Arima Onsen is one of the most popular hot spring towns in Hyogo Prefecture.
It is a popular tourist destination for both overnight stays and day trips.
What you should enjoy along with hot springs is a delicious gourmet meal!
Contents
Check out Must-try Gourmet in Arima Onsen!
Arima Onsen, a popular hot spring resort in Hyogo Prefecture, is a great place to relax and unwind after a long day.
Easy to access from Osaka, it attracts many tourists regardless of the season.
Arima Onsen has more to offer than just hot springs.
There are also many excellent gourmet restaurants that can be enjoyed along with the onsen.
In this article, we’ll introduce you to some of the recommended gourmet restaurants in Arima Onsen, in three parts:
“Lunch,” “Eating Around,” and “Drinking and Wandering,” which you should definitely try when you visit the Arima Onsen.
Arima Onsen Gourmet : Lunch
tick tac(Chikkutaku)
A nostalgic coffee shop in a nostalgic back alley in the atmosphere of Taisho era.
This is an old house café that is perfect for Arima Onsen, an area that is lined with old shops.
Inside the restaurant is a nostalgic pinball set up, remainds the good old days.
A standard jazz number is played in the cafe, and you can spend your lunch time relaxing in a modern atmosphere and forgetting about time.
A popular menu item is the Natural Egg Omelet.
It’s an omelet filled with a fluffy egg and a sweetened onions in a homemade demi-glace sauce.
Inside, you’ll find chicken rice with ketchup flavor.
The sauce and the egg are well mixed with the chicken rice, and you can’t help but feel the deep, rich flavor of this omelet.
The specialty of this restaurant is the Arima Yakzen Curry!
The curry soaks into the hungry stomach after a bath.
This is a popular menu item among women.
Address: 820 Arima-cho, Kita-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Opening hours: 11:00-16:00(L.O. 15:00)
Closed on Tuesdays (open during peak season)
Average budget: ¥1,000-¥1,999
Tsuki no kura
A popular restaurant with a macrobiotic buffet
For those who want to work up a good sweat in the hot springs and eat lots of good food!
If you’re looking for a place where you can eat a buffet-style meal that incorporates macrobiotics, then we recommend Tsuki no kura, where you can enjoy both the hot spring and the buffet.
The restaurant is located in the atmospheric Gekkouen Yougetsuzanso, so we recommend that you enjoy both the hot spring and the buffet at the same time.
Macrobiotics: A traditional Japanese diet based on grains and vegetables such as brown rice.
There are about 60 different types of food.
For lunch, there is a gorgeous course that includes a teppanyaki of Kobe beef, which is a great way to celebrate anniversaries and other festive occasions.
Of course, the basic course is more than enough to satisfy even the most discerning diners.
Eat a lot of your favorite food and relax after a long day.
For dessert, try the pastry chef’s homemade chiffon cake.
The fluffy texture of the cake will soothe you.
Address: 318 Arima-cho, Kita-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo-ken, Gekkoen Yuugetsu Sanso
Business hours: Lunch (Saturday and Sunday only) by reservation only Part 1: 11:00-12:30 pm, Part 2: 13:00-14:30 pm *There is a 90-minute time limit for each part. Please note that the meal will not be extended in case of late arrival. Dinner (except for holidays and year-end and New Year’s holidays)
Complete booking required Part 1: 17:45~ Part 2: 19:30~
There is a 90-minute time limit for each.
Closed: Weekdays and holidays for lunch. In addition, it is the end and beginning of the year and the end of the month, and Gekkoen Yuugetsu Sanso closed (irregular). Dinner is closed on weekdays and year-end and New Year holidays.
Average budget: from 5,000 yen to 5,999 yen
Soba Dosanjin
This is a Kansai-style soba restaurant where “Sudachi Soba” is popular
It is so popular that it has been covered by the media in Japan.
The atmosphere of the restaurant raises your expectations.
The most popular menu item is “Sudachi Soba”.
It is cold in summer and warm in winter, so you can enjoy it all year round.
You can’t see the noodles because of the huge amount of sudachi!
It is a very luxurious dish.
The light broth with the flavor of Rishiri kelp is a perfect match for soba noodles.
It looks and tastes very refreshing.
Not only are the soba noodles delicious, but the tempura is also a specialty.
The crunchy tempura is a must try along with the smooth and delicious soba noodles.
The “Arima Gozen”, which comes with soba noodles, sushi rolls, and shrimp kakiage, has a great reputation.
Address: 1056 Arima, Kita-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Business hours: 11:00-15:00 *No lunchtime reservations are accepted. 17:00-20:00(L.O. 20:00)
Closed: Wednesday
Average budget: ¥1,000-¥1,999
2,000 – 2,999 yen
Kutsurogiya
A kamameshi restaurant with an at-home atmosphere
This restaurant is famous for its kamameshi in a renovated quaint house.
It’s a very warm and welcoming shop that makes you feel like you’re visiting a relative’s house.
They have a reputation for serving kamameshi with plenty of wild vegetables in a relaxed atmosphere.
The gentle taste of the broth is very appetizing and delicious.
The steamed dish called “Yukemuri-mushi”, in which you can eat plenty of Kobe beef, is healthy and hearty!
Recommended for a luxurious lunch.
Address: 839-2 Arima, Arima-cho, Kita-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Business hours: 11:00-14:00 17:00-19:00(L.O) On weekdays, the restaurant is only open for lunch.
Closed: Tuesday
Average budget: ¥1,000-¥1,999
2,000 – 2,999 yen
Arima Onsen Gourmet :Eating and Wandering
Mitsumori
The birthplace of the carbonated rice cracker
Arima’s most popular snack is the carbonated rice cracker.
Mitsumori is a shop that produces carbonated rice crackers, a popular souvenir of Arima Onsen.
It was first manufactured and sold at the end of the Meiji era, and is the birthplace of the carbonated rice cracker.
The store is filled with the fragrant aroma of the carbonated rice crackers that are carefully baked by hand one by one.
The carbonated rice crackers are very healthy and do not contain butter, eggs or any additives.
You won’t be able to stop eating them because they are slightly sweet and crispy!
Don’t overeat!
In addition to the crackers, there is also a freshly steamed, hot, “Yoi yu manju”.
The steamer is filled with manju (steamed buns).
How about strolling around the onsen town with a freshly baked crispy rice cracker in one hand and a hot and hot bun in the other?
Mitsumori
Address: 290-1, Arima-cho, Kita-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Average budget: ~¥999
Pandobo
A bakery where you can buy bread made with local ingredients
Speaking of gourmet food that you can eat in one hand, don’t forget bread.
Pandobo is a bakery on the first floor of Cafe de Bou, located near the landmark Kin no Yu public bathhouse in Arima Onsen.
You can buy bread made with local ingredients.
I recommend the “Sansho bread”.
It’s a French bread with sansho (Japanese pepper) kneaded into it.
Bread with sansho kneaded into it is rare!
Let’s parade around Arima Onsen town with a piece of Sansho bread in hand.
The smell of sansho bread is an irresistible one, as is the original sansho bread at Pandobo.
You’ll also find a variety of breads made with black beans, a specialty of Tanba.
You’ll never get bored of the sweet and spicy breads if you take a stroll with both!
There is a wide variety of black bean filled breads to choose from.
Pandobo
Address:835 Arima-cho, Kita-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Business hours: 9:00 a.m. – until sold out
Closed on Tuesdays (if the day falls on a holiday, the next day is closed) and open during peak season.
Average Budget:~¥999
Takenaka Nikuten(meat store)
A butcher specializing in Kobe beef
In Arima Onsen, you can also enjoy “croquettes”, a typical example of eating out.
You should definitely try the taste of the venerable “Takenaka Nikuten“, which has been in business for more than 80 years, and the store sells beef bowls, beef skewers, and homemade beef croquettes that make the most of the high-grade beef ingredients at the storefront.
The restaurant has a reputation with a casual fast food restaurant.
The most popular menu item is the “Onikuyasan no(Butcher’s) Croquettes”.
It is a croquette in which the fat of the high quality meat soaks into the chewy potatoes.
Of course, the meat used is “Kobe beef”.
There’s no way it can’t be delicious.
What also popular is the Menchikatsu, a cutlet that is just as popular as the croquettes.
At first glance, it looks thin and lacks volume, but when you bite into it, you’ll feel a lot of meat juice!
You’ll be knocked out by the outrageously juicy flavor.
Be careful not to get burned by the juices of the meat when it’s freshly fried.
Address: 813 Arima-cho, Kita-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Business hours: 9:00-18:00
Closed: Wednesday
Average budget: ~¥999
Ho-kyu-an
The restaurant where you can eat freshly fried “Tempura”.
In the Kansai region, “satsuma-age” in the Kanto region is called “tempura.
It’s not just a side dish, but a popular snack as well.
Ho-kyu-an is a shop that sells freshly fried tempura.
The main store is in Kyoto, but you can also find it on Taiko Street, the main street in Arima Onsen.
They sell freshly fried tempura on a skewer, which is perfect for strolling around.
The tempura, made mainly from fresh itoyori fish, is chunky and smooth and has a plump texture.
Our recommendation is the ginger tempura.
The spicy accent of ginger in the refined flavor of the surimi (minced fish) is surprisingly delicious.
As you walk past the shop, you can smell the delicious smell of tempura.
There are about 10 different kinds of tempura lined up in front of the restaurant.
You won’t be able to resist this temptation!
Arima Onsen Gourmet : Heavy Drinker
Saka ichiba
A liquor store with a standing bar
How about a drink after a hot bath?
Sakaichiba is a standing bar where you can enjoy local beer and sake from Arima.
It is full of customers every day after a hot bath.
The beer has a pleasant aroma with a sour taste that will refreshingly run through your body after a hot bath.
Snack that goes with the alcohol is also very appealing.
The simple Sujikkon (lotus root) and Arima stewed soybeans are all things that go well with drinks.
Enjoy a blissful time of drinking in the afternoon after taking a bath.
The delicious snacks invite you to have your next drink.
The bar counter is large enough to fill up to about 10 people.
You’ll be able to chat with your neighbors and the staff.
It’s a great place to meet people and have a great conversation with the bar staff.
Address: 1645 Arima-cho, Kita-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Business hours: 9:00-18:00 (L.O.)
Closed: Open all year round
Average budget: ~¥999
Arimaya
Casual Izakaya
Aramiya is marked by the embroidered myoga leaf pattern.
It is the closest izakaya to “Kin no Yu”, and is a place where drinkers gather every day.
You’ll be able to enjoy your drinks and food without getting cold.
Cool off your body’s heat with a cold one!
What you need to eat here is fresh fish!
The fresh sashimi shines through.
The sashimi, and even the tempura, does a great job as an accompaniment to the sake.
Being able to eat fresh sea food in the mountains is a very luxurious.
You can order onigiri (rice balls), tai-cha-zuke (rice porridge), udon or soba noodles, and it can also serve as a dinner place.
Address: 1200 Arima-cho, Kita-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Business hours: 11:30 – 14:00 17:00 – 21:00 (L.O.)
Closed: Wednesday (Open on national holidays)
Average budget: ¥1,000-¥1,999
2,000 – 2,999 yen
Kobushi
A small restaurant popular with the locals
This is an orthodox izakaya (Japanese style pub) where the skills of the chef, who used to work at an inn, are on display.
Various a la carte dishes are lined up at the counter.
There are about 20 dishes lined up, and they all look delicious.
There is such a wide variety of dishes that you may end up chopstering your way through them.
The restaurant is so popular with the locals that it is often visited by employees of inns and hotels in the Arima Onsen area.
The food is obanzai-like and very homely in taste.
There is also a menu that uses seasonal ingredients, so you can enjoy the flavors of the season.
There are a wide variety of snacks to go with the beer and sake, making it a great place to drink.
On weekends, the restaurant can be full with reservations, but if you want to drink in style at an izakaya in the hot spring resort area, you’ll love it! It wouldn’t hurt to visit if you’re the kind of person who wants to know more about this place.
Address: 483-2 Arima-cho, Kita-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Closed: Wednesday
Average budget: ¥3,000-¥3,999
4,000 – 4,999 yen
Let’s eat all the gourmet food in Arima!
We hope you have enjoyed your visit to the hot spring town.
Whether you want to dine in and relax, stroll around and eat, or drink to replenish your sweat from the hot springs, there’s something for everyone.
The various gourmet spots in the Arima Onsen town are definitely worth a visit!
Kansai, Japan|Osaka Kobe Arima Hot Spring Family Charter 2-Day Tour