What to Eat at Nishiki Market: 10 Best Choices

Known as "Kyoto's Kitchen," Nishiki Market is a narrow shopping street with over 100 shops and stalls lining the five blocks. Focusing on all things food, you can find a variety of street food favorites and local delicacies on offer. Snack on fresh sashimi, indulge in tender beef sushi or try several matcha-flavored sweets. 

It's also a great place to try kyo-yasai (Kyoto vegetables). Said to be more nutritious and delicious, these vegetables come in colors and shapes that are quite different from veggies in other regions. If you'd like to learn to cook with Kyoto ingredients, join a Kyoto cooking class for local tips!

Nishiki Market is a popular spot for locals and visitors alike, so it can get very crowded. It isn't an early morning market though, so it’s recommended to arrive between 10 am and 11 am to avoid some of the crowds.  

ByFood host Shizuka Anderson eats her way through Kyoto's kitchen, sharing what's worth picking up during your visit. 

Nishiki Market is a lively place packed with people day in, day out. It has been around for over 400 years and, at some point, it was the Kyoto equivalent of the (former) Tsukiji Market in Tokyo, so basically a fish market. 

But over the years it expanded to include all kinds of locally-produced raw food ingredients and fermented, pickled, and dried food products. Until a few decades ago, the shops were exclusively owned by families, geared toward local people who wanted to buy ingredients for their home cooking. 

With the massive influx of tourists, some shops adapted to serving food on the spot, and some companies entered the market, too.

Nishiki Market was built on high quality fish and that pedigree carries through today at the many fresh fish stalls that dot the narrow street. At Kimura Fresh Fish, you have the chance to try a variety of sashimi. 

Popular choices include staples like tuna and salmon, but you can find more unique offerings like octopus, sea urchin and clam. It can be hard to choose from such a wide selection but rest assured that anything you pick will be fresh and flavorful. 

You can also opt for skewered sashimi, flavored in a carpaccio style.

One of the most striking foods at Nishiki Market is tako-tamago, literally octopus-egg. It’s a baby octopus marinated and cooked in a sauce made of sugar, mirin, and soy sauce. A quail egg is inserted in the head of the octopus before cooking. 

The octopus is sweet, chewy and slightly crunchy, while the egg surprises your tastebuds. It has a pate-like taste, making the whole thing a bizarre and savory combination.

Konna Moja is a specialty shop focusing on all things soy. The menu is expansive, from tofu to soy milk croquettes and ice cream. One of their most popular foods that you should try while at Nishiki Market is their soymilk donuts. They are a sweet on-the-go snack with a satisfying light crunch on the outside and a fluffy inside. 

Choose from toppings including caramel, chocolate, apple cinnamon and the wholly Japanese kuromitsu (brown sugar syrup) and kinako (roasted soybean flour) flavor. You can also order the donuts plain for a light and fresh sweetness.

Opening its doors in 1912, Ajisai no Toyo has been a constant staple at Nishiki market, serving up their unagi (eel) rice bowls. The eel is cooked over charcoal, producing a crispy char on the outside while still being moist and fatty on the inside. It's then topped with a sweet, caramelized sauce for a satisfying flavor combination. 

The restaurant is only open during lunch hours, but it's a great spot to give your legs a break from wandering the market while indulging in the delectable seafood the area is known for.  

Kyo no Onikudokoro Hiro is a butcher shop that also happens to have a restaurant attached. They have several street food choices that are a great snack while you explore the market. One of their most well known offerings is their beef sushi. 

Two tender pieces of succulent beef are placed on beds of rice for a satisfying snack. They also have beef skewers and beef croquettes available for takeout. If you are looking for a bigger meal, they also have a sit-down restaurant serving steaks and beef meals. 

Another food specialty of Nishiki Market is tamagoyaki, the Japanese omelet. They fill the sweet and savory eggs with pre-cooked cabbage, carrot, green and white onions, and pickled ginger. It is also topped with aonori (dried green seaweed), the same as the one used for takoyaki. 

Prepared fresh on a hot plate, you can choose to take it to-go, or enjoy it on the spot. The egg is slightly sweet and fluffy, while the veggies are crunchy, which gives you this heart-warming feeling of mom's cooking. Soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce can be used as toppings, providing a satisfying combination of salty and sweet.

With a history of providing fresh and delicious seafood, it’s no surprise that Nishiki Market also serves delicious oysters. At Daiyasu, you can try the creamy shellfish in as many styles as you can think of. 

They have classics like raw, steamed and fried oysters. But they also have oyster specialty dishes like gratin, dashimaki-tamago (dashi rolled omelet) and miso stew. 

Pair your meal with a beer or sake for a satisfying lunch or dinner as you take a break from exploring Nishiki Market. 

Senbei are rice crackers, but they are quite different from those commonly found outside Asia. They are hearty, crunchy and sometimes spicy, especially when fresh. The shopkeeper can also season them for you on the spot. The seasoning ranges from plain salt to intriguing spices and even some sweet versions. 

It is the perfect street snack to satiate your hunger for a while before going for a hot meal. The shop also provides a special stand for eating them as well as a wide selection of omiyage (souvenirs) for you to peruse.

Dried fish and veggies are another popular food sold at Nishiki Market. You could spend more than 15 minutes trying all the different samples. You can choose from very light-tasting tiny fish, which are just crunchy and salty, to extremely spicy thin strings of seaweed. 

Taste as many as you can to see what your favorites are. The end result will be a good selection of omiyage. You can eat them as snacks, use them as toppings, or even invent new ways to incorporate them!

Matcha Sweets Sawawa is a specialty shop focusing on all things matcha (powdered green tea). The shop sources their matcha from the town of Uji in Kyoto, the first place where green tea was cultivated in Japan. 

One of their most popular products is matcha warabi mochi, a square jelly made not with mochi, but with a bracken fern starch. It’s then sprinkled with matcha powder, giving it a light green tea flavor. The grassy bitterness of matcha matches the moist sweetness of the jelly perfectly. 

You can accompany them with freshly brewed Uji green tea or matcha ice cream, which you can find at the same shop!

What better way to learn about the history of Nishiki Market than to eat your way through it. Learn how local favorites like tsukemono (pickled vegetables) and nakazuke (fermented vegetables) are made. You’ll also sample street food favorites like sashimi skewers and takoyaki. 

Throughout your journey, you’ll learn about the market's history from your guide, a former sushi chef turned travel guide. Discover what makes Nishiki Market a popular spot for locals and visitors alike. 

Nishiki Market can be overwhelming with its seemingly endless food options packed into small streets. In this walking tour, your knowledgeable guide will take you to spots where you can try local delicacies that can be easily missed. 

Try local delicacies like yuba (tofu skin) sashimi and obanzai (Kyoto-style home cooking). Gain a deeper connection with the area as you eat the foods that locals do.  

Explore Nishiki Market and sample delicious street food before heading to Kyoto’s Samurai Ninja Museum for a cultural experience that’s fun for the whole family. 

You’ll start at the market, exploring its densely packed streets and trying famous foods like tempura, oysters and senbei. After visiting a shrine with over 1,000 years of history, you’ll finish at the Samurai Ninja Museum. Throw ninja stars and dress up like a samurai as you do activities that are fun for kids and Japanese history buffs alike. 

Dive deeper into Kyoto’s local food culture with one of byFood's many experiences in Kyoto.

True to its roots, Nishiki Market is most famous for its seafood, but there is much more on offer, including a range of local Kyoto specialties, preserved foods and even a healthy selection of cookware. 

The market itself is open every day, but shop opening hours vary. Most shops are open between the hours of 9 am to 6 pm. Some smaller family-run shops will be closed on certain days of the week, Wednesday being the most common. If there is a specific shop you want to visit, check their opening hours before you go. 

No, most of the shops at Nishiki Market close by 6 pm. Some restaurants remain open until 8 or 9 pm. 

Nishiki Market can become very crowded, so arriving between 10-11 am is recommended. Almost all of the shops are open by this time, and you’ll avoid some of the crowds that come later in the day.

Editor's note: This blog was originally written by Georgios Kechagias. It was updated by the byFood team in December, 2024.