When coming to sightsee Nara, be sure to eat gourmets at a Japanese restaurant here. In Nara, where deep history and tradition remains, there are many local dishes that have been around since ancient times, and there are also gourmets that have been developed independently, such as local ramen.
Chagayu
"Chagayu" is one of the representative dishes of Nara. Unlike ordinary Kayu (Congee), rice is added to soup made with Japanese tea such as hojicha. It is characterized by the distinctive aroma of tea and being easy to eat since it is not sticky. Each shop has different types of tea for cooking rice, such as green tea and hojicha, so the smell and taste are also different.
The famous restaurants for Chagayu are "Satei Yuusui" in Nara City and "Inishie Chaya" in Sakurai City in Nara. At these stores, set meals with pickles and simmered dishes are provided.
Tenri Ramen
Tenri Ramen is a local ramen that came from a ramen shop in Tenri City, Nara Prefecture. Although the seasonings and ingredients vary depending on the store, basic ingredients such as Chinese cabbage and leek are included, and the flavor is characterized by its spiciness and impactful flavor from hot sauce and garlic.
Many Tenri Ramen restaurants are mainly located in Tenri city, such as around Tenri Station. Among them, the birthplace of Tenri Ramen, restaurant of "Saika" and "Tenri Stamina Ramen" are famous.
Miwa Somen
"Miwa Somen" is somen from Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture, that is said to be the originator of somen of Japan. It is made of wheat flour, water and salt, and it is characterized by its strong stiffness and fine texture. There are multiple ways to eat, and you can enjoy different flavors such as “Hiyashi (cold) Somen” soaked in soy sauce-based soup, and “Nyumen” eaten with the warm dashi of bonito and kelp-based soup.
If you want to eat Miwa Somen, restaurant of "Miwa Yamamoto" and "Senju Tei" in Sakurai City, which is the birthplace are recommended.
Asuka Nabe
"Asuka Nabe" is an ancient food eaten in Asukamura, Nara Prefecture. It is a Nabe (hotpot) dish of chicken and vegetables simmered with milk, created around the 6th to 8th centuries. It is now made easy to eat, such as adding milk and Japanese-style seasonings to chicken gala-based broth. The taste of creamy milk and Japanese Dashi is an excellent match.
There are shops offering Asuka Nabe in Asukamura such as “Mendoya”, as well as around Nara Station such as “Zen”.
Japanese Sake
Nara is where clear, clean Japanese sake "Seishu" was invented. There are many sake breweries (Sakagura) in the birthplace of such sake, and there are places where you can tour and try sake tasting. If you want to drink sake made from these sake breweries in Nara, you can go to Izakaya (Japanese restaurant) such as "Umasshu" which has high-quality sake from sake breweries all around Nara, and sake bars such as "Izumi Yusai". The amount of sake at liquor stores in particular is overwhelmingly abundant, and as you can drink and it is recommended to buy as a souvenir if you like it.
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