sangimi no yado

Let’s eat all the rice and vegetables grown in the village in Asuka Village!

Asuka Village is beautiful with its expansive fields and terraced rice paddies built along the natural terrain.
Asuka Village is located in the Nara Basin, surrounded by the three mountains of Yamato, with a large difference in temperature, and the water of the Asuka River nurtures delicious rice and vegetables.

From restaurants serving local cuisine such as “Asuka nabe” made with a lot of vegetables and chicken based on milk, and rice blended with ancient rice such as black rice and red rice, to popular cafes and upscale restaurants, you can enjoy meals using fresh ingredients from Asuka Village and the surrounding area.
Around “Asuka no yado” & “Mahoro no yado”, there are many locally produced and consumed restaurants and cafes where you can enjoy meals using fresh ingredients from Asuka Village and the surrounding area.
Another feature of “Asuka no yado” is that many of the restaurants and cafes have been renovated from old private homes.
One of the best ways to spend your time in Asuka Village is to visit a variety of old private houses, each with its own unique character and atmosphere.
 
In this article, we will introduce some of the gourmet spots in and around Asuka Village.
Most of them can be reached on foot or by bicycle, so be sure to try some of Asuka’s delicious cuisine when you visit!

Recommended gourmet map in front of Asuka Village

A map summarizing the locations of restaurants in Asuka Village is available.
You can also find information on recommended points of interest, regular holidays, and business hours.
The information is updated as needed, but may be out of date depending on the timing.
Please contact the restaurant before visiting.

 

Recommended restaurants

for Lunch

La ville Miyako

• Google My Map – 3
  A restaurant serving Western-style cuisine.
  Specializing in low-temperature cooking, the café offers café lunches that focus on locally produced, locally consumed, and additive-free ingredients, such as roast beef bowls, meat doria, and vegetable-filled sandwiches for lunch.
  A wide variety of sweets such as parfaits, cakes, and canelees are also available.

  La ville Miyako Official WEB site

• 

CURRYON

• Google My Map – 7
  A photogenic, locally produced, locally consumed curry store located in the Nara Prefecture Complex of Man’yo Culture.
  All menu items, including curry, pasta, and parfait, are rich in color and have a great impact.
  The entire wall is a window, so you can enjoy your meal while looking out over the garden of the Museum. Admission to the Museum is free.
  CURRYON Instagram account
• 

NAZO BALI

• Google My Map – 9
  An old house cafe serving dishes from Bali, Indonesia.
  We use stone-ground spices, natural seasonings, and locally grown ingredients.
  Please also enjoy our home-roasted organic coffee with us.

  NAZO BALI Web site

• 

Matsuyama Cafe

• Google My Map – 11
  Self-renovated cafe by the owner, a native of Asuka Village.
  It used to be an 80-year-old wooden warehouse.
  The café offers lunch plates filled with local vegetables and a dessert menu including cakes, muffins, and affogados.
  The restaurant has created a stylish and relaxing space that is also very photogenic.
  Parking is available, so if you are from “Asuka no yado”, you can go out by bicycle or car, or take the bus and walk from the front of the station.

  Matsuyama Cafe Official Web site

• 

Mori no Cafe

• Google My Map – 13
  A small house café with white walls in a garden decorated with seasonal flowers.
  Many original blends of herbal teas are available to suit your physical and mental needs.
  The lunch menu offers curry and pizza, as well as a “Healthy one-plate meal” which is made without meat or fish and is filled with rice grown in Asuka Village and vegetables from Nara Prefecture.
  Mori no Cafe Official WEB site
• 

Restaurant to enjoy seasonal ingredients from Asuka Village

Mendoya

• Google My Map – 1
  A restaurant where you can enjoy traditional local cuisine of Asuka Village and Nara Prefecture.
  With a history of over 100 years, this long-established restaurant offers handmade dishes made with organic vegetables and high-quality well water without using chemical seasonings.
  The popular gourd bento with 20 side dishes using plenty of Asuka ingredients and the “Asuka nabe,” a local dish made with milk and chicken broth, are must-try items.
  Reservations are recommended at least one day in advance for both dishes. (Reservations for Asuka nabe require a minimum of two people.)

  Mendoya Instagram account

• 

Cocorogohann

• Google My Map – 6
  A café in a renovated old private house located halfway up the slope of the Okadera temple approach.
  The interior is mainly wood, and one-plate lunches using brown rice and vegetables from Asuka Village in abundance and rice-flour doughnuts are popular.
  The cafe also offers a wide variety of desserts using seasonal fruits and drinks such as sodas. Reservations can be made for lunch, boxed lunches, and donuts.
  Parking is available, but the approach to Okadera Temple on the way to the shop is a narrow slope that makes it difficult to pass each other. Please be careful when driving there.

  Cocorogohann Instagram account

• 

Creative French Restaurant Haru

• Google My Map – 3
  A creative French restaurant with a Japanese flavor.
  Japanese essence is found everywhere in the restaurant, such as Ko-Imari plates, indigo-dyed placemats, the use of soy sauce for sauces, and small bowls of simmered dishes, sashimi, rice, and pickles in the middle of each course.
  The restaurant offers only course meals, with dinner courses starting at 6,900 yen.
  Reservations are required for dinner.

  Creative French Restaurant Haru Official Web site

• 

Farm Restaurant Yumeichi Chaya

• Google My Map – 4
  This rural restaurant is located in the “Asuka-no-Yumeichi Shop” near the Ishibutai Tumulus.
  You can enjoy “ancient rice,” which has inherited the characteristics of wild rice, the original species of rice, and has been eaten since ancient times, as its name suggests.
  The winter-only “Asuka Nabe” is a combination of milk and chicken broth, stewed with plenty of winter vegetables and chicken.
  The store “Asuka no Yumeichi” on the first floor sells seasonal vegetables, fruits, ancient rice, processed foods, and souvenirs from Asuka Village.

  Farm Restaurant Yumeichi Chaya Official Web site

• 

OkuAsuka Sarara

• Google My Map – 13
  An old private house cafe in the Kayanomori district of Oku-Asuka.
  It serves food that you can see the makers of, and food from the hometown, with a focus on locally grown vegetables and wild plants.
  Reservations are required for the healthy “Sarara-zen” meal, which includes a blend of white rice and “black rice,” known as ancient rice, handmade konnyaku, and vegetable dishes.
  On foot, it takes about one hour to get there. There will be more driving on the way, but there are many places to see and enjoy a deeper Asuka Village.

  OkuAsuka Sarara Official Web site

• 

Poca Frere

• Google My Map – 2
  Cafe-restaurant using seasonal vegetables from Asuka Village.
  The dishes have a gentle yet deep flavor that makes the most of the ingredients. The lunch menu features “One Plate Lunch with Ancient Rice Rice” with a choice of meat, fish, hamburger steak, or curry as the main dish.
  A kids’ plate for children is also available, and desserts such as pound cake are also popular.

  Poca Frere Instagram account

• 

Pallet

• Google My Map – 12
  A restaurant where you can enjoy dishes that are kind to your body and the earth.
  The restaurant uses mainly organic and pesticide-free vegetables grown in Asuka, and water from Tenkawa Village in Nara Prefecture, and aims to provide completely organic meals with as few additives as possible.
  Set meals are available for lunch, and a la carte dishes and drinks are available for dinner.

  Pallet Instagram account

• 

Asuka Village’s special dessert

Coffee shop Sanpo

• Google My Map – 3
  An old private house cafe with a glass studio.
  Carefully selected high quality coffee beans are roasted in house. You can enjoy coffee carefully brewed by hand drip.
  The lunch menu includes Hainan Chicken Rice and Chicken Curry Rice. The restaurant also offers light meals such as croque-monsieur and cakes including chiffon cakes.
  The restaurant has a large window overlooking the garden, and the terrace seats look very comfortable on sunny days.
  Coffee shop Sanpo Instagram account
• 

Coffee shop Misono

• Google My Map – 4
  As a coffee shop that has been in business for over 40 years in Asuka Village, it is one of the few places in Asuka Village where you can enjoy morning coffee.
  Since its establishment, it has been serving siphon coffee, a specialty with just the right amount of bitterness and full-bodied flavor.
  The morning A set includes three thick slices of fluffy toast, salad, ham, hard-boiled egg, and seasonal fruit, and is highly satisfying.
  Why not start a fun day of sightseeing in Asuka with Misono’s morning set?

  Coffee shop Misono Official Web site

• 

Genki-na-KajitsuKoubou

• Google My Map – 10
  Gelato specialty store using fruits and vegetables from “Country Farm Asuka,” which grows crops using natural farming methods.
  Four bases of milk, yogurt, soy milk, and sorbet are used to create a seasonal lineup of allergy-friendly and health-conscious gelato.
  In addition to the popular Asuka Ruby (strawberry) and various fruits, you can also enjoy slightly different kinds of gelato such as plum wine, black beans, and tomato & basil.
  The photo shows pistachio (top) and banana chocolate (bottom). The banana chocolate is made with soy milk and has a refreshing taste, so you will finish it in no time.

  Genki-na-KajitsuKoubou Official Web site

• 

Cafe Kotodama

• Google My Map – 5
  This old private house café was renovated from a former sake brewery built less than 200 years ago.
  The “Kotodama Lunch meal” using fresh vegetables and ingredients from Asuka Village that are purchased every morning is popular, but the desserts using plenty of seasonal fruits that can be ordered from 2:00 p.m. onward are noteworthy.
  The restaurant offers fruit-filled desserts such as seasonal fruit parfaits, pancake plates, and padpinsu, a Korean-style shaved ice.
  Reservations are available for lunch only. Since the restaurant is very crowded on weekends and holidays and there is a long waiting time, it is recommended to write your name on the waiting board in between sightseeing.

  Cafe Kotodama Official Web site

• 

Tengyoku-do Asukasairuri shop

• Google My Map – 6
  A long-established restaurant established in Nara in 1870, specializing in a variety of dishes using Nara’s specialty, Yoshino-honkuzu.
  We offer freshly made kuzumochi (kuzu rice cake) and kuzukiri (kuzu starch cake), sweets such as kuzu udon noodles and kuzu soft serve ice cream, and katsu sandwiches.
  During lunch time, enjoy the “Vegetable Bar” featuring delicious vegetables produced in Asuka.
  Tengyoku-do Asukasairuri shop Official Web site
• 

Adèle

• Google My Map – 12
  A sweet store specializing in take-out directly operated by a strawberry farmer.
  Three types of parfait using strawberries freshly picked from the greenhouses attached to the store are offered.
  The strawberries used are the “Ancient Capital Flower,” which was born in Nara, and the “Nara Akari,” a new variety born in 2021.
  The parfaits are made using the best strawberries of the day.
  The eat-in space, where you can eat right away, is also decorated in the motif of a greenhouse.
  Adèle Official Web site
• 

Asuka-YumeHanbaisyo (Farmer’s Market)

• Google My Map – 2
  Located in front of Kintetsu Asuka Station, this direct sales shop for agricultural products sells fresh vegetables, fruits, and rice produced by farmers in Asuka Village.
  Here, “Asuka Ruby(Nara’s brand strawberry) soft serve ice cream” is sold in one corner of the store.
  The soft serve ice cream has a refreshing flavor with the fresh sourness of strawberries. The cream fills the bottom of the cone.

  Asuka-YumeHanbaisyo Official Web site

• 

Notes on Dinner

Restaurants in Asuka Village do not operate at night.

In Asuka Village, most stores close after 5:00 p.m., and bus service is extremely limited or nonexistent.
Restaurants, in particular, close at the end of lunch time and at 5:00 p.m.
If you plan to have dinner at a restaurant in Asuka Village, please be sure to inquire in advance whether the restaurant will be open for dinner and make a reservation.
It may be difficult to respond to inquiries on the day of the event, so we recommend making reservations as early as possible.
 
While many restaurants in the neighboring city of Kashihara are open late at night, public transportation in Asuka Village almost never operates after 6:00 p.m.
There is very little lighting in the village, and it is very dangerous to ride a bicycle after sunset.
If you do not have access to your own car, please take a cab.
 
We have prepared a map of restaurants that are open for dinner and restaurants recommended for dinner.
The list is not limited to Asuka Village, but also includes restaurants in neighboring cities. Please use it as a reference for your dining experience.
 

Bicycle rental at the inn

• Cycling is recommended for touring around Asuka Village.
  One of the reasons for this is that parking lots at restaurants are small and cramped.
  We have rental bicycles available for use by any visitor to Asuka no yado, but only one bicycle is available.
  We recommend that you rent a bicycle from one of the many locations in the village.
  We hope you enjoy cycling in Asuka Village!
  Asuka Rental Cycling Official Web site
• 

Related Articles

“Asuka no yado” as known by photo and map.