Fish Market Payao

Did you know that an average lobster can live roughly about 30 to 50 years? Well, certainly not here at the fish market! It’s too bad they are just so darn delicious. Here at Fish Market Payao, lobster is their specialty. Looking around the place you will see that it almost looks like a wet kitchen was built inside a fish market just to get the job done. Bottom line, it’s messy. Clean enough to dine, yet still messy. You got two major dining areas- one located inside right next to the kitchen where they also happen to sell the catches of the day, and the other located outside next to a table of miso paste samples that they mix with parts of seaweed. There is no two ways about it, you are in a wet fish market!

For the food, their specialty: The Ise-ebi lobster. They cook it with uni (sea urchin) sauce on top of the lobster cut in half in which they bake. This is absolutely spectacular. If you are unfamiliar with uni sauce and think it’s disgusting, you must try it at least once. The taste is not what it would seems. For some reason, it almost reminds me of lobster gratin even though it doesn’t use any cheese. I heard a rumour from a chef of another restaurant that lobster with uni sauce usually contains a hint of awamori (Okinawan sake). This is unverified but could also be the reason why it’s so delicious. They also have other seafood dishes such as the batayaki (deep fried buttered fish), tempura platters, and seafood sashimi bowls. The batayaki is also pretty popular amongst the diners due to it being served on a sizzling plate almost soaked in hot butter. It should be apparent by now that this place is not really a good choice for healthy seafood options. The dishes all come in set menus which has side of sashimi, pickled radish, and miso soup. Foodie tip: you can have them change the sashimi to two pieces of fish tempura if you want to try that instead. Also, more rice is free but only if you ask for it as you receive your food. As for the price, unfortunately, this is on the above average side. The half lobster with uni sauce will set you back about 2,700 yen while the batayaki being the cheaper option at 1,300 yen.

Since its popularity has grown over the past few months, the place has started to become a popular tourist attraction, dare I say, possibly even a tourist trap. If you arrive at the restaurant at a bad timing lunch rush (around 11:30), good luck getting a table. Last time I went there, I had to wait 30 minutes just to get an open seat. Easiest directions to get there is keep going straight on route 20 after you exit gate 2 of Kadena Air Base. After going for a while, turn left when you reach the major intersection with Awase Bay street route 85. Fish Market Payao will be on the next right.