Nagoya Restaurants and Dining

(Nagoya, Chubu, Central Honshu, Japan)

Nagoya is a great place to sample traditional Japanese cuisine and boasts a number of regional specialities.

Particularly popular at Nagoya's many restaurants is 'kishimen', which consists of noodles served in a tasty broth.

Chicken, eel and general seafood also make up a sizeable proportion of the menus at restaurants in Nagoya, while the city also offers plenty of international dining and dinner buffets.

If you are looking to stay away from Japanese dishes, visitors will find fine dining at a choice of French, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Moroccan and Thai restaurants, amongst others.

What to Eat

Dining out in Nagoya has become an important part of local life and visitors to the city will find this a great way to soak up a true Japanese atmosphere and taste of local life, with popular dishes including:

• Ebi-furai - a real favourite, with deep-fried seasoned prawns
• Fuji - deadly blowfish (pufferfish) which can only be served at licenced restaurants
• Miso paste - made with soya beans and used to flavour many dishes and broths
• Misonikomi udon - chicken, egg and noodles, cooked in a red miso soup
• Nagoya ramen - local version of this traditional Chinese-based noodle dish
• Tebasaki - fried chicken wings, full of hot spices and pepper
• Tempura - battered seafood and vegetables
• Ten-musu - balls of deep-fried shrimp and rice

Where to Eat

The Sakae area of Nagoya is where you will find the greatest number of restaurants and dishes are consistently of a high quality. Here you will find plenty of dining venues to suit your palate, including well-known kishimen (handmade flat noodles) chains. Some of the best restaurants in this part of Nagoya overlook the Horikawa River and areas of the city. Many further dining options reside in the Nishiki, Izumi, Meieki and Shinsakae stretches.

Particularly popular places to eat out in Nagoya include the Ebisuya restaurant in Sakae, where cheap noodle dishes are a firm favourite, and also the nearby Casablanca, where fine dining with Moroccan cuisine, and even belly dancing can all be found. Sandwiches are often served at many of Nagoya's centrally located cafes, such as the Tiger Cafe on Nishiki, providing plenty of quick snacks for lunch.

Other good dining choices can be found both in and around the city's main shopping centres, such as the underground Central Park Mall and also the Uni Shopping Mall. Further restaurants in Nagoya are sited within the main business area and along all of the main central thoroughfares, where they often stand next to department stores and other shops.