3 Best Restaurants in Matsue, Western Honshu

This intimate, counter-only restaurant is the best place to try local sake and a set meal, including the seven famous delicacies from Shinji-ko and Matsue's coast. The staff are outgoing, as are the regular crowd. Try to make reservations at least a few days in advance. The "special full course" set menu option with local dishes is the best bet.

If you're pressed for time but want to grab a decent lunch, try some warigo soba, a local buckwheat-noodle specialty. Ohashi has a filling, healthful set lunch. An early dinner is also possible, since the restaurant is open from 5 until around 8 pm.

Surrounded by a colorful garden, the dining area at this traditional house is the best place to try the sanshoku warigo soba, a local specialty where three soba dishes are served in lacquerware with each dish having a different topping (quail egg, grated yam, grated radish). Located near the Buke Yashiki and Lafcadio Hearn House, it offers a relaxing break after a morning of sightseeing.