Introducing Market

I have talked about the Village Market Tsukuba a lot on the old Ibaraki Eats website and I am always posting about them on my Instagram. I have a few reasons for doing that. One being I love the food and everything always tastes great. Two, because I believe in what they are doing, working together with local farmers to help them have a place to sell their chemical-free produce. Finally, it is an amazing place to hang out and spend the day. I love going there on Sundays. While I was there last year, one of the organizers told me they would open a restaurant in Tsukuba soon. I was excited by the news and let them know I would be there the first day they opened. A few months later, I was there on the first day and have been going back since then. Today I am going to talk about an amazing restaurant called Market.

Market

Market is located at Tsukuba Center's Tonarie Building. It is on the first floor of the building across from the Mr. Donuts. If you take the Tsukuba Express to get to the restaurant, all you have to do is go up the escalator heading toward the Tonarie Building and you are there. There are plenty of parking spaces around Tsukuba Center (Market validates) and it is easy to go by bike.
Market had a few cold opens and runs before it officially opened and I was honored to be a customer during that time. Then on June 1st, Market Restaurant officially opened and started to get busy making delicious dishes.

Inside

Walking into Market is quite an experience. The restaurant is completely open. What I mean by that is the kitchen is an open area where you see the staff working on your food, the coffee counter is also open and you see the staff brewing tasty coffee all day, and there are windows surrounding the whole restaurant. There is a nice view of Chuo Park depending on where you are sitting. The restaurant is also huge. I am not sure what the capacity is, but I am guessing more than 30. The seating around the kitchen area and the middle of the restaurant is all countertop seating. There are also tables around the window area for family seating.
The Ibaraki Eats Duo walked up to the Market restaurant's hostess area and a friendly hostess showed me to my counter seat near the kitchen. I was grateful for that since I could see how the staff works. The hostess asked us if we wanted regular or sparkling water and we went with sparkling which was tasty. I wondered if we would be getting a menu and then a waitress put the market card on our counter and told me the menu was a QR code. I took out my phone and checked out the menu.

The Menu

Great news everyone! The menu is in both English and Japanese. Look at how many things are on the menu, with still more things to come! I also have great news for my vegetarian and vegan readers. Market has vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and many other options. I always get asked where to go to find a delicious vegan place. Market heard you and answered the call.
I have visited Market a few times since I wrote this post so I will first talk about the breakfast experience that my wife and I shared.
Sorry for the small picture of the menu. If you would like a bigger picture, scan the QR code at the top and you will be able to see the menu more clearly.

The Coffee

What is the most important thing to have in the morning? A great cup of coffee of course. The Market Restaurant will not only give you a great cup of coffee but will also give you an array of different organic beans to choose from. The beans are from Micro Farm Life, the very same from the Village Market. My go-to coffee beans are the Ethiopian Queen City Harrar. This coffee has an amazing balance of strength and flavor with little acidity. It is the perfect coffee to have if you are having a big breakfast, which I was.
As I said before, Mrs. Ibaraki Eats was joining me for this adventure. She ordered the sparkling organic kombucha. I highly recommend ordering this drink. Not only is it healthy but it tastes amazing. The kombuch goes down so smoothly while the bubbles from the gas tickle your throat ever so slightly. It is an amazing drink that my wife and I can't wait to have again.

Farmhouse Breakfast

Remember how I wrote that I was going to have a big breakfast? Here it is. The Farmhouse Breakfast! This amazing looking breakfast plate brings whole wheat toast, smashed potatoes, two fried eggs with pico de gallo on top, and something I thought I would never write about here in Ibaraki, crispy bacon! Let me write that again in case it hasn't sunk in. Crispy bacon! Do you know how hard it is to find crispy bacon in Ibaraki?
Anyway, this Farmhouse Breakfast looked amazing and I couldn't wait to dig in. I got a piece of toast with some egg yolk and crispy bacon. I took a bite and gave my wife a huge thumbs up. It was beyond magical. The egg yolk with the crispy bacon was already amazing but the toast brought another level of deliciousness that made me extremely happy. Next was the smashed potatoes which were divine. So crispy on the outside with soft warm mashed potatoes on the inside. The smashed potatoes were exquisite. My wife tried some of the eggs and bacon with toast and was impressed. How did the pico de gallo add to all of this? It was incredible with the eggs. It has been years since I have had pico de gallo so when I saw it at first, I wasn't sure what it was. Then I tried it with my eggs and it added a whole new level of flavor that made me almost tear up in happiness. This tomato salsa was a perfect companion to the eggs and the whole wheat toast. I can't wait to have it again.
After finishing my Farmhouse Breakfast, I was full but surprisingly not over-stuffed. It was a nice feeling.

Vegan Banana Bread Muffin

This was Mrs. Ibaraki Eats' order, the vegan banana bread muffin. When the plate came to our table, my wife loved the presentation. She kept saying "Kawaii!" The blueberries are chemical-free and from a local farmer. The two different jams that helped make the happy face tasted great. The yellow-looking jam was apple and the red jam was rhubarb.
How was the overall muffin? Amazing. It tasted so fresh and moist. The huge walnuts inside the muffin were a great addition to this tasty muffin. Spreading the rhubarb jam on the muffin was delightful. So many different flavors hitting my taste buds. I could have this muffin for breakfast every day, but there are other breakfast items on the menu that I need to try.
Next, I will talk about my solo breakfast adventure.

Breakfast Sandwich

If you are ever thinking of heading to McDonalds for a breakfast sandwich, don't. I implore you to give the Market's breakfast sandwich a chance instead. This breakfast sandwich is epic and I can't wait to have it again.
The first time I had this sandwich was during a solo adventure. Unfortunately, my wife has yet to try this incredible sandwich. I ordered the breakfast sandwich on a Saturday morning and was able to see one of the owners of Market, George, use his excellent culinary skills to make my breakfast sandwich. It was masterful. When the plate was put in front of me, the sandwich looked like an amazing work of art. The sandwich came with hamburger buns, a fried egg, crispy bacon, a slice of melted cheese, and pico de gallo. I took a bite out of the sandwich and was in a heavenly breakfast trance. So many different flavors that were just right for my first meal of the day. I don't think I can go back to regular breakfast sandwiches again.

Vegan Blueberry Bran Muffin

On my solo adventure, I also ordered the vegan blueberry bran muffin. Like the banana bread muffin, this muffin was fantastic. The blueberries are from the same farmer I mentioned before and those blueberries go well in this muffin. The spread next to the blueberries is vegan caramel cream. Getting some of that caramel cream with a blueberry was great, spreading it on the blueberry muffin was magical. This blueberry muffin was just the thing I needed with my breakfast sandwich. I did not eat the whole muffin though. I saved half of it for my wife and brought it to her later that evening. She was able to try it at home and said "We are getting this again." In other words, she loved it.

I have talked a lot about Market's breakfast items, let me talk about a delicious lunch sandwich.

Cajun Chicken Sandwich with Salad

A Cajun chicken sandwich with focaccia? Count me in! I don't know what it is with Market's focaccia. It goes well with almost everything. Hummus? Yes. Cajun chicken? Yes. It might be because the bread is fresh and made at the restaurant.
On a sunny afternoon, I went during lunchtime and ordered the Cajun Chicken Sandwich with salad. I watched a staff member grill my chicken and focaccia while waiting with anticipation. When the sandwich was brought to me, it looked amazing. I took a bite out of the sandwich and got that familiar Cajun chicken taste. The chicken did have a small kick of spice to it, but it wasn't super hot and it was very flavorful. As I have pointed out before, the focaccia was amazing. It held the sandwich together well and brought a welcomed added flavor that made my sandwich that much better. I can't wait to try Market's other sandwiches.

The Deli Counter

If you are looking for a dessert, muffins, hummus, chocolate, or a healthy parfait to go, you should check out the Market deli counter. The deli counter is for everyone on the go who needs something quick. Maybe to catch their train.
The deli counter has hummus from the famed Village Market hummus expert Dippy Dip, delicious chocolate from Bean to Bar Chocolate (also from Village Market), vegan cheesecakes, muffins, nutty parfaits, spicy nuts mix, and more!
I recently grabbed a nutty parfait from the deli counter to have later for breakfast and it was outstanding. It was a perfect breakfast parfait to have after a yoga session. By the way, sandwiches may be coming to the deli counter soon!
If you would like coffee to go, the coffee counter is right next to the deli counter. Just order what beans you would like to use for your coffee and the staff will make it for you in a few minutes. I highly recommend trying the Harrar beans. They are my favorite. Don't forget your coffee tumbler, but if you do, Market has their own environmental friendly coffee cups.

I am overjoyed that the Market Restaurant is open and serving incredible food. What I love even more about this restaurant is that it follows the Village Market principle that this is a safe space for everyone and a place to support local farmers. Everyone is welcome here. The staff are friendly, the atmosphere is great, and all the ingredients are fresh and chemical-free. It is amazing to see the local farmers bring in their fresh produce to the restaurant. I have never seen that before. Market, keep up the good work and I hope to see you this Sunday. I am going to need some tasty coffee and possibly that beautiful Farmhouse Breakfast.

So if you are around Tsukuba Center either shopping, catching a train, or just walking around, why not stop in at Market Restaurant for a bite to eat? Who knows, you will probably see me there, I love the place and still have to try one of their dinner plates.
Enjoy!

For more information on Market Restaurant, check out their homepage and Instagram page:
https://www.marketrestaurant.jp/home-japanese

https://www.instagram.com/market.restaurant/