Kumamoto soul food and Western cuisine! 4 gourmet choices at Tasaki Market

• Table of Contents
• Iroha Shokudo
• Seasonal fish restaurant "Uoyoshi"
• Western Restaurant Tare
• Choboyaki Suehiro

Iroha Shokudo

Iroha Shokudo opened in April 2020. It is so popular that its popular seafood bowls sometimes sell out even on weekdays. They serve breakfast and lunch using fish that arrives every day at 8am. They offer a slightly different dish each day to add variety to the same fish, and they change the menu a little at a time so that even people who come every day can enjoy it.

Depending on what is available, up to nine different kinds of seafood are used in the seafood bowl. The large, whole amaebi (sweet shrimp) that catches your eye the moment it arrives is served with the bowl, and the miso that overflows from it has no unpleasant odor and is very fresh. Two small bowls are included, and although the bowl is quite filling, even women can easily finish it.

On this day, we were able to taste amaebi (sweet shrimp), salmon roe, tuna, bonito, salmon, sea bream, octopus, squid, and negitoro (finely-fried tuna and minced meat). The soy sauce is imported from Kagoshima, and is a sweet soy sauce unique to Kyushu. The wasabi used has a texture and taste similar to that of grated wasabi, which enhances the deliciousness of the seafood bowl.

Besides seafood bowls, other dishes such as simmered dishes, soba noodles, and udon noodles are also secretly popular. After being asked to provide meals for employees in the market, they have also started to focus on boxed lunches, which can be purchased by the general public if you make a reservation by phone.

Iroha Shokudo

Seasonal fish restaurant "Uoyoshi"

Mr. Inomoto of Marusho Suisan, a wholesaler that has been involved with the market for over half a century and where discerning eyes are important, opened his seasonal fish restaurant, Uoyoshi, over 10 years ago, saying, "I want to create a restaurant where you can taste the fresh ingredients handled at the market." At the time, there was a restaurant for market employees, but there was no place where customers who came to the market could enjoy a hearty meal of seafood. Uoyoshi uses fresh fish that is purchased at auctions at the market every day by a professional connoisseur who is a dedicated connoisseur. The sashimi is a particularly recommended menu item; "Once you try our sashimi, you won't be able to eat anything else."

The 500 yen breakfast, available only on Saturdays, is so popular that people line up from 5:30. As it is limited in quantity, it often sells out. They are also open for dinner, offering set meals as well as a la carte dishes such as sashimi. Many customers come here simply to enjoy the fish, rather than drinking, and there are many repeat customers from outside the restaurant.

The great value lunch is a surefire menu that comes with sashimi, a main dish, and a small side dish. The main dish on this day was boiled sea bream. The moist white meat was packed with the flavor of the fish. The fillets were large, and the size was such that you could be satisfied with just the main dish.

The type of sashimi changes every day.

The squid is transparent, and the tuna is cut thickly, so you can see how fresh it is. Marusho Suisan is a tuna wholesaler with a track record, and the soft, sinew-free tuna is impressive! It's no wonder they have so many repeat customers.

Seasonal fish restaurant "Uoyoshi"

Western Restaurant Tare

Seafood isn't the only thing that gathers at the market. The Ebisu-kai Shopping Arcade in Tazaki Market has a roof, and there are many delicious shops that you'll want to check out as you walk through. The Western restaurant Tare is located in a stylish corner of a mortar-finished building.

Yamamoto-san wanted to open a restaurant in a market where not only ingredients but also tools, packaging and everything related to ingredients are gathered. He served as the owner and chef of Cologne Yoshimoto, a long-established French restaurant in Kumamoto City, for 32 years, and some customers have been there since then. Yamamoto-san handles all hospitality by himself, from ordering to paying the bill at the restaurant, which seats 10 people.

Hamburg steak with demi-glace sauce. The lunch menu includes a daily salad and a choice of bread or rice. The menu has not changed since the restaurant first opened, but it has been improved little by little in pursuit of better taste. The demi-glace sauce takes a week to prepare. French cuisine is characterized by the presence of a specific sauce, such as fish sauce or lamb sauce, and making this sauce is the most time-consuming part and reflects the chef's attention to detail.

The salad comes with three other dishes in addition to the vegetables. On this day, the dish was pacific saury carpaccio delivered directly from the market, homemade chicken salad, and a cake salé. The carpaccio, chicken, and salad were each served with their own sauce, which further enhanced the flavor of the ingredients.

The thick hamburger steak is cooked slowly in the oven after an order is placed. The meat is packed with flavor and a lovely aroma wafts through the air, ensuring that the juices don't overflow and the flavor doesn't get lost.

The mashed potatoes served with the hamburger steak are also a main dish. The reason the demi-glace sauce is poured over the mashed potatoes is because the chef recommends eating them all together. If you put the demi-glace sauce, hamburger steak, and mashed potatoes in your mouth together, they all come together and taste even more delicious.

The store's name, "Tare," comes from the turret trucks that are often used in markets, and the shop card depicts a pig riding in a turret delivering delicious food.

Western Restaurant Tare

Choboyaki Suehiro

Choboyaki is a flour-based soul food of Kumamoto that has been around since the postwar period and is also sold in sweet shops. Asai, the owner of Suehiro, has been eating it since he was a child and it is something that is familiar to him. The Fukuda-style choboyaki that has been around for a long time is famous, and Suehiro was opened to continue the Fukuda-style. Currently, Asai has made improvements to the dish, giving it its own unique taste.

Choboyaki is made by baking a thin layer of dashi-flavored batter, which has a chewy and mysterious texture. No chemical seasonings are used. You can add shrimp as an added touch, and adding noodles and vegetables will make for a satisfying choboyaki.

What makes it different from the usual flour-based dish is that it contains chopped pickled radish and is grilled with soy sauce instead of sauce. This may be the secret behind its nostalgic sweetness. Sprinkling garlic powder or chili pepper on it also changes the flavor.

The owner, Mr. Asai, works at Tazaki Market.com, where he sells fresh fish behind Choboyaki Suehiro. He also does business with Iroha Shokudo, and sells fresh fish to the general public if you make a reservation in advance by phone. His popularity is gradually growing through word of mouth. He also runs a children's restaurant next to Choboyaki Suehiro, where choboyaki are served to children on designated days.

Choboyaki Suehiro