Where To Eat In Nikko: The Top 10 Restaurants For Every Taste

This destination is as rich in foodie pursuits as it is culture and history. Get acquainted with local delicacies ranging from belly-warming soba to brain-freezing kakigori—treat yourself to fine-dining fare from a Michelin-affiliated chef—and visit a cheese garden where you have just one mission: to eat everything. Find out more about these delicious experiences and more with our list of Nikko's 10 best restaurants. 

The consulting chef at Lakehouse also runs a Michelin-starred restaurant in Wakayama, so naturally, your expectations should be high. And we promise you won't be disappointed, what with its menu of refined, Italian-influenced cuisine highlighting the area's local produce. Pastas, seasonal sorbets and a salad experience featuring a whopping 20 ingredients are just some of the treats that lie in-store, along with some super fancy cabinet food-to-go (trout sammies and mango tarts, anyone?). You can even purchase homemade strawberry jam, soy sauce and other foodie goodies as a keepsake. And don't even get us started on the location: true to its name, you'll find this spot inside the swanky Ritz-Carlton hotel, overlooking Lake Chuzenji. 

Inkyo Uwasawa (also known as Uwasawa's Breakfast) is famous for having the best breakfast in town. And that's not all—it's bursting at the seams with history, having been a part of the Nikko fabric for centuries. Step across the ancient facade of this breakfast-only restaurant—which itself is only 150 years old, but is run by the 400-year-old Uwaswa Umetaro Store—and settle in for a wonderfully wholesome, traditional Japanese brekkie comprising clay-pot rice, miso soup, and Nikko's signature tamarizuke pickles (vegetables pickled in tamari, a delicacy that Inkyo is well-known for). Paired with a zen-like garden to gaze upon as you eat, there really is no better way to start your day. 

The menu at Bar de Nikko may be on the shorter side, but that's probably because most people already know what they're going to order before they step through the door: the legendary omurice. Omurice is a popular Japanese dish featuring rice, topped or sometimes wrapped with a fluffy omelette then drizzled in sauce. Here, you can have it virtually drowning in the latter, be it a traditional white or curry-based version (or even both as part of its double-sauce offering) then stacked with extra goodies like locally-raised pork, meatballs, and even a blanket of blow-torched cheese. The only thing that could possibly make this meal better is a crisp beer and lucky for you, that's also in ample supply.  

For more than three decades, a family of noodle-makers has been crafting traditional soba from its humble shop in rural Nikko, fittingly located amongst fields of buckwheat. The queues that can often be found outside its doors tell you all you need to know—we've found visiting in the morning generally makes it easier to snag a spot. Once inside, make yourself at home on the tatami mats, then enjoy noodles crafted from freshly-milled buckwheat (sourced from the aforementioned fields, of course), then freshly made and freshly boiled for peak soba-slurping pleasure ('santate' means 'the three steps for freshness'). There are many soba spots in Nikko, given the area's esteemed reputation for this dish, but Santate Soba Nagahata-an might just be the best. 

Kakigori (or shaved ice) is a prized treat here in Nikko, and the most famous place to get your mitts on it is Shogetsu Himuro—an ice manufacturer that's been producing blocks of the cold stuff from its very own ponds, fed by the pristine waters of Nikko's mountains, for around 130 years. Here, said ice is shaved into a delicate, snow-like fluff, piled high inside bowls—not unlike miniature mountains themselves—then showered in gourmet toppings like pumpkin, matcha, and the best-selling strawberry (made with Tochigi's very own  strawberry brand, no less). Sometimes you can even get your shaved ice served inside a half melon! 

If it's wagyu and wine you're after, you'll find it here. Nikko Guruman's Wagyu is considered the area's leading steak restaurant, and has been appeasing meat-lovers for more than four decades with its premium line-up of beef including the prized Iwate Maesawa and Mie Matsusaka varieties. Enjoy as part of a wider set menu, which is also known to include a flaming crepe for dessert (hell yes). And we must give special mention to the wines—the cellar has close to 300 bottles, largely French. As for the building itself, that's equally special: you'll find it tucked away on a leafy mountainside, fitted out with furniture crafted from Nikko cedar and with space for just 20 people. 

You may have heard of yuba, the tofu-based treat that is a famous product of Nikko. This is actually tofu skin—the layer that forms on top of soy milk when it is boiled—and the unapologetic star of the show at Nikko Yubamaki Zen. You'll find it featured in its most popular dish, the yuba roll (like sushi, only wrapped in yuba instead of seaweed, then stuffed with local goodies like Japanese beef), as well as in soup; this is also the only place in Nikko to offer yuba sashimi. Round out your meal with assorted sides and and even a matcha jelly dessert, topped with yuba; all enjoyed inside a renovated farmhouse.  

Eat your bodyweight in crispy, pan-friend dumplings from Nikko's number one gyoza spot, Gyoza no Umechan. The gyoza here are as delicious as they come and are actually available boiled as well as fried, stuffed to the carefully-joined seams with juicy meats and veg. And if you really wanna push the proverbial boat out, order a bowl of curry or its highly-rated ramen to go with. This one also offers wallet-friendly prices and a warm and welcoming atmosphere that's primed for lengthy dining sessions (both important considerations when eating one's bodyweight). 

Break up the diet of noodles and dumplings with a feed of quality Italian from Trattoria Gigli. This restaurant has all the ambience of an authentic trattoria, with a menu to match—think homemade focaccia, hearty plates of gnocchi, risotto and pasta, and a mouthwatering take on the quintessential Italian dessert, tiramisu. This makes perfect sense when you learn that the chef here (who actually runs Gigli alongside his mother) trained in Rome, though he certainly hasn't forgotten his Japanese roots: don't be surprised to see local ingredients like Nikko salmon popping up on the menu. And this wouldn't be a proper Italian without wine, of which there is plenty; alongside yuzucello and strawberrycello (nods to limoncello, of course). 

True to its name, Cheese Garden The Nikko is located in a garden (with its own stream, thank you very much) and has cheese by the vat-load—albeit in the form of its best-selling Goyotei cheesecake, cheese galettes, cheesecake soft-serve, cheesecake crème brulee, cheesecake tasting platters, and even cheese cookies (apologies to our lactose-intolerant friends). Wash all of that dairy down with a matcha latte, hojicha tea or yuzu soda; or supplement with some of the tasty lunch dishes that are also on offer (think omelettes, curry udon, and plump white-bread sandos). Yes, cheese. 

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