February 11, 2008
Omicho Market Kaisendon-ya
This was a short trip and we were determined to see the sights, so we did a lot of running around without much time to sit down for fancy meals. It's also a bit tough to find good information on Japanese places and even if you have the reviews and the address they can be hard to find in the old streets, not to mention the communication issues.
The Omicho Market is the central marketplace in Kanazawa, and a wide variety of restaurants surround it to take advantage of the fresh bounty offered within. As a well-known tourist destination and a natural foodie draw, most of the restaurants have lines stretching well out the door at meal-time. We didn't have the patience nor time to wait, but once we saw the lines the day before, we planned to get back to the marketplace early to grab a spot before the lunch rush.
Managed to do a tiny bit of research before-hand thanks to the ePC and found 近江町 海鮮丼家 to be highly rated on Japanese user review sites as a cheap-eat destination. The narrow shop only offered a few tables and a long counter where two chefs and a server handled the busy lunch hour. Kaisendon (海鮮丼) for me, layered on top with thin slices of fresh sashimi. Tendon (天丼) for her, covered with fresh-fried tempura shrimp and veggies. The ingredients presumably came fresh from the market next door, and Japanese rice is always amazingly perfect, combining for a quick and tasty lunch.
Thankfully we got there early and ate without much of a wait, because the line was out of sight by the time we left. We had just enough time to get back to Kanazawa station to catch our bus to Shirakawa-go.
近江町 海鮮丼家 ひら井
石川県金沢市上近江町29
076-222-5887