Last updated on December 1st, 2024
Find out what to eat in Kanazawa Omicho Market and enjoy the best local food including fresh seafood, sushi platter, sashimi rice bowl, snack, and lots of local produce here.
I love to explore the local market whenever visit a place, especially in Japan. It is the best place to experience the local vibe and sample all the fresh food. The Kanazawa Omicho Market (近江町市場, Ōmichō Ichiba) is one of the well-known fresh food markets in Kanazawa, Japan. It has been around since the Edo period and remains a very local traditional market in Japan. There is a variety of excellent seafood and local produce that you hardly can miss when visiting Kanazawa.
In this Kanazawa food guide blog post about Omicho Market, I’ll share the best food I ate and saw while walking around the market. The best place to look for what to eat in Kanazawa.
Getting To Kanazawa Omicho Market
Getting there: Kanazawa Omicho Market is easy to access from Kanazawa station. From the east exit of the station, just walking straight for 15 minutes will get you to Omicho Market. Alternatively, take a short bus ride from Kanazawa station. It is just two stops from the station and gets off at the Musashigatsuji bus stop.
From Kanazawa station, we took the city bus and get off at Musashigatsuji bus stop. As soon as we arrived at Omicho Market, we decided to tour around before getting on any food to eat. There are several restaurants on both the ground and upper levels which are open for lunch as well as dinner. But the lower floor has many less expensive eateries.
Locals come to Kanazawa Omicho Market for fresh seafood and local produce. But most of the tourists visit here for their excellent fresh seafood. This Kanazawa market is famous and specialized in rice bowls topped with fresh seafood.
The market is not very big and can be finished in 30 minutes walking. But take note it can be busy and crowded during lunch hours.
What To Eat in Kanazawa Omicho Market
Kanazawa Omicho Ichiba market offers a huge variety of fresh seafood, vegetables, and ready to eat delicacies. You can find all kinds of seafood, beef, and seasonal fruit in this market. Prices are competitive among the stalls. During our visit, it was crab season, and many stalls were selling them at very reasonable prices. You can also buy the crab and have the eateries cook it for you.
The main focus of our food, of course, is fresh seafood. We first decided to try the fresh uni from one of the seafood stores.
We had the super fresh sea urchin at ¥500 and walloped it. It was so delicious and fresh. There is also other seafood in stores such as scallops, oysters, shrimp, and sashimi awaiting you to try on.
Besides, there was also a lot of Japanese snack food. I have to admit, sometimes the fried Japanese croquette is a great choice for a quick and budget snack. There are many different flavors, all made fresh on the spot. You can also choose to heat up in their microwave in the store. Wonderful Japanese street food to grab.
Although our main focus was on seafood, don’t forget to try on the beautiful assortment of fruits and vegetables in the market. We stopped by one of the fruit stalls and would like to try some local fruits.
The Japan Shrine muscat grapes were a good choice for those who want to try the high-class fruit in Japan. So sure it was nice to see and to just imagine how juicy and sweet they taste.
However, my friend would like to try on something new. These dark-colored fruits seem like a good choice. Not sure what is this. But we enjoyed this and fell in love at first bite.
At the market, there were also a couple of shops selling homemade Japanese pickles and preserved items, all of which looked good.
Limited Sushi Platter at Unbelievable Price
This is probably one of the highlights of our food tour in Kanazawa Omicho Market. We originally were plan to get the seafood rice bowl or sushi at any restaurant for early lunch. Mori Mori sushi seems like one of the popular sushi restaurants in Kanazawa.
But we saw there was a special limited edition of sushi platter from Kaitenzushi Okura Omicho Branch. This shop offers a limited 20 sets of sushi platters for ¥500 on weekdays. Oh my God! A great deal.
We entered the restaurant once it opened. It was a rustic local Japanese sushi restaurant and full of the local vibe. It was a conveyor belt sushi restaurant with bar counter seating. Limited seats are available and mostly filled up by locals.
We were so lucky as the limited 20 sets were finished after us. Hot green tea was served by friendly staff. Without a long wait, our sushi platter was served. We have the 10 nigiri sushi with a bowl of miso soup. Can’t believe it only cost ¥500. We thoroughly enjoyed the delicious sushi.
Good quality sushi and good value. Unexpected low-piece sushi in Kanazawa Omicho Market. Even if you can’t grab the ¥500 set, sure the slightly higher price set is still a good deal.
Overview: Best Food To Eat in Kanazawa
For sure, Kanazawa Omicho Ichiban is a great market for Kanazawa and worth a food trip here. Our experience shows you can get great food by visiting here. Although it was not as big as the Tokyo Tsukiji market and Sapporo fish market. But it has its charming character with many friendly vendors. The entire market street just had a pleasant authentic Japanese market feel to it. Definitely worth stopping by for some best food in Kanazawa. Come hungry!
Please take note our visit is during the weekday. Understand it can be crowded during the weekend.
Lastly, this Kanazawa food guide blog when looking for the best food in Omicho Ichiban is part of our Chubu trip. If you are interested, please continue reading our travel itinerary and food blog below.
My Kanazawa travel and food blog:
Complete read in Chubu travel blog:
Nagoya Itinerary and Food Guide:
- Nagoya Itinerary: A Guide For Things To Do in Nagoya
- Where To Stay in Nagoya: The Best Hotels and Areas
- Nagoya Food Guide: What To Eat in Nagoya
Takayama, Shirakawago, Kamikochi, Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route:
