Food Spots in Japan🍱

This blog will focus on the amazing, delicious food spots we went to whilst we were in Japan and all other recommendations we were given! The food in Japan, was one of the things we were most excited about, as the food here is next level and we had to reign ourselves in with eating out everyday. Meals can vary in Japan, it is way more expensive than South East Asia, however, it does depend on what kind of meal you go for. If you decide to eat out at a fancy or TikTok famous place every evening, it will be expensive and the costs will add up. However, if you decide to just go with the flow and stumble upon a small ramen, sushi, local food stall, I guarantee the food here will not only taste incredible, but will also be very cheap. The amount of times we walked into the first small local business we found and were so impressed with what we got. The food alone could make us move to Japan permanently as Ned and I are both huge foodies. I didn’t even realise how much food we ate in Japan until I wrote this blog, but it really makes us want to go back!

This blog will include food spots from Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Nikko, Hokkaido, Okinawa, Nagasaki, Fukouka, Miyajima and Hiroshima.

Tokyo

I have written a separate food blog for Tokyo and Mount Fuji, to avoid this blog from getting too long. You can find this blog here.

711 and Lawsons Breakfast

You cannot go to Japan and not go to 711 or Lawsons for breakfast, a snack or a sweet treat. These shops are everywhere, all across Japan and they are incredible for the huge variety of food options, ranging from pastries to sandwiches to sushi and hot food that you can just pick up on the go. A lot of our meals were grabbing a few things from here and sharing them between us. Tip, the strawberries and cream sandwich lives up to its name and is delicious.

Osaka

You don’t need a lot of time in Osaka, only a few days to explore the whole city. Osaka is famous for its street food, with so many incredible, different, cheap eats.

Dotonburi Street

This is Osaka’s famous food street. Loads of delicious food spots line the streets, you are honestly spoilt for choice. You can find all kinds of dishes of your choices, and get small plates from different stalls to share. Ned and I got a few different plates and they were all delicious. We had to try the eel and rice, Unadon ball, and the Takoyaki, which are octopus balls with different fillings!

Kuromon Ichiba Market

Another street market, full of delicious food stalls and restaurants to choose from. We got a few dishes to share, with our Unatama-Don (eel, rice and egg dish) and Okonomiyaki (Japanese cabbage pancake) being our favourite dishes.

Other eats in Osaka:

• Happy Pancake
• Usagiya
• Patisserie Grenier
• My Meighbour Coffee
• Tugboat Taisho Floating Food Court
• Rooftop at Osaka Castle
• Namba Cafe Street

Nara

We spent one full day in Nara exploring, but we definitely could have stayed for more, primarily because of the food options. The town has so many delicious food spots to choose from, that it was hard for us to find a place!

Chami Coffee Roasters

Had to get a cheeky coffee and sweet treat before exploring Nara and going to the Deer Park. Chami was recommended to me and it was right up our street. A bit on the pricier side but it was totally worth it. We got two coffees, two cakes to share and Ned added in a sausage bap, Japanese style! Perfect place to start the morning.

Ramen & Mochiidonocho

We got a little overwhelmed with food options in Nara, but found this restaurant only serving white ramen, which is a creamy chicken broth base that we both wanted to try. A lot thicker than normal miso or soy ramen, but was delicious nonetheless!

We then also found this self-serve bites, which had such a variety of options to choose from, it was so hard for us, which is why we completely went overboard. Not the healthiest food as most of it is cooked in oil, but it was delicious! We got a variety of egg rolls, corn bread, sushi rolls, cooked mochi, fish sticks etc. Honestly, everything was so delicious and we actually came back for seconds, before we caught our train to Kyoto!

Other eats in Nara:

• Nakatanidou Mochi/Fresh mochi (famous shop where you can watch fresh mochi be made by hand, with the whole hand slapping process shown to you)
• Daibutsu Ichigo Mochi (incredible strawberries wrapped in red bean paste and mochi)

Kyoto

Kyoto is another place where you can spend a few days exploring and eating good food!

Kazariya Tea and Mochi

A find from our Lonely Planet Guide, it was recommended that we had to try hand grilled mochi and tea from Kazariya, which was near to one of the temples that we were visiting. The women of the shop would hand grill them at the front of the store for you to watch, before soaking them in sweet glazing sauce. Ned and I both got ten small sticks each with tea and we could have eaten a lot more. Perfect sweet treat for us to break up our exploring!

Nishiki Market

One of Osaka’s most popular markets, it has hundreds of stores to choose from, from fashion shops, souvenirs, shoes, anything you could want, this market had it. It then had a path leading towards different restaurants and on the other side it had fresh food and street food stalls. Ned and I walked down the whole market, picking little bites from different stalls to try.

Takashimaya Mall and Area

Level 6, Kyoto Tsutaya Books Share Lounge
Takashimaya Mall has a lot of shops and cafes to explore as well! We were hiding from the rain when we stumbled across this lounge area (last picture). You pay $11 for an hour to have unlimited snacks & soft drinks! You can also upgrade to alcohol drinks if you want. If you decide to extend it's $5 every 30 mins. The snacks selections and drinks were so good, they had sweets, biscuits, ice cream you name it! Perfect way to spend a rainy day.

Also check out the Gion area as there are also loads of food spots to choose from. We found this delicious ramen spot for dinner, and the portions were honestly huge.

Sho Kyo Okonomiyaki

This restaurant was right next to our hostel and was highly recommended. It is known for its delicious Japanese cabbage pancakes, called Okonomiyaki. We both got them to share, I got the traditional pancake whereas Ned got his with noodles on top. Both were cooked in front of us on the skillet to make it stay warm and we were able to help ourselves to it once it was ready. They also serve all other kinds of dishes, so Ned got a meat dish on the side as well.

Kiyomizu-dera Shrine

As you walk up towards the Kiyomizu-dera Shrine in Kyoto, the surrounding area is really well known for its different food stalls and restaurants. The primary market street is called Kiyomizu-zak, which is the shopping street leading directly up to the temple gate. However, there are a lot more hidden shops, cafes and foodie spots down the more scenic narrow paths. These can be mochi stands, ice cream, pottery stalls, different sweet shops, cafes, local crafts and souvenirs. There are also loads of different temples you can visit, like the Hōkan-hi Temple (Yasaka Pagoda, pictured below) in the area making it a perfect day out to explore. It is also a short walk away from Gion and Nishiki Market.

Other eats in Kyoto:

• This is Nature Ice Cream - quite expensive but pretty cool
• Higashiyama Food Street
• Miyabi Ine Boathouse Cafe
• Saryo Tesshin (soba noodles, parmesan and egg)
• Ichiwaya Coffee (whipped cream fruit sandwich one fluffy bread)
• Chao Chao - Sanjo Kiyamachi (gyozas)
• Ashioto (modern izakaya)
• Aoi (a women owned restaurant)
• Rokujuan (matcha and warabimochi)
• Kyoto Brewing Company
• Vermillion Espresso Bar
• Gyoza Chao Chao Shijo
• Menami
• K36 Rooftop Kyoto

Nikko

Explore Nikko town, they have a huge strip of new shops, bakeries and delicious foodie spots, that draw you in and you can’t help popping in and always coming out with a sweet treat!

Hokkaido

We spent a week road tripping around Hokkaido, stopping at different places for a night! Here are the different foodie spots we stopped at along the way.

Sapporo

Ramen Street
Known in Sapporo for its huge variety of ramen stalls, this street is lined with different restaurants to choose from. We went three times and went to different businesses each time to try the different dishes they served. Such a variety of flavours, but all so incredibly good and cheap for what we got. Definitely make the most of this street if you’re in Sapporo for a few days!

Milk Mura
A Lonely Planet recommendation was to try Milk Mura, which is a desserts and ice cream shop. We couldn’t read the menu but went all out and ordered one of the tasting menus each. You get to choose two different favoured liquors each, but because the menu was so big and we couldn’t properly understand it, we asked for their four favourites! These liquors will come with a cup of vanilla ice cream and small treats, like biscuits, small crepes and whipped cream. We also got coffee on the side. Very filling for what it was but a perfect way to spend the afternoon of a rainy day.

Saera Coffee & Sandwiches
Another Lonely Planet recommendation, which is this hidden sandwich shop! There was a little queue but it didn’t take long to be seated. We then chose three different sandwiches from the menu and split them between us. We got the traditional BBQ pork and corn beef, potato salad and corn coquette and the shrimp cutlet and smoked salmon. A couple of them seemed like a weird combination, but were actually so fricken good. They were made fresh and were perfect for brunch.

Otaru

Whilst we were in Otaru we were recommended to try the dairy in Hokkaido, as apparently it is unreal. This meant we had to pop into all the bakeries, chocolate shops and ice cream parlours they had.

We were also told to try the seafood here as Otaru is known to be a seafood town, with the freshest dishes. We ordered a sushi platter to share at first then decided we needed more and got another.

Hakodate

Hakodate Morning Market Square
We spent the morning walking around the market, which is known for their fresh seafood dishes. The most popular dish, and something that was recommended to us to try was the Kaisendon, which is a mixed rice bowl with crab, fish eggs, sea urchin and scallops on top. Quite a meal to have early in the morning but we had to give it a go. We got a large portion to share between us and it came with complimentary miso soup. Surprising really good, the combination and contrast of the sea food was very interesting, and we were tempted to get another portion to share!

Tea Shop Yuhi
Another recommended stop from Lonely Planet Guide. We stopped here for afternoon tea and got a matcha latte and normal latte, then two cakes to share. The tea shop, is right on the cliff so has gorgeous views of the surrounding sea and islands. We spent an hour or so here just relaxing, playing cards and eating. Really nice place to break up the day.

Lucky Pierrot
Lucy Pierrot is an incredible burger chain, only in Hokkaido! There are so many stores all over the island and they are known for the delicious variety of burgers that they serve, ranging from chicken burgers, to sweet and sour burgers, to breakfast burgers. We made the most of this and I think we ate here three times, for breakfast, lunch and dinner on separate days. Highly recommend going to try, Ned was obsessed with their chicken, sweet and sour one.

Kakadu Local Business
For our night in Hakodate, we stayed a little bit out of the way in a small hostel. It was in a town over the bridge, near the Ōnumakōen station. I think it is a ski town, so when we went it was practically empty with hardly anything open. After walking around aimlessly, we stumbled upon this local business and we had dinner here. We sat at a traditional Japanese table on the floor and ordered two delicious meals. The sizes were so generous, I got the udon noodles and Ned got the chicken katsu rice bowl. These were definitely one of the best meals we had throughout Japan. The business was owned by an elderly couple and they were honestly the cutest! The meal was also our cheapest meal ever, at probably around £10 for the both of us including our drinks.

Okinawa

Naha

Yunangi
Yunangi was another Lonely Planet find us, but was recommended by a lot of people too. This popular restaurant in Naha serves traditional Okinawa dishes. We weren’t really sure what we ordered but were pleasantly surprised and all the dishes were so good and different. We got a huge fish to share between us, Okinawa Soba, Rafute, which is pork belly cooked in soy sauce and brown sugar, Umibudo, which is a seaweed dish served in raw soy sauce and vinegar and Tofuyo, which is fermented tofu. A huge meal for us but we really enjoyed trying the local traditional food!

Traditional Okinawa Food
We stumbled across a couple random food stalls to try their traditional Okinawa dishes. We first got a very interesting Okinawa breakfast, which came with boiled eggs, eggs on toast, coleslaw, black beans and sweet tofu. The dishes together seemed a bit weird but was actually a decent breakfast. For lunch, we then had traditional Okinawa soba and a tofu seaweed salad to share.

Shanghai Wantan Ro
Lonely Planet recommended this restaurant for the best Chinese dishes, so of course we had to go. We picked four dishes and shared them between us, the pork wontons and pork belly were our favourite! Such a cute local stall and completely worth the price!

Mouashibi
For our last night in Naha, we went to this incredible restaurant, which served the most incredible pork belly and tofu dish. Another place more on the expensive side, but it was worth it and a lovely way to spend our last night in Okinawa.

Zamami and Tokashiki Islands

Amulet & Gypsy Cafe and Bar
In Zamami, there were only a few places open so we found this small local business Amulet, selling Soba. We got the full set menu, which also came with a drink, rice bowl and seaweed. Very simple meal, but it was so cheap! For lunch we went to Gypsy Cafe and Bar for some delicious spicy chicken tacos.

Hotel Kanaloa, Tokashiki
In Tokashiki, not a lot was open, but our hotel had the most insane restaurant connected to it, which is where we ate at for both nights. It was more on the expensive side, but completely worth it for how good the food was. For our last night, we went all out with the big sushi platter!

Nagasaki

We ate good in Nagasaki! We went to China Town one evening and had traditional Chinese food, which was delicious, the vegetable stir fry and shrimps were our favourite dishes.

We were then recommended to try traditional Nagasaki Champon, which is a mixed seafood dish with thick noodles. The broth is a rich, creamy pork and chicken base topped with shrimp, squid, fish cake, pork and vegetables. We didn’t realise the portions were so huge, we thought it came as a side dish, so we both got a portion and then egg fried rice to share. Safe to say that we had to take a lot of the food home with us. We‘re not use to having so much different seafood in one dish, so it was a bit overwhelming but delicious at the same time. Very filling but fresh, so it’s definitely a dish to share between you, but recommend on trying it if you’re in Nagasaki.

Fukuoka

Whilst in Fukuoka, we went to this incredible restaurant, I can’t remember the name of it, but it was in the Nishinaksau area. We went with my family who treated us with a snow crab and sushi set meal, which was absolutely delicious. We had six dishes each, which included different seasoned snow crab, caviar, nigiri sushi with different fresh fish on top, sea urchin rolls, and then our own hot pot with raw crab legs, enoki mushrooms and vegetables.

You don’t need to try a set menu, but we definitely recommend tasting their fresh seafood dishes. Around Fukuoka, in the main town, there are so many different restaurants and street food stalls to try from!

Miyajima

Miyajima Town

You have to explore Miyajima town and pop into all the different food stalls and try one of their sweet treats. There are so many shops to choose from and random food stalls dotted about, we couldn’t walk five minutes without stopping and buying something.

Cafe Lente

Another find in our Lonely Planet Guide was this cute cafe overlooking the streets of Miyajima, with a gorgeous view of the Floating Torii Gate. This cafe only serves two dishes, which is what they are known for, so we got one of each to share. One was a curry and the other was a soba noodle salad, so the contrasting of cold to hot meals was really good. We also got two ice coffees with ice cream and a strawberry cheesecake to share - we were obviously very hungry! A really lovely place to sit down and have lunch.

Hiroshima

We were only in Hiroshima for one full day and coincidentally on the day we were there, there was a dumpling festival happening. I think the festival happens every year for a month or so, so double check the dates online! But for us we made the most of it, as we had just come from Miyajima and hadn’t eaten anything all day. The dishes were pretty cheap, so Ned and I got eight different dishes to share. They were all made fresh in front of us and were incredible, we honestly had to force ourselves to stop they were that good. The festival happens in the square of Hiroshima and also has craft beer and dessert stands.