Huangsha -Seafood Market, Guangzhou- 黄沙、広州の海鮮市場

Huangsha Seafood Market (or Aquatic Product Trading Market) is located in Liwan District, Guangzhou city. It's said to be the biggest aquatic product trading center in Southern China.

Huangsha Seafood Market

 

 

It wasn't as bad as I expected... I mean, the conditions and cleanliness of the market. Of course, you don't want to go there with high-heel shoes or leather shoes. The ground there is covered with dirty water but as far as I know, almost every seafood market is like that.

So, I would say it wasn't the best but quite organized.

Many varieties of live seafood

 

 

In the market, I could find whole bunch of seasonal fresh, live seafood, like, lobster, abalone, clam, shrimp, crab, octopus, cuttlefish and so on...

You can purchase the seafood you like, bring it to the restaurants upstairs of the market and ask them to cook it the way you like. Though you still have to pay for both the ingredients and the cooking, at least you can eat the things you like in the way you like and it's very fresh for sure!

 

"Kuruma Ebi" tiger prawn (left), "Koh Ika" Cuttlefish

 

"Tako" octopus (left), variety of fresh sea fish (right)

 

 

Besides the seafood, I also found many different types of "weird stuff" in the market...

Alligators (or Crocodiles?), Turtles, Diving Beetles, Snakes, Worms and Scorpions!!

 

There is an old saying, mentioning about the food in Guangzhou (食在广州). There are several different ways to interpret it, however, people in Guangzhou told me that the saying means people of Guangzhou love to eat. That I strongly agree.

They say Guangzhou people eat everything in the sky except air plane, everything on the ground with four legs except tables and chairs, everything with two legs except human!

 

Turtle (left), Caddis worm (right)

 

Scorpion (left), Yellow Mealworm (right)

 

 

You can access to the market by taking Guangzhou subway -line 1- and 10 minutes walk from the Huangsha station.

 

 

Inagiku at IFC Hong Kong

Inagiku at IFC Hong Kong is one of the busiest Inagiku restaurants in the world.

The restaurant opened in 2007 as second branch of Inagiku restaurant in Hong Kong after the first one in Royal Garden Hotel in East Tsim Sha Tsui.

 

 

 The entrance of Inagiku Japanese restaurant at IFC Hong Kong (left),

"Ten-Don" Assorted tempura with special sweet soy sauce on a bowl of steamed rice (right)

 

 

I have been to the restaurant right after it's opened in 2007.

Japanese master chef, Makoto Yumoto (my boss at the time) who opened the first Inagiku restaurant in Royal Garden, recommended me to go there, see the restaurant and the kitchen.

 

After 6years, 2013 in June, I went to the restaurant again. This time, I spend two whole days in the kitchen and see how the daily operations in the busiest Inagiku restaurant are and learn something from them.

 

 

Private dining room with Teppanyaki and Tempura at the counter (left),

Cozy bar counter at the bar lounge area (right)

 

 

Teppanyaki griddle and tempura fryer in a private dining room

 

 

The restaurant has a direct access from Four Season Hotel, locates at inside IFC mall in Hong Kong's busiest financial district. Also, the restaurant has got a beautiful Hong Kong Harbour view from the dining room.

So, it is perfect for those busy business people for their quick lunch, or for the ones who want to talk business over the lunch, or for the nice anniversary dinner.... 

 

Those two days when I was there, the restaurant was busy as usual.

Most of the kitchen staff there have been working for Inagiku from the opening (some of them are even longer, transferred from Inagiku in the Royal Garden hotel), which means over 6years. Each staff knows exactly what they are doing, therefore, the operation was very smooth.

They also have many royal guests who come to the restaurant in a regular basis. The guests know the staff behind the sushi bar or teppanyaki. The staff know them as well.

 

I could see that 6 years of constant hard work of each individuals made this restaurant so successful. 

After the two days visit, I kept that in my mind and came back to Guangzhou to make that happen in "I by Inagiku" W Guangzhou!

 

 

View from IFC (left), Exterior of Four Seasons hotel (right)

 

See more detail →INAGIKU AT IFC