A foodie's guide to Japan's underrated Ishikawa prefecture, now reachable via a new Shinkansen route

Thanks to its coastal location, Ishikawa is the place to be for some of the freshest seafood in Japan. Deeper waters also means a larger variety of marine fare that you might not find in other regions. Check out the freshest catch of the day at Kanazawa’s Omicho Market. Locals get their seafood from the market stalls on the first floor, while the second floor is full of restaurants operated by the market vendors themselves. There’s also a handful of shops selling non-seafood items including flame-grilled wagyu skewers, earl grey beer, and the famous gold leaf soft serve ice cream.

Crab season starts in November and lasts until the end of the year for female crab, and till March for male crab. Other hot items here include the sweet and fatty nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch), yellowtail, gasu shrimp, and amaebi (sweet shrimp). 

TIME OUT TIP While the market closes at 5pm, most stalls usually close by 3pm. Breakfast or lunch would be a good time to visit if you’re keen to dine on the second floor.

Omicho Market
📍50 Kamiomicho, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-0905, Japan
⏰Daily 9am-5pm
Website

Mention wagyu and the first thing that comes to mind is probably Kobe beef, but even more prized than that is the rare Noto beef from Ishikawa’s Noto Peninsula, said to have the most ideal environment in Japan to raise healthy, happy cattle. As Noto is small, there’s a limit as to how much Noto beef can be produced every year, so it typically isn’t even exported to other prefectures within the country – that’s just how rare it is.

One restaurant where you can enjoy Noto beef steak in Ishikawa is family business Teraoka Fusha (てらおか風舎), which has its own farm in Noto with free-roaming cows and even won the Wagyu Olympics once. Each mouthful of the flavour-packed steak bursts with juiciness, and this creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture – sans greasiness – is one of the top characteristics of this beef.  But words can only do so much – you’ll just have to try it yourself to fully understand what we mean.

For Noto beef in yakiniku form, visit Nikusho Jade Kanazawa (肉匠Jade金澤), where you can choose your preferred cuts and barbecue them yourself in a traditional Japanese setting. We recommend the value-for-money lunch set which comes with meat, rice, miso soup, pickles and salad.

Kanazawa is the place to unleash your sweet tooth in full force, because the city is known for its wagashi (Japanese sweets). Take a walk around and you’ll probably encounter a shop every few metres selling mochi, dorayaki, rakugan and the like, but we say, head straight to Itaya Honten.

This family business – now manned by its fourth generation – is famous for its komokaburi (こもかぶり), a unique confection that’s crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, filled with red bean paste and a whole chestnut and topped with seaweed. It’s an original creation that you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else in Japan. Come early and you might just catch one of their wagashi craftsmen deftly making the komokaburi fresh and hot on the spot.

TIME OUT TIP Itaya Honten is walking distance from Kanazawa Castle Park, so grab some sweets to go and have a picnic amidst nature.

Itaya Honten (板屋本店)
📍10-18 Oyamamachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-0918, Japan
⏰ Mon-Tue, Thu-Sat: 9am-5.30pm (closed on Weds and Sun)
Website

With beginnings that can be traced all the way back to 1625, Fukumitsuya Sake Brewery is not just the oldest sake brewery in Ishikawa – it’s also one of the few that makes only junmai sake, that is, sake that’s made from just rice, koji, and water without any added sugar or additives. On top of that, the water used here is a mineral-rich 100-year-old blessed water all the way from Mount Hakusan, retrieved from a well on-site. All these serve to create a better fermentation process and a fuller, richer flavour.

Sign up for a guided tour of the brewery for a firsthand look of the whole process from grain to bottle. You’ll probably be yearning for a sip after that, so it’s just as well that Fukumitsuya also hosts informative sake tasting sessions in English complete with food pairings from just JPY1,100 (less than SGD10). Make your reservation here.

Sake Shop Fukumitsuya Kanazawaten
📍 2 Chome-8-3 Ishibiki, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-0935, Japan
⏰ Daily 10am-6pm
Website

You’ve heard of the famous fish auctions at Tokyo’s Toyosu Fish Market (previously Tsukiji), but Hashidate Fishing Port in Kaga offers a less touristy alternative with a more close-up view. The best part? You don’t have to haul yourself down at 5am, because all the fun happens in the evening. This is so that the middlemen in the seafood trade can bid for their catch in time for it to be transported to markets in other parts of Japan, including Tokyo, by dawn.

You won’t actually be able to enter the market as that would require special access, but you can still peer in from the outside for a good eyeful of the action. We reckon you’d be able to get a better view here than when jostling with the crowds at Toyosu.

TIME OUT TIP Plan your visit with some buffer time to admire a gorgeous sunset by the waters.

Hashidate Fishing Port (橋立漁港)
📍Hamayama-2-30 Tajirimachi, Kaga, Ishikawa 922-0552, Japan
Website