Nara
Adjacent to Nara-kōen and across from the Nara National Museum, this convenient collection of a dozen restaurants and cafes offers a variety of dishes …
Must-see restaurants in Kansai
Kansai
This huge (by local standards) casual restaurant has an equally huge menu of local seafood served fried, grilled, sautéed or as sashimi. You can't go…
Himeji
A reliable restaurant for set meals including local specialities, like anago (conger eel), Fukutei is big enough that you can usually get a table.
Osaka
This deceptively big kaiten-sushi restaurant has a prime Dōtombori location. Plates are colour coded by price and staff speak some English too. Non-sushi…
Nara
This unexpectedly good (and popular!) burger joint serves juicy patties on toasted buns loaded with your choice of toppings. It also does hot dogs (from …
Kansai
This soba restaurant is the top pick along Yumekyō-bashi Castle Rd. Try the nishin-soba (soba with herring), a local speciality. From the castle end of…
Kansai
This convenient branch of gyū-don (sliced beef on rice) specialist Butasute, across the street from Gekū, has later opening hours.
Kōbe
Run by a long-time Italian resident of Kōbe, this is the city's best place for pasta and brick-oven pizza. It's a popular local date spot (as much for the…
Himeji
Popular spot for homemade noodles at very reasonable prices, on the main street a few minutes' walk from the castle. Look for the white noren (door…
Kii Peninsula
A cosy and convenient pit stop for curries, sandwiches and apple pie near the entrance to Oku-no-in. Its namesake coffee comes from a small-batch roaster…
Kii Peninsula
Of course not everyone in Kōya-san follows a monk's diet: locals love this tonkatsu (deep-fried pork cutlet) shop, a five-minute walk beyond the Oku-no-in…
Osaka
This branch of famous tako-yaki (grilled octopus dumplings) specialist Wanaka is perfect for a mid-shopping pick-me-up or an evening snack.
Osaka
Opening on to a typically narrow Ame-Mura lane, artsy Banco serves good coffee (espresso ¥330), panini, pizza and salumi. Stop by for lunch or evening…
Osaka
Beneath Hankyū Umeda Station is a long string of Japanese and international restaurants, as well as shops selling cakes, pastries and chocolates.
Kansai
Beautiful valley views and home cooking, including noodle and tempura dishes. Look for the plastic food display.
Kii Peninsula
By the gorge in central Ryūjin, this unexpectedly eclectic indoor-outdoor cafe serves pizza, curry and coffee.
Kansai
Good in a pinch, this buffet-style restaurant is right near Gekū and, with 25 dishes to choose from, there's bound to be something to please everyone…
Osaka
This long-running Thai place serves fairly authentic versions of the standard favourites such as green curry and tom yum kung, and does a great-value…
Kii Peninsula
This complex south of the beach has a fish market on the 1st floor where you can get kaisen-don (raw seafood over rice; ¥980 to ¥3300); there are a few…
Kii Peninsula
This convenient shokudō (all-round, inexpensive restaurant) serves standards like katsu-don (fried pork cutlet on rice), represented by plastic food…
Kansai
One of Yoshino's larger restaurants, Harukaze serves both local specialities and shokudō (all-around, inexpensive restaurant) staples such as noodles and…
Osaka
A casual, English-speaking joint serving pizza by the slice, wraps, bagels, desserts, bubble teas and brunch-time pancakes, plus poutine (a Montreal…
Osaka
This organic all-you-can-eat restaurant serves mostly Japanese cuisine with a focus on seasonal foods and vegetable dishes. The 'drink bar' is an…
Osaka
Two floors beneath the Hilton Osaka there are eight reasonably priced restaurants. Among those worth trying here is the tempura specialist, Shinkiraku.
Kōbe
If you're really hungry (and hankering for bay views), the buffet at this giant seafood restaurant in Kōbe Harbor Land will do the trick. There's a huge…
Osaka
There is a good variety of restaurants under the distinctive cylindrical Maru Building, serving Korean and Indian cuisine as well as yakitori and tako…
Kōbe
This dated mall underneath the Crowne Plaza Hotel (and attached to Shin-Kōbe Station) is good in a pinch, with several restaurants to choose from,…
Osaka
Located in Tempōzan Marketplace, next to Osaka Aquarium, this faux 1960s-nostalgic food court has stalls selling Osaka specialities.
Osaka
This tiny shop in JR Osaka Station's Eki Marché serves delectable crab-fried rice. There's a picture menu.
Kii Peninsula
Diagonally across the street from the Shukubō Association office, this restaurant specialises in noodles and teishoku (set meals).
