Join us on a delicious culinary tour of Nagoya food, & taste the famous Hitsumabush, tenmusu, miso pork cutlet, and irresistible Yamachan’s chicken wings.
When we travel as a family in Japan, we try to taste the most iconic food in the area that we’re visiting. Over our two very fun days in Nagoya this past summer, we got to try some of the most famous Nagoya food.
Of course, it would be impossible to try everything Nagoya is known for, but we tried to squeeze in what we can in two short days. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing recipes for some of the Nagoya food we tried on the blog.
Famous Nagoya Food
Are you ready for the culinary adventure? Come join us on this fun journey tasting various food in Nagoya.
Atsuta Horaiken (あつた蓬莱軒)
We arrive in Nagoya just in time for dinner. It was really special because we got to meet a JOC reader Cyn who currently lives in Nagoya and enjoyed dinner together (and she gave me this beautiful apron I wore for this video! Thank you Cyn!).
One of the most famous food in Nagoya is eel (unagi) so we met at Atsuta Horaiken inside the Matsuzakaya department store. Atsuta Horaiken was founded more than 140 years ago and is considered one of the best eel restaurants in all of Japan, and they are known for their trademark Hitsumabushi (ひつまぶし).
What is Hitsumabushi you ask? It’s actually a set meal (Teishoku 定食), consists of eel over rice, garnish (green onion, wasabi, and nori), pickles, miso soup, and dashi soup for your eel over rice. For the eels, they are prepared and brushed in their secret tare sauce, grilled over binchotan (備長炭) by experts with many years of experience.
Fresh wasabi is offered at the table to enjoy with the meal.
Chilled sake in ice, the presentation was simple and elegant.
Assorted sashimi, most of the vegetables used for decoration are edible.
Here is how you enjoy Hitsumabushi, there are 4 steps:
- First, enjoy the taste of eel with rice by themselves.
- Second, enjoy the eel with a little bit of green onion, wasabi, and nori seaweed.
- Then, enjoy the eel as Ochazuke-style (with dashi soup poured in).
- To finish, enjoy the meal with your favorite way.
The eel had amazing flavor and definitely much better than what I could prepare at home. It was a delicious meal and it was so nice getting to know Cyn.
Yamachan (世界の山ちゃん)
Besides eel, Nagoya is the most famous for its chicken. Many yakitori restaurants in Japan would advertise they source their chicken from Nagoya. In Japan, some chicken are raised to such a high standard they can be enjoyed raw. One of the largest chicken chain restaurant from Nagoya is Yamachan (75 stores across Japan). We tried it before with friends in Tokyo and it was so yummy. Since we were in Nagoya, we had to try Yamachan where it was originated!
The menu at Yamachan is mostly food that goes well with drinks like small Japanese tapas dishes. We tried a variety of dishes below and to be honest, they were all pretty average. If you are going to Yamachan’s, stick to the wings and enjoy as many as you can. Skip the rest. 😉
The seasoned chicken is deep fried, then lightly coated in sauce. It’s a bit salty, spicy, crunchy, juicy, and simply irresistible. 5 wings costs ¥430. An average adult can easily eat 10-15 wings.
There’s an instruction of how to eat the mid-joints. The Japanese people like having detailed instructions for everything… 🙂
Miso katsu skewers.
Tsukune with yakitori tare.
Chicken skin wrapped gyoza.
Misokatsu Yabaton (みそかつ矢場とん)
Besides eel and chicken, another well known Nagoya specialty is pork cutlet (tonkatsu) with hatcho miso sauce called Miso Katsu (味噌カツ). Miso Katsu Yabaton has more than 60 years history, and their hatcho miso sauce is what they’re are the most well known for. If you are in Japan, there are 13 locations you can visit including two in Tokyo.
We had really high expectations because
- who doesn’t love juicy fried tonkatsu
- we always eat ours with tonkatsu sauce so this is different.
The restaurant had a line going out the door even after the lunch hour rush was over, so we waited for a bit before being seated.
Finally, when the pork cutlet came out we couldn’t conceal our excitement. We ordered the half sauce half plain so we can enjoy both (see image above). The first taste was a bit shocking, as our brains are programmed to taste tonkatsu sauce but instead, it’s a strong and distinct miso taste. The pork was deep fried well and a pretty generous portion, but honestly we couldn’t get why people loved it so much. Our stomach and taste buds were a bit confused, as we tried figure out what is it that we missed.
Fast forward 3 months, and as I tested Yabaton’s copycat recipe at home, we ate miso katsu quite often. Something incredible happened; we started loving it. We actually begin to enjoy the hatcho miso sauce with our pork cutlet and it was nice to have something different from our standard tonkatsu sauce. I’ve made my version of Yabaton’s Miso Katsu and recipe is here. I hope you try it out for yourself!
Tenmusu 天むす
One of the famous Nagoya food that I was looking forward to eat was Tenmusu. They are rice balls with shrimp tempura as a filling. Such a fantastic dish by itself, yet I’ve never tried this combination and I looked forward to trying one in Nagoya. I made my version of Tenmusu and you can find the recipe here.
Tenmusu Bento
Tenmusu at Yamachan
Ogura Toast 小倉トースト
Ogura Toast is simply a toast topped with butter and sweeten azuki bean (Anko or Ogura). This combination is a regional favorite and you don’t see it elsewhere.
Luckily the hotel we stayed had a free breakfast at an executive floor where they have DIY Ogura Toast. The hotel recommended to put a whipped cream on top. I was quite surprised how delicious this was! Here’s my Ogura Toast recipe.
Ogura Toast made by me at the hotel
Ginbare55 (ぎん晴れ55)
As we spent 2 joyful days in Nagoya (posts about things to do in Nagoya coming soon), we decided on trying one more Nagoya food before leaving – Taiwan Abura Soba (台湾油そば) or often called Taiwan Mazesoba (台湾まぜそば). Since the main store of Ginbare55 was right across the street from our hotel so it was super easy to get to.
In the noodle, the toppings include ground pork cooked in chili pepper and soy sauce, chives, green onion, bonito flakes power, and a raw egg yolk. You mix the noodle with the toppings.
The menu was very simple, there are 4 types of noodle with different toppings you can choose from.
Just like the Hitsumabushi, there are instructions on how to enjoy Taiwan Abura Soba.
- First, mix and eat the noodles.
- Add vinegar and la-yu (Japanese chili oil) and enjoy.
- While it’s hot, enjoy eating noodles.
- Add seasonings at the table and customize your noodles.
- Enjoy it with steamed rice.
The noodle was not “great” or “special” for us. Maybe our expectation was too high or we haven’t quite acquired its taste. We had similar noodles in Taiwan which comes with a bit of soup and make easier to eat. The Taiwan Abura Soba was really dry and we drank a lot of water with the dish. Maybe if we tried it more time we’ll enjoy it more.
In case you’re curious, Taiwan Abura Soba (Mazesoba) has nothing to do with “Taiwan” and it’s original Nagoya food. 🙂
I hope you enjoyed our quick food tour through Nagoya. If there are any interesting Nagoya food you’ve tried you think I should try next time I visit, please let me know in the comment box below.
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Dear Nami,
Reading over your Nagoya blog brings back a lot of beautiful (and delicious) memories from my trip in 2019. It reminds me a lot of my own trip during the planning phase, as I researched the local specialties and where to have them. While my best meal was a restaurant in the town of Yoshino, there are a 2 places in Nagoya that are not in your list that I strongly recommend.
Miso Katsu – Restaurant name: Tonkatsu Ozeki Main Branch
Address: Japan, 〒453-0024 Aichi, Nagoya, Nakamura Ward, Meirakucho, 1 Chome−6
Comment: Casual dinning, no english. Delicious (I assume common everyday) food. My initial research indicated that Miso Katsu is their speciality. I suspect they used pork belly for their katsu, as there was a nice small cross section of fat which kept the meat extra moist. I’ve had no success replicating this at home though.
Ogura Toast – Cafe name: Hase Coffee
Address: 3 Chome-11-2 Meieki, Nishi Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 451-0045, Japan
Comment: Cosy cafe near my hotel, therefore my opinion could be bias. I found the food/service and decor to be perfect for a relaxed morning wake up call.
Despite being a foreigner, I found both places to serve very comforting food. Please feel free to cross check my suggestions with Google images to see if the above recommendations are suited to your taste.
Regards,
Vernard
Hi Vernard! Thank you so much for your kind feedback and your suggestion! I’ll definitely keep this information and make sure to visit next time I go to Nagoya!
I enjoy reading your posts about your travels and food in Japan. I am planning our family vacation to Japan at the end of this year. Your posts has got me really excited for my trip. Hope to be able to check out these places that you’ve shared. Thanks.
Hi Charmaine! Thank you so much for reading my travel posts! How exciting that you’re going to Japan! Hope my posts are helpful. Have a safe and fun trip to Japan! 🙂
gotta go to Nagoya. I’ve never considered Nagoya, but , i have to go now!!
Hi Carol! It’s a big city, so we never considered to get off the station and sightseeing until this time. We really had a fun 2.5 days! Stay tuned for tourist attraction posts!
Honestly I never had tried fresh wasabi like that, hopefully I will soon when I visit Japan.
Wow, what good eats! And how much fun to meet one of your readers! Interesting read — thanks.
What an informative guide! I really enjoyed your photos and looking at all the different specialities!
Thank you for reading, Diana! So glad you enjoyed this post! 🙂
I should have been more careful not to have read this post while hungry! 🙂 The eel looks so delicious, and the presentation of the set is gorgeous. I had also never heard of chicken skin-wrapped gyoza before, but it sounds like a wonderful comfort food that would be perfect with a cold beer. Thanks for giving us a food tour of some Nagoya staples!
Hi Kimmi! I think I never had chicken skin wrapped gyoza until this trip. It was crispy but a bit oily for my taste. 😀 Thanks so much for always reading my posts!
Always so much fun visiting your blog. Now after my first ever trip to Japan this May. I appreciated it even more. It brought back great memories of my one-day trip. I did eat unagi but at Nagoya Bincho inside ESCA Mall near Nagoya Station. Also had dinner at Yabaton around the Station. Thank you Nami.
Hi Christina! Thank you for reading my post! Happy to hear you enjoyed some Nagoya foods! Hope you’ll like my travel posts for Nagoya too!
Oh I visited my friend who lives in Inuyama last year and she also gave me a crashcourse in Nagoya food.
I really liked Yamachan chicken wings despite not being a wing lover. We also went to Yabuton and ate lots of gohei mochi.
Hi Asami! We didn’t eat Gohei Mochi. Did you like it? The chicken wings are quite addicting, but I was a bit worried about too much MSG and salt being added in the seasoning. 😀 You’re so lucky you have a friend living in Nagoya! Best way to go around the city!
Have never been to Nagoya so the special dishes are new . . . Could eat eel every day: so love both the setup and the order it is meant to be eaten. And the sashimi platter is beautifully set out set out and quite. quite moreish! Have to laugh at the modern presentation of the sake [have quite a liking for that!!] . . .I still use all my old sake sets and this looks SO modern [well, naturally!] . . .
Hi Eha! Nagoya food is very interesting. It has the best of western and eastern Japan foods. 🙂
Haha, yeah maybe this sake setup is for hot and humid summer. Unagi is so delicious. We were so happy trying this dish at a very famous restaurant during our trip!
Hello Nami,
I am so excited to have the ‘little visit’ to Nagoya -it is indeed bittersweet. I miss it and my friends so much. Thank you!
There is one recipe I’ve been trying to find for many many years now. IT is a restaurant pastry shop called Petit Tomato. Both my friend and I have tried, talked with chef, but to no avail! I even wrote to Saveur magazine years ago to try to obtain the recipe for CHESTNUT PIE–well it isn’t an American pie. IT is Japanese Chestnut ! The larding si something like this if I remember corectly–shortbread crust, patisserie cream, Japanese chestnut puree, whipped cream! It is THE best dessert I have EVER eaten. Sadly, I have never ever been able to replicate it. 🙁 If you can help I can send the information to you on specific restaurant location!
You wer so helpful a year and hale ago when my Nagoya friends visited DC at Chrisitmas. . We ordered sushi from your recommendation and had a wonderful meal–one of so many we shared.. I miss them terribly! Last time I was in Nagoya was my birthday 5 years ago & Kyoko surprised me with the chestnut ‘cake’ …BEST birthday I’ve ever had!
Be well, thanks for the wonderful site….Marigail
Isn’t it Mont Blanc cake?
Thank you for answering, Asami! 🙂
Hi Marigail! That’s right, I remember your friends were from Nagoya! Happy to hear you had a fantastic meal. 🙂
Yes, Asami (commenter who responded below you) is right, it’s Mont Blanc. It’s also my mom’s favorite dessert.
I don’t have the recipe, but this one looks good. You’ll need to use Google chrome to translate to English:
http://cookpad.com/recipe/1461119
It’s a delicious treat!
Yummy!
Everything looks so delicious!
This was a great write up, Nami! I really appreciated the photos and your honest comments, and look forward to trying these dishes in Nagoya. In fact, I love miso katsu that I haven’t touched tonkatsu sauce in ages… But I’m the kind of person who enjoys strong tastes (miso ramen, natto). And here’s a tip to readers in Asia: we have Sekai no Yamachan branches in Hong Kong (Tsim Sha Tsui) and in Bangkok (Phrom Phong). I haven’t tried, but I definitely will once I get my braces off.
Hi Kiley! Thank you so much for reading my post already! You like miso katsu! It’s funny how Mr. JOC and I start to enjoy the sauce. We feel like we now have a new recipe (even though it’s just the sauce is different and same Tonkatsu I’m making). We gradually start to enjoy miso katsu. Thanks for letting us know about HK and Bankok branch! Maybe the restaurant might come to the States… 🙂 Hope you get to eat the wings soon! xo