Sankaku Market

Sankaku Market in Otaru is the kind of “authentic” seafood alley that’s now mostly authentic in how efficiently it extracts money from tourists. The lantern-lit corridor and stacked crab displays make for great photos, and that’s precisely where the charm ends. We even tried a salmon‑ikura‑don, lured in by the glossy menu photo showing a generous mound of ikura glistening like tiny jewels. What arrived was… a reinterpretation. A minimalist, avant‑garde take on ikura‑don, featuring roughly a tea spoon of roe perched awkwardly on top of tired salmon slices. The price, however, was not minimalist! Crowds squeeze through the narrow walkway, shops shout for attention, and everything costs more than it should. Avoid it unless you’re collecting photos, not meals.