For Golden Week I did a northern Kyushu trip again, same as last year. The first stop was Shimonoseki, a place Koreans know from the Treaty of Shimonoseki. In Japan it’s famous for winter fugu, but, well… when it comes to puffer fish, nothing beats Korea’s own hwangbok, right? I couldn’t find a reason to go out of my way, but then it turned out Ganryujima, where Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro fought their final duel, is right here. So this year it became the destination! (With this I’ll have covered most of the sights within a 400 km radius… where am I supposed to go next year…)
After five hours of driving I reached Shimonoseki around lunchtime, and since it was lunchtime, food had to come first. So I headed to Karato Market, which is probably the heart of sightseeing in Shimonoseki.
There’s even an explanation in Korean…
Walking around, I did spot a fair few Koreans.
Looking inside…
Like every fish market it’s this kind of setup, but unlike Tsukiji and the like, it’s well prepared for tourists. Quite a few stalls seem to open only on weekends and holidays.
I parked in the rooftop car park, and there’s a lawn… the view is great.
Mind you, I think it took about an hour and a half just to get into the car park. -_-; The town isn’t that big, so I might as well have gone to the hotel first, parked there and come over.
Inside the market
The crowds are insane.
It’s lively, which makes it perfect for sightseeing, but…
Even so, who knew so many people would flock to Shimonoseki at the far tip of Honshu… I was picturing a quiet country town, and it’s nothing like that.
A regular shop
Compared with the places selling sushi and rice dishes, the fishmongers aren’t getting many customers. Probably because their business wraps up early in the morning.
This one is apparently a tuna specialist.
It looked tasty, but I didn’t have the nerve to push through that crowd. That’s the trouble with being timid…
A sushi buffet (?)
Most stalls in this market work like this: you pick out the sushi you want and buy it. The prices aren’t exactly cheap, but the fish is really fresh. Even if it costs a bit, it’s worth coming from far away.
After a lap of the market, this is the sushi stall I picked.
This was the only one without price tags. A bit scary -_- but they make small batches at a time, so nothing is drying out and it’s all fresh. The guys look like they know how to shape nigiri, too. I came all the way to Shimonoseki, so I had to eat at the best place.
It came out dark, but the name is Marujū Tanaka.
If you’re planning to visit Karato Market in Shimonoseki, I recommend this place. If you’re watching your budget, though, another stall might be better.
The sushi I chose
Clockwise from the top right: shime saba, toro, shrimp, fugu, abalone, ark shell (akagai), abalone liver and turban shell (sazae). First, the mackerel in the shime saba was incredibly fresh and thick. I’d never had vinegar-cured mackerel sushi this fresh, and it beat both Izuju, the famous shop in Kyoto, and Gozaemon-zushi, the top bōzushi (pressed sushi) place in my region. Toro is a safe bet any time, and the shrimp looked good so I ordered it; it was cheaper than the other toppings but very satisfying. I’d never seen anywhere serve fugu properly, maybe because it’s a rare topping, but this was very thick with a great chew, and the spicy sauce gave the plain sushi a nice kick. The abalone was amazingly fresh too, crunchy with added sweetness, a real treat, and the ark shell, as fresh as could be, was bright and springy. The abalone liver gunkan was bittersweet and rich, the best of the lot. The turban shell was tasty too thanks to its freshness, but the abalone left it well behind.
I didn’t expect much, but I was very happy. All of that came to 2,300 yen. Pricey for market food, but when you think about what sushi you could get for the same money, I’d actually call it cheap. Now I have another reason to come back to Shimonoseki ^_^
People eating outside the market…
It looks a bit sad, but if you think of it as an outdoor picnic, this can be a fun memory too.
A sign saying there’s even a helicopter…
Apparently the night view is great, so a helicopter ride at night might be nice, but in the daytime, well…
Right next to the market is Kamon Wharf, a complex of restaurants and souvenir shops.
The market closes relatively early, so I guess this place is popular in the evening. There are supposedly some good restaurants, but eating at the market seemed the better choice.
A lighthouse
The Lovers’ Lighthouse or something like that… it seems to be a pair with the white lighthouse on the other side. Behind it is the aquarium, but there were way too many families, so I didn’t go in.
The Lovers’ Lighthouse
I think the thing underneath is some kind of fish farm.
As it turned out, the boat to Ganryujima, the main destination of this trip, leaves right next to the market. By the time I’d been over and back, the market was about to close.
Time-sale menu
After 4 o’clock everything is half price. The market is winding down.
So I bought some of the whale sushi I hadn’t managed to eat at lunch.
Counterclockwise from the top: raw red meat, whale bacon and arasuji. Shimonoseki is really famous for whale meat, so I couldn’t leave without trying it. The whale meat tasted very clean and light. Compared with beef, fatty beef would be far tastier, but being lean it works well as sushi or sashimi. Considering the price, though, hmm… The arasuji was nicely fatty, and surprisingly the bacon was clean yet pleasantly salty and tasty. I thought it would make a good souvenir, so I checked the price: 2,400 yen per 100 grams… For 600 yen per 100 grams you can buy top-grade pork bacon. Value for money is a complete bust. Well, I still bought one for the next meetup. Since I have to travel around hot Kyushu, though, whether it will make it back to Korea in decent shape is anyone’s guess…
Grilled scallops (hotate-yaki)
The scallops looked good so I bought some, but they were a bit salty. They also sell lots of fried stuff. It seems like the perfect market for eating, looking around and having fun. In that respect I think it’s much better than Tsukiji.