-caught fish and there is also a lot of unusual varieties that really can’t be gotten in Tokyo.
Fresh ingredients in an eat-in style
There are also many fish shops which invite eating-in, and with seafood like fresh rock oysters, jumbo shrimp and sea urchins, you can easily have the seasonal fare as sashimi right there. And aside from sashimi, you can walk around and try Kanazawa delicacies such as grilled and skewered fish and shrimp croquettes. There are also plenty of various dining establishments such as sushi bars naturally serving hand-shaped sushi and bowls of rice topped with sashimi, curry places, ramen joints and a French restaurant which uses Kaga vegetables. There are many fresh food shops open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but please be aware that there are also many stores that are closed on Wednesdays. Depending on the time, there are also events such as mochitsuki (rice cake-pounding) and nanakusa gayu (rice porridge with seven herbs) A 15-minute walk from Kenroku-en Garden, it’s a tourist spot that you want to head for at least once. From the official website, you can get an explanation on the market’s history, information on seasonal events and a map which is in English, Chinese and Korean. http://ohmicho-ichiba.com/ohmicho/pdf/en.pdf