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

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.

This traditional restaurant in a replica warehouse in the Kawasaki area does not open unless there is a delivery of fresh fish, which indicates how seriously the cooks take their food. As well as a wide variety of fresh fish dishes, there are also plenty of meat and izakaya staples on the menu, all served in haphazardly shaped pottery dishes.

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.

Located in one of the rustic old houses of the historic Kawaramachi district, this intimate restaurant offers an affordable, varying daily menu. You can go à la carte, but opting for one of the omakase courses is easiest. These typically feature eight or so small dishes that could include creative takes on izakaya staples, in-season mountain vegetables, and high-quality sashimi. The restaurant also serves local sake that goes well with the dinner.

Coffee and sweets are on the menu alongside tofu-based lunches at this mellow but popular café about a 10-minute walk southeast of the castle. Try the Tamatebako Kaiseki lunch set, which comes in an attractive lacquerware box and (alongside pickles, vegetable side dishes, and miso soup) features tofu that's been grilled on skewers and accented with a sweet-savory soy-based sauce.

If you love beef, make a pilgrimage to Matsusaka, one express train stop north of Ise. Wadakin claims to be the originator of Matsusaka beef's fame; the cattle are raised with loving care on the restaurant's farm out in the countryside. Although dinnertime is extremely expensive, with the priciest courses an eye-watering ¥30,000, lunchtime bentos offer a less painful way to try the famed Matsusaka.

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.