You will find all sorts of interesting stores ranging from fresh seafood to vegetables, fruit, sweets and Japanese chinmi (珍味, a Japanese term for preserved or processed seafood).
At 11am, we were not really looking for a typical bacon and egg breakfast. We were expecting an epic crab banquet! In fact, we were hoping to get our hands dirty on some local king crabs.
The king crabs normally cost around 7,000 yen to 9,000 yen per kilogram at the market. Don't expect a huge price difference between different vendors. If you have trouble deciding where to get your king crab, my advice is to simply look up Narita Shoten (成田商店), one of the most popular seafood stalls at Hakodate Morning Market with some of the freshest seafood around.
Narita Shoten at Hakodate Morning Market (成田商店)
Tel: 0138-26-0412
Address: 9-19 Wakamatsucho, Hakodate-shi, Hokkaido 北海道函館市若松町 9-19
This one we picked was around 1.8 kilograms, which set us back 16,000 yen. After some shrewd negotiation, we finally got them to throw in a free hairy crab (around 2,000-3,000 yen) and also waive the cooking fee.
My little nugget has never seen a crab as big as this one! He was speechless to say the least.
When I talked about cooking fee, this was what I was referring to - their second floor cafeteria-style restaurant. They charge a little extra to have the purchased seafood cooked there but trust me, it's well worth the small price tag (normally around 1,000-2,000 yen).
So, up the staircase we went to this cafeteria or kitchen, whatever you would like to call it. The official name is Nibankan Shokudo (函館朝市二番館食堂).
This is a true cafeteria in a lot of ways.
A special area for those who wanted traditional Japanese-style floor seats.
While the good guys from Narita worked with the kitchen staff on how to prepare our king crab and hairy crab, we wasted zero time filling out our tummy with some sashimi rice bowl. For me, it's uni (sea urchin) time!
We had to wait a good 30 minutes but it was well worth the wait. First up, some grilled king crab legs.
Look at that, very meaty!!!
In order to enjoy the best of both worlds, we had the second half of the king crab steamed. The verdict was loud and clear.....everyone thought the steamed crab was better coz it preserved the sweetness of the crab a little bit better.
To avoid an uptick on my cholesterol level, I gladly took a pass on the hairy crab.
Nibankan Shokudo is open daily from 7am till 2pm. You don't have to order crab to come here. In fact, the majority of customers simply came here for a nice bowl of chirashi don.
A trip to Hakodate is really not complete without visiting the Morning Market and experiencing the way the locals eat at Nibankan Shokudo certainly makes it extra special.
Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: ￥￥￥
Address: 2/F Ekini Market (Hakodate Morning Market/Ekiniichiba Asaichi), 9-19 Wakamatsucho, Hakodate-shi, Hokkaido, 040-0063 Japan
Tel: +81 50-5784-4817
Website: www.asaichi.ne.jp
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