Kyoto: Nishiki Market

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


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.


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.




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.


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.


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.

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.


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:

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.

So good. And a good palate cleanser.

D tried some unagi (eel) on a stick.


Grilled mochi dipped in a salty-sweet sauce.


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


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