Must-see restaurants in Kii Peninsula

This chill spot – more Goa than rural Japan – with great wooden beams serves vegetarian dishes like tofu cheesecake that seem indulgent compared to temple…

The speciality here is ochazuke, a bowl of rice and toppings over which hot tea is poured. Everyone's here for the popular katsuo ochazuke (¥1450), topped…

Kadohama specialises in goma-dōfu (sesame tofu) prepared several ways. The lunch sets come beautifully presented in bamboo baskets with eight small dishes…

In the warren of tiny restaurants called Ajikoji ('Flavour Alley') near Kii-Tanabe Station and the tourist-information center, this boisterous, family-run…

This very popular local shop does excellent teishoku (set meals) with sashimi (raw fish), yaki-zakana (grilled fish) and more.

This new restaurant – the only place in Hongū serving regularly after dark and naturally a gathering spot – dishes up small plates made with local…

An unexpected treasure at Hongū's southern end is this vegan cafe in a former post office (with the wooden floors and clapboard walls to prove it). It…

With its cluster of private rooms and regulars' personal whisky bottles kept on the shelves, Tensui has a local vibe, but it has happily embraced the…

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…

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…

By the gorge in central Ryūjin, this unexpectedly eclectic indoor-outdoor cafe serves pizza, curry and coffee.

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…

This convenient shokudō (all-round, inexpensive restaurant) serves standards like katsu-don (fried pork cutlet on rice), represented by plastic food…

Diagonally across the street from the Shukubō Association office, this restaurant specialises in noodles and teishoku (set meals).

Large 24-hour supermarket a short walk from Shirahama's beach.