Kaede Market is a Japanese market and takeout place. My Japanese friend and I are both foodies and she highly recommended it to me. I haven't been to the market itself but I can vouch for the take out -- it is authentic, fresh, and 100% tasty.
My friend speaks Japanese, so she called a few hours ahead to place the order for pick up later. I had the Katsudon and Gyudon. Katsudon is fried porkcut and eggs over rice. The pork hit the spot. The eggs were soft. I did wish the eggs were a little runny and there was a little had more sauce to add more flavor to my rice. But by all means it was still delicious. Gyudon is the beef bento box, with beef over rice and some sides of pickled veggies and broccoli. The beef was tender and extremely flavorful. The onions and seaweed contributed to the complex flavor of the otherwise plain rice.
One complaint I have is the meat-to-rice ratio. In every bowl, there's simply too much rice. Nevertheless, for the unbeatable price ($6.25 for each of the items above; some cost a little more) and authenticity, I would willingly come back again and again. My Japanese friend sees Kaede as a hidden gem that reminded her of home -- a little piece of Japan right here in Lexington! read more