Hitsumabushi
Grilled eel chopped over rice, eaten in three set stages — plain, with condiments, then with broth poured over.
Regional food guide
What to eat in Nagoya
Written by hand, not generated. Dishes, markets, timing and prices for Nagoya.
Nagoya cooks with a lot of red bean miso, which makes its sauces and broths dark and faintly sweet. The local menu is clearly codified as "Nagoya meshi", and the city keeps its morning service habit: order coffee early and toast comes with it.
What people eat here
Start with the local defaults
Miso katsu
Pork cutlet under a red miso sauce, far darker and sweeter than the usual dressing.
Tebasaki
Fried chicken wings glazed sweet-salty and dusted with pepper. Drinking food.
Miso nikomi udon
Udon simmered in miso broth and served in the earthenware pot. The noodles stay firm.
Ogura toast
Toast with butter and sweet red bean paste, usually served alongside morning coffee.
Where the food is
Markets, streets and harbours
Yanagibashi Central Market
Five minutes on foot from Nagoya Station, a downtown fish market that began as a wholesalers' lane in 1910 and is still called the kitchen of the city. After the early wholesale trade, market diners serve seafood bowls and sushi through the morning.
Restaurants nearby
Endoji Shopping Street
Between Nagoya Station and Nagoya Castle, one of the oldest arcades in the city, descended from an Edo-period merchant quarter. Long-running shops sit beside new cafes and diners, and weekend street markets are frequent.
Restaurants nearby
Kakuozan
Quieter lanes of cafes and independent shops.
Restaurants nearbyWhen to go
- Morning service generally applies only between about 07:00 and 11:00.
- Long-running eel restaurants queue heavily at lunch and close early when they run out.
- The underground arcades are crowded at commuting hours.
Worth knowing
- 1The three stages of eating hitsumabushi are usually explained at the table. First time, just follow them.
- 2Sauces here are saltier and sweeter than elsewhere. You can ask for the sauce on the side.
- 3Chicken wings have a knack to deboning; some shops post a diagram.
- 4The underground passages around Nagoya Station are complicated. Note your exit number before you set off.
What it costs · Per person, roughly
Hitsumabushi runs JPY 4,000-6,000, miso katsu JPY 1,200-1,800, and miso udon JPY 1,000-1,400.
Nagoya
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