Eating at Washo, Kushiro's Freshest Seafood Market
KUSHIRO’S BIGGEST, MOST HISTORIC MARKET
Opened in 1954, this market is one of Hokkaido's top three markets along with Hakodate's Morning Market and Sapporo's Nijo Market.
Katte-don is a seafood bowl dish that originated in Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan, and is a popular culinary experience at the Washo Ichiba Market.
This is the kitchen of the people of Kushiro, where about 60 shops offer fresh crab, salted dried fish, fruits and vegetables, meat, delicacies, sweets, and more. The name Kushiro Washo Market comes from the Japanese word “wasshoi,” an enthusiastic cheer, and also incorporates the concept of friendly and cooperative selling.
Stalls in this indoor market sell fresh and processed seafood, meat and vegetables as well as souvenirs. The main attraction for many visitors is "Kattedon", a personalizable seafood donburi: after purchasing a bowl of rice, you add small portions of seafood of your choice on top of the rice. Seasonal seafood like crabs can also be enjoyed cooked in the market.
Katte Don at Kushiro’s Washo Market- Find the ingredients you like
While Washo Market's restaurants offering sushi, set meals, noodles and more are of course appealing, the famous Kattedon (“as you wish” rice bowl) is most recommended. For this dish, you can add your favorite ingredients and side dishes to your heart's content, including white rice and vinegar rice, your choice of sashimi and roe, and Kushiro's special zangi fried chicken.
Buy the rice at a station (go for the one with vinegar) & go shopping for your favorite sashimi.
Trying a Katte Don at Washo Market is a very easy ordering process.
First, you walk to the rice counter and order a bowl in one of four sizes ranging in price from ¥120 to ¥320. Then, it’s back to the sashimi counter.
Then , walk around the seafood or roe shops to find the ingredients you like. The collection of approximately 60 stalls is particularly known for a dish that customers design themselves. Ingredients vary depending on the store.
The ingredients are sold in slices or by weight.You then select your favorite seafood to eat over rice in this you name it, they make it, custom bowl system. This unique style is perfect for a market like Washo, where there’s always fresh, wide selection to enjoy. In different seasons, there are sea urchin, salmon roe, salty soft roe, hokki shell, scallop, squid, flounders, etc. Try the local catch with items like spring-caught Tokishirazu salmon, squid in summer, autumn saury, or winter crab and cod.
Visitors can enjoy the specialty "Katte don" and create their own original Kaisendon by choosing their favorite seafood to pair with white rice.
Price changes based on what toppings you pick, but here the way to go is to dive in with rice bowl in hand, ready to load up with your favorite bites. Here is where the restraint has to come in. You start with ¥100 pieces of salmon and octopus and move on to salmon roe soaked in soy at ¥200. Now it’s time to graduate to the next level: pieces of crab for ¥300 and a fatty piece of tuna belly at ¥500. It is also fun to negotiate the price at each store you visit. The last step is to ask the staffs for some soy sauce then pour it on the rice.
Come and make your own bowl of rice by loading it up with your choice of fabulous raw fish from the surrounding stalls. You will definitely be wanting a second bowl before you leave Kushiro!
You can find and eat all the very fresh sashimi, snow crabs, grilled unagi etc.
How To Get There
From Wharf Moo Center -Located along the Kushiro River, Kushiro Fisherman’s Wharf MOO stands at the heart of Kushiro’s waterfront. This facility houses a fish market, shops carrying souvenirs and local products as well as restaurants and eateries. This is where the cruise ship ‘s free shuttle service drops off and pick up passengers.
The Washo Ichiba Market is only about 15 minutes walk in land, straight up the first road on the left from the MOO Center. You can reach this quickly and have time to have a nice sashimi lunch or crab legs or browse the things on sale here. Or you could also take a taxi for about 500 yen.
There is a crab specialty shop inside Washo Market, known as Kushiro's Kitchen, with its famed Katte Don. We certainly enjoyed our crabs.