10 Best Recommended Local Specialty Restaurants of Kofu, Japan! Popular Among the Locals!

Kofu City is a prefecture capital city of Yamanashi, and also a famous tourist city for its beautiful gorge, Shōsen-kyō, and a peaceful lake, Chiyoda-ko. There would be many people who don’t know much about Yamanashi and be curious about what kind of local specialties they have. Below you will find a list of the 10 best selected eateries, including from places that offer casual food to restaurants that serve luxurious tasty food. As food can be memorable when traveling, hopefully you will find one that makes your travel better from the list.

Koshu Houtou Kosaku

Probably, many Japanese people consider “Houtou (flour noodles with veggies in miso soup)” as Yamanashi’s iconic delicious food. For those who are interested in trying the tasty local cuisine, “Koshu Houtou Kosaku Kofu Ekimae Location” would be a perfect place. The houtou they serve is cooked with lots of veggies such as pumpkin, potato, taro, carrot, burdock root, etc. This place is highly recommended for people who care about their health and beauty.

The noodles are carefully made and have a nice chewy texture, and the soup is made with their special dashi broth and miso. In order to serve their houtou in the best condition, they start heating the ingredients in a cast iron pot after receiving an order. They truly focus on making delicious houtou. Stop by when you travel to Kofu, Japan.

Senshinan

“Senshinan” is an excellent soba noodle restaurant that serves noodles made with 100 percent ground buckwheat flour, “Arabiki Juwari Soba”. Also, Ni-hachi Soba (made with 20 percent flour and 80 percent buckwheat flour), and Juwari Kiko Soba (made with 100 percent buckwheat flour) are on offer. Earning respect from other profession, the owner makes marvellous soba noodles, using carefully selected buckwheat flour and water. The Arabiki Soba is cut relatively thick so that its nice chewy texture can be enjoyed.

This place is so popular that there are many visitors from far away. Connoisseurs admire set meals which enables to compare taste of several types of noodles. Why not visiting Senshinan to enjoy the fantastic soba taste and flavor that explode in your mouth every time you chew the noodles?

Yamanashi Restaurant meli-melo

There is a wonderful restaurant, “Yamanashi Restaurant meli-melo”, that is focusing on local production and consumption, and serves delightful dishes cooked with vegetables produced all over Yamanashi. Their carefully selected ingredients include: rare organic vegetables, local Koshu Jidori (chicken), crystal pork,etc. The ingredients they use for their main dishes are all branded meats produced in Yamanashi, and fine Yamanashi wines are also on offer. Their Yamanashi-centric foods are so enjoyable.

Several course meals are available. You will find one you like. Yamanashi Restaurant meli-melo is a great place to enjoy Yamanashi food. Worth to visit.

FourHeartsCafe

At “FourHeartsCafe”, local beers, Yamanashi wines, and various dishes cooked with amazing vegetables are available. The fantastic veggie dishes and beers produced around the area make great harmonies. The owner gives you good information about the local Koshu wines. You can try some and compare to enjoy the differences of each taste.

Also, various drafts and liquors are on offer. It’s a perfect place for drinkers. Of course, they have many excellent a la carte dishes that make you happy with its real taste of ingredients, so, families with kids can enjoy, too. Satiate yourself with Yamanashi’s rich tasty vegetables, special local beers, and Koshu wines at FourHearsCafe.

Unagi Kushiyaki Uichi

For those who want to try super tasty grilled eel skewers with delicious sake in Kofu, there is an ideal place called “Unagi Kushiyaki Uichi”. Other than eels, they also serve delicious daily dishes cooked with fresh quality local ingredients such as Koshu Jidori (chiken) and wild vegetables collected in Yamanashi. They go really well with local sake and shochu spirits.

Being located 5-minute walk from Kofu Station, this place is popular among tourists, too. A banquet menu is available for parties and groups. There are many chances to eat Unaju (grilled eel over rice served in a square box) in Japan, but not so many chances to try eel skewers. You should definitely try! It is such a delightful cuisine.

Ramen Yoshi

“Ramen Yoshi” is an exquisite ramen shop that serves absolutely mouth-watering ramen with special homemade noodles and tasty soup. One of the reasons of their popularity is the hearty tasty soup made without synthetic seasonings. Some people hesitate to drink up soup because of dietary issues, but it seems many of which abandon the hesitations over Ramen Yoshi’s soup.

With a good reputation in review sites, this place is always packed with customers from the locals to tourists. However, the table turnover of ramen shops is usually quick, so, Ramen Yoshi can be a good place for those who want to eat quickly and easily. Why not stopping in this fantastic ramen shop during your road trip in Kofu?

Tonkatsu Riki

The highlight of a pork cutlet restaurant, “Tonkatsu Riki”, is their “tender cutlet that can be cut with chopsticks”. For the lunch service, Hiru-zen, customers can select one from five kinds of cutlet other than pork cutlet. Side dishes such as atsuyaki tamago (Japanese rolled omelette), simmered dish, and Akadashi (miso soup made with non-malted rice miso, mamemiso) come with it, and its price is very reasonable. Their other popular specialty, Kofu Tori Motsu-ni (Simmered chicken innards), is also highly recommended. They have won first place in Japan’s famous casual food competition, B-1 Grand Prix, with the chicken innards cuisine.

Being located in front of Kofu Station, it is so convenient to visit while you tour around. Their fantastic Tori Motsu-ni is definitely worth to eat as well as their specialty, Tonkatsu. Visit Tonkatsu Riki with your friends or families.

Harumasa

If you want to enjoy casual Japanese cuisine in Kofu, “Harumasa” would be the ideal place for you. As a Kuzushi Kappou (fusion Japanese cuisine) restaurant, Harumasa mainly serves skeweres dishes using fresh seasonal ingredients. Their banquet menu is really popular for its excellent content and price, which includes marvellous dishes made with carefully selected fish by Harumasa’s third owner.

Also, a wide variety of Japanese Sake is on offer. They make perfect matches with their specialty skewers. Japanese sake lovers will definitely be thrilled. Another highlight is their meat dishes cooked with the local Koshu pork, Fuji Sakura Pork. This is an absolute must-visit restaurant that offers delicious cuisines with wonderful Japanese sake. Since their authentic food is value for money, it would be a great chance to try Japanese cuisines with small budget. Visit Harumasa and enjoy their fantastic food when you travel to Koshu,Yamanashi.

Washoku Akazawa

“Washoku Akazawa” is a Japanese cuisine restaurant that offers elegant dishes in a luxurious and tranquil atmosphere. The carefully selected ingredients, perfect balanced seasoning, and beautiful colorful presentation will give you a great enjoyment. Their creative Japanese cuisine is cooked with seasonal fresh ingredients, and they go really well with various Japanese sake, wines, and shochu spirits. Of course, many of those are available at this place. It would be fun to have a different drink depending on the dish.

If you don’t know what to drink, you can ask the chef-owner to choose the best sake for your dish. This is a great place for those who love Japanese sake. The elegant dishes with best selected sake will make you really happy. You should stop in Washoku Akazawa and have a wonderful dinner time.

Narada Honten

There is another great place of Yamanashi’s local specialty, “Houtou (flour noodles with veggies in miso soup)”. A local special restaurant, “Narada Honten”, is the one. They also serve other tasty cuisines cooked with seasonal wild vegetables, natural caught Ayu (sweetfish), mushrooms, etc. at reasonable prices. Their special handmade tofu is carefully made with best selected ingredients. It is a no-frills place, so you can easily pop in and enjoy their tasty local cuisines.

As mentioned above, a wide variety of local foods are available at Narada Honten, but you have to be careful when you want to try houtou. It takes about 40 minutes to serve after receiving an order. So, you should be there early if you have plans for after your meal. Now, add this place to your must-visit list. Delicious local cuisines of Yamanashi will be waiting for you!

Enjoy Tasty Cuisines in Kofu!

This article was about the 10 best restaurants that offer delicious local specialties in Kofu, Yamanashi. Many Japanese people think houtou is the only specialty of Yamanashi, but there are many excellent places taking advantage of local fresh foodstuffs produced in the natural environment. All the restaurants in the list above is making their best efforts to create great dishes, so you should try any place that got your interest when you travel to Kofu in Yamanashi. Kofu food will fully satiate you.