Japan Day 5: Nishiki Market in Kyoto, Kani Doraku and shopping in Osaka

Early the next morning, we got up and got ready in the adjoining toilet. By the time we were ready, the futons had already been cleared by the staff and the table set up again in the middle of the room. Before our breakfast was served, we were each served with one plum together with a cup of tea. Not too sure what's the reason for serving a preserved plum in the morning, but it definitely worked to wake us up a little and give us an appetite =p

Unlike dinner, breakfast is served all at once instead of one dish at a time. Once again, we were amazed with the quantity of food that was served. Together with the dishes below, we each had a bowl of rice, with the staff continuing to urge us to add more rice as we were eating. I wonder how the Japanese manage to keep from getting fat if this is the amount of food that they consume on a daily basis. However, it's definitely healthy as there are a variety of ingredients served within the platter, including preserved vegetables, egg, fish, tofu...

Our traditional breakfast at Hiiragiya Bekkan

After breakfast, we packed our belongings and completed the checkout procedures before leaving the luggage with the staff. We're headed to Nishiki Market first before heading back to Osaka today. Nishiki Market is one of the famous food markets in Japan and is located within Kyoto. There are a large variety of food items sold here, ranging from fresh, pickled and even ready to eat cooked food.

We took our time walking along and browsing the various items for sale. There were even shops selling utensils such as knifes and pots and pans. Lots of tourists buy these back as souvenirs.

Nishiki Market and all the yummy yummy food!! Even seafood on a stick that is ready for consumption ^.^

We were so tempted by all the foodstuff on sale. Other than the basic sushi, there was even fresh sashimi on a stick which you can buy and enjoy on the go. The only problem we had was that we were already stuffed from the huge breakfast earlier in the morning. I really regret not trying the sashimi, it just looked so good..and the price is quite reasonable too, about RM7 per stick. Just look at the thick cuts that they put on each stick.

In the end, the only thing we bought to try here was the unagi. As seen from the below picture, the shop has already prepared a large amount of cooked unagi. When we make our order, they put the stick on top of the grill to heat it up again before serving it to us. Together with some other foreign tourists, we just stood there and enjoyed the yummy unagi =)

UNAGI!! *Drools*

We spent most of the morning browsing here before heading back to Hiiragiya Bekkan around 11 in the morning. After collecting our luggage, we walked to the nearest station to get on the train back to Osaka, where we will be staying for the rest of our Japan trip. When we left the ryokan, it was raining slightly, but the staff were still standing outside waving and bowing to us even after we had walked a distance away. Have to say, love the friendliness and attentiveness of the staff here.

Anyway, we took the same train back to Osaka, and checked in to the Namba Dotombori Hotel once again. Since it was already lunch, we headed over to Kani Doraku at Dotonbori to have our lunch. This is one of the many outlets of Kani Doraku here. The outlet we went to is located at the corner of the bridge. This outlet was quite large and consists of several floors. 

Kani Doraku in Osaka

There are a number of set meals available with different amount of items for each set. We decided on getting just one set of 2,50 yen to share as the prices are quite high and we just wanted to try the crab here. For the set we ordered, there are a total of 6 items included, fresh chilled crab, crab chawan mushi, crab gratin, grilled crab, crab sushi and some soup.

I'd have to say, for the price we paid, I was definitely expecting more. Taste wise, it was ok and I don't regret trying it, but I wouldn't be back for a second time. The portions here are rather small too, as compared to what we've seen at other shops we tried here in Japan. I think this is one item which you can leave if you are on a tight budget.

Our crabby lunch...

Filled with lunch, we took a train to Umeda station, where we browsed at the underground shopping area. There is a large underground shopping area here which connects several large department stores to the train station itself. Among the department stores here are Isetan, Yodobashi, Hankyu Department Store and Daimaru.

We spent some time at all the different departments first and even got some souvenirs for ourselves as well as family and friends. After some time, we got to the basement and got distracted by all the yummy food on display. We decided to buy some different things back for dinner at our hotel room.

There was a large salad bar here with close to 20 varieties of salads available to take away, and you can also choose the type of dressing for the salad purchased. Only problem we had was that the dressing names were all in Japanese, so we just randomly chose one to go with our beef salad. We also got some fried fish cake, quail eggs and some chicken yakitori to go. The yakitori was juicy and well flavoured, totally delicious!

The desserts are so tempting as well, I couldn't resist getting some. There were so many types of desserts for sale, but I decided to try the macarons today. Got a box of three different flavours for breakfast, hehe..