Side Note: Aoyama Farmer's Market

Hello everyone! It is almost Christmas and the New Year's so there are only two posts left for Ibaraki Eats this year. For the second to last post, I decided to do a side note. Most of my side notes as of late have been about Chiba. This time I took it a step further and decided to write about a place in Tokyo. Not just a place, but a market that happens on the weekends in Tokyo. This market has a lot to offer and has a lot o fun events. I went to this market last month and not only was I a customer, but I was also a part of the market. I helped out an old friend who makes amazing brownies and sweets to have with your coffee. I had a great time and I want to share my experience with all of you. Today, I wil be talking about the Aoyama Farmer's Market.

Aoyama Farmer's Market

The Aoyama Farmer's Market is a market that happens in Shibuya's Jingumae every weekend. It is right across the street from Aoyama Gauken University. I highly recommend coming by train since it is Tokyo. It is completely up to you unless you want to pay 2000 yen an hour for parking.
I went to the Aoyama last Sunday of November to help out All Right Coffee from Tsukuba. I should mention that a few Ibaraki businesses are in this market. Dippy Dip and Micro Farm Life used to attend this market until they got busy with the Village Market Tsukuba and Market Restuarant. The owner of All Right let me know that a lot of foreign customers come to this market and they need a translated and a helping hand to sell their delicious sweets that go amazing well with coffee. Seriously, if you have never tried All Right Coffee's brownies, you are missing out on some of the best brownies Tsukuba has to offer. They are also gluten-free!
When I walked into the market early in the morning, I greeted the staff and owner of All Right Coffee and they told me to look around the market before things go busy. I saw a lot of different food stalls, trucks, businesses, and there was even a chocolate event happening at the market. I ended up buying matcha chocolate that was fantastic while the owner of All Right Coffee bought squid chocolate. Read that again. Squid Chocolate! It tasted so weird but it was good. I walked around and saw a lot of different stalls. A granola stall, a coconut yogurt stall, a scone stall, a stall that sold kitchen knives (run by a foreigner by the way), a lot of different farmers, and next to us was an amazing chiffon cake stall. I even saw a few familiar faces.

Hot Sauce Bar

If you are a lover of hot sauce, you need to visit the Hot Sauce Bar booth. This amazing booth filled with an array of different hot sauces comes to the Village Market Tsukuba maybe once every three months. I have bought pineapple hot sauce, mango hot sauce, hot sauce from the famous YouTube show Hot Ones, and more! It was nice to see them at the Aoyama Farmer's Market and talk to them about hot sauces. I ended up buying a bottle of Apostle Crispy Chili Oil from them that day. That chili oil goes perfectly with salad or pasta. I said my thank yous and goodbyes and moved on to another familiar face.

Almond Tree Shaker

Straight from Ajigaura in Hitachinaka it is Almond Tree Shaker! They make amazing almond butter that goes great on toast. It goes even better with vanilla ice cream. It was nice to see the owner of Almond Tree Shaker and chat with him about the market. He let me know that this was a bustling market with hundreds of different customers that come around during the weekend. He let me know that a lot of tourists come visit the market as well which helps with sales. I bought a small glass jar of chunky almond butter and headed back to All Right Coffee. I had to get to work.

Banana Leaf Curry

A few hours go by and we are busy at All Right Coffee. We were giving out free small samples of brownies and coffee. We were selling a bunch of different sweets and coffee beans. It was fun and it was fun meeting a bunch of different people. I even met some students from Tsukuba University. It was getting close to lunchtime and I was feeling quite peckish. I headed out into the market and decided to try some Indonesian cuisine from a food truck called Banana Leaf Curry. What did they sell? Exactly that. I huge banana leaf completely wrapped. When you opened it there was rice, curry, and an egg inside. I got a spoonful of the rice and gave it a try. The curry was flavorful and not too spicy which was nice since I didn't have a drink in hand. I really liked this curry. I gave the egg a try and it was hard-boiled and a bit weird. It wasn't bad, it just felt like I was eating something other than an egg. I shared my curry with the staff at All Right and we all agreed it was good. I took my leaf and try back to Banana Leaf Curry and still felt a little hungry. I headed to the food truck near our booth for an interesting sandwich.

Banini

Some of you might get upset by this statement but here it goes, Japanese people sometimes eat horse meat. Yup, and I am also a person who eats horse meat. There is even a special horse meat restaurant in Hitachinaka that I have visited a few times. Now look at the picture above. Would you believe that that is horse meat and that it was delicious? It was. Banini, a play on words of panini, ba in Kanji meaning horse, is a food truck that sells horse meat hot-pressed sandwiches, horse meat croquettes, and horse meat sausage. I decided to grab the regular banini and another one for the staff at All Right. The sandwich brought a lot of horse meat, a delicious thick BBQ-like sauces, and camembert cheese. I bit into this sandwich and it was incredible. The meat was a bit stringy but it was so soft and tasty, The cheese just melted in with the meat and felt like an amazing massage for my teeth when I was chewing. The bread was Ok. I would have used a more panini like bread but other than that, this sandwich was a master piece. I can't wait to have this banini again.

We Are Almost Sold Out!

As the market went on, we became busier and busier. One and a half hours before the market closed, we were almost sold out. Then half an hour before the market closed, we were completely sold out of sweets. Good job everyone! We packed up our booth and then decided to make the long drive back to Tsukuba.

I had an amazing time being a part of the Aoyama Farmer's Market. I tried a lot of new dishes, met new people, bought a bunch of vegetables and fruits from other prefectures, and got to chat with a few familiar faces from Ibaraki. I am planning to help All Right Coffee again tomorrow, December 21st. So if you are in the neighborhood of Shibuya, why not come on down and check out this amazing market. Come by All Right Coffee and say hi. Hope to see you there!

I Almost Forgot!

Remember how I talked about the sponge cake booth that was next to us. My wife and I tried his cake at home and I implore you to try it. Calling it delicious is an understatement. This person is a genius and his sponge cake should be tried by all. It is so soft that it feels like your drinking the sponge cake. I highly recommend trying the plain sponge cake. You won't regret it.

Speaking of Markets

The Village Market Tsukuba will hold its last market of this year this Sunday, December 22nd at Kenkyugauken Park near Kenkyugauken Station. They have already started their toy drive for Christmas so if you are in the holiday-giving spirit, please come by and drop off a toy. If you come with your family, you can meet Santa Claus. Santa will be making a special guest appearance at the Village Market Tsukuba from 11:30-14:30. Come on by and take a picture with old Saint Nick. Hope to see you there.

Village Market Tsukuba
https://www.instagram.com/village.market.tsukuba/