Makishi Public Market

May 2025. Mainly seafood market with restaurants on the upper area where you can have your seafood cooked the way your heart desires. This is obviously a touristic place but we enjoyed it. This is actually not a very big market as we thought but there was a lot of choices of fresh fishes and sea creatures, as well as some others Okinawa specialities.

Cool and impressive fresh fish and meat market. It’s split between fish and meat which is good for the over vrouw and hygiene. Most stalls however had the same and seem to not care about freshly prepared shashmi or sushi options because of the restaurants above. The prices however were different in some places which made it good for shopping around. Cool experience with nice food I would visit again and recommend anybody to do the same.

It’s a tourist trap. A walk in the area and you will not find locals doing their marketing. There are 2 floors with small restaurants above selling seafood or mostly cooking the seafood for you when u bought it downstairs. Because it’s a tourist place, they have English and Chinese speaking staff at the eateries. It’s basically a seafood and premium beef market with some dry goods/ side dish stalls. Mostly priced higher than their local supermarkets. Each stall had some arrangements with the eateries upstairs. The seafood is mostly overpriced but very fresh. Depending on where you come from, it may be deemed cheap for you due to the exchange rate. Unlike some tourists around me having big prawns, lobsters and crabs, we opted for a simple and very satisfying meal.

This place was truly amazing! We arrived hopeful and excited about eating here, and we were rewarded with spectacular food, friendly staff who spoke multiple languages, the cleanest fish market I’ve ever been in and so much more. We ordered a lot, since we were really hungry. We had lobster, fish, abalone, sea urchin and oyster sashimi. It was so good, we ate the whole thing and still wanted more. It was bursting with flavour, and the texture varied, sometimes crunchy and sometimes smooth. We ordered cooked fish and lobster porridge too, and it was really, really, really fresh and sweet. We ordered juice and beer, and both were splendid too! If looking for an authentic and cultural experience, I would definitely recommend.

It is not a big market but sufficient for a city. The variety and selection are not very wide, but they have the usual. One can buy the raw ingredients and seafood from the ground floor, and then the seller will send up to the kitchen that you have selected to prepare the food for you.

Our lunch experience at Makishi Public Market was one to remember. We kicked things off on the first floor, picking out fresh seafood right from the local stalls — everything from vibrant cuts of sashimi-grade fish to a whole sea bream that caught our eye. The vendors were warm and welcoming, making the selection process easy and enjoyable. We brought our ingredients up to the second level where the real magic happened. The chefs there turned our picks into a delicious spread. The fresh sashimi was clean, sweet, and beautifully plated — every slice a bite of the ocean. We also had stir-fried bitter gourd with spam, a local Okinawan favourite. The bitterness was mellow and balanced well by the savoury spam. A comforting dish, especially with rice. Another standout was the prawns with eggs — silky and rich, yet not overly heavy. But the showstopper was definitely the sea bream. Cooked Chinese-style — deep-fried to a crispy golden crust and then finished with soy sauce — it was both flavourful and aromatic. Eating upstairs with our custom meal, we really felt immersed in Okinawan food culture. Fresh, interactive, and full of flavour — this was not just a meal, but an experience.

This market is enormous! If you want to explore Okinawa, I believe you should spend a day walking around here. There is just so much there and lots of great little spots to eat and drink.

It was amazing to try the special seafood in Okinawa! We tried coconut crab (椰子蟹), Tridacna (陣渠), great green turban shell (夜光貝), and parrotfish (鸚哥魚). The one of fish workers is from china, he can introduce the fresh seafood and suggest cooking methods to you in mandarin. He will also take you to a restaurant to enjoy the fresh seafood after you make your purchase. You can choose the cooking method, such as half sashimi and half fried/deep-fried! All the seafood was my first time to try!! I didn't expect the coconut crab to have so much crab fat and the green turban shell was very sweet.