7 Best Restaurants in Nagoya, Nagoya, Ise-Shima, and the Kii Peninsula

The focus of this laid-back eatery near Hisaya Odori Station is craft beer, with 13 taps pouring a frequently changing lineup of well-handled microbrews, mostly from Japan, such as excellent Ise Kadoya brews from Ise. To go with the beer, there's a menu that includes decent pizza. The only drawback, as with all of Japan's craft pubs, is price: not-quite-pints are typically ¥880.

In business since 1909, this fabulous old wooden restaurant specializes in grilled eel (unagi), which fills the restaurant with a mouthwatering, charcoal-grill aroma. Some of the seating is at low tables on raised tatami-mat flooring, though there are also tables and chairs overlooking a small Japanese garden.

Come here for shabu-shabu—thinly sliced beef and vegetables that you boil in broth in the center of your table and then dip into various sauces before eating. The set courses aren't cheap, but the quality makes this restaurant worth a splurge. There are a dozen other branches around Nagoya, including one in Sakae.

This café between Hisaya-odori and the Science Museum is as hip as it gets in Nagoya. It combines a second-floor street-fashion boutique, with a minimalist first-floor café, where you can pick up a good espresso or latte along with doughnuts, cake, and cookies.

Peppery tebasaki (deep-fried chicken wings) are the specialty at the main branch of Nagoya's best-known izakaya chain, though you can also order sashimi, fried noodles, and other favorites. The prices are affordable, and it always attracts a lively crowd. If it's full, don't worry: staff can direct you to one of another half-dozen Yama-chan (as it's familiarly called) nearby. The picture menu makes ordering easy.

Misonikomi udon (noodles in a miso-based broth with green onions and mushrooms) dominates the menu at this simple restaurant. A big, steaming bowl of this hearty, cold-chasing specialty is usually filling enough, though you can pay a little extra to top it off with something like a raw egg, or opt for a side dish like yakitori chicken.