Omicho Market Tour and Cooking Class in Kanazawa’s Kitchen
Join a guided tour of Omicho Market, nicknamed “Kanazawa’s Kitchen,” with a Japanese cooking expert, learning about Japanese food culture as you select ingredients and cook a classic Japanese meal.
Highlights
Omicho Market food tour with local English-speaking guide and cooking instructor
Browsing shops for ingredients, tools, and souvenirs, with assistance from the guide
Comprehensive cooking class in a refurbished Japanese home
Learn how to prepare Japanese seafood and vegetables, using fresh ingredients from Omicho Market
Try traditional Japanese plating techniques
10 meals
Experience Details
Overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of Japanese fish markets, the unfamiliar seafood, and seemingly endless kitchen tool choices? While Omicho Market can be intimidating territory for even the most seasoned travelers, this tour with a multilingual guide removes the language barrier. The experienced tour guide is familiar with every corner of Omicho Market, so guests can feel at ease with her by their side. She can give advice about the best shops for kitchenware, seafood, and souvenirs, and show you how to select ingredients for the cooking class to follow.
A piece of living history, Omicho Market features seafood and produce shops that have been in business for over 300 years. It is a monument to Kanazawa’s unique food culture, a place where visitors can learn about the bountiful sea and land of the region. The guide, a knowledgable cooking researcher, can introduce the variety of ingredients available, like the 15 Kaga vegetables which are famous in the area and have been a part of the regional diet for centuries.
Once the class has chosen the ingredients for the day, the group will continue the Japanese cuisine lesson at a traditional Japanese home. The house features classic architecture but with state-of-the-art equipment and tools. With the cooking teacher’s instructions, guests will prepare the seafood and veggies they picked from Omicho Market, and learn to make ichijiu-sansai (which translates to “one soup, three dishes”), the quintessential Japanese meal layout. They will make a delicious umami dashi broth from bonito fish flakes, which forms the base of many Japanese dishes. The cooking instructor will also explain the different types of Japanese kitchen knives, and how to plate dishes using Japanese techniques.
Think you’re already familiar with Japanese cuisine? Even after multiple visits to Japan, you can discover more about the array of regional Japanese food, like the cuisine of Kanazawa, during this Omicho Market food tour and cooking class.
What You Get
Good To Know
- Please wear appropriate shoes for walking
Meeting Point and Meeting Time
We will meet near 近江町いちば館 (Omicho Ichibakan), located a 5-minute walk from Kanazawa Station. Details available upon booking.
Cancellation Policy
Cancel your booking at least 48 hours before the experience start time to receive a full refund minus a 3.2% transaction fee.
Experience Location
Located in the heart of the city, Omicho Market is the go-to place for a deal on the tastiest local food in Kanazawa. With seafood, street food, and restaurants galore, this colorful food market has served as the city's largest fresh food market since the Edo era. This undercover market is home to over 200 shops selling everything from flowers to kitchenware, and every kind of delicious food in between. Omicho Market tends to be busy in the morning, although it’s also a decent lunch spot, selling specialty rice bowls topped with seafood local to the Kanazawa area.
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10 meals
Learn about the world of geisha in Kanazawa! This guided night tour will take you to Higashi Chaya & Kazue Machi geisha districts, where you’ll learn about geisha culture. End the night at a local restaurant with a full-course Japanese meal.
See the main sights of Kanazawa and taste its specialties on this guided food tour. You’ll sample local foods in Omicho, the city’s biggest seafood market, and stroll through Kazuemachi Chayagai and Higashi Chaya, two iconic geisha districts.