Eat

Izakaya, Yakitori & Night Dining

This is what to eat for dinner in Hiroshima while enjoying local beers, sake and spirits. Bite into genuine A5 kuroge wagyu beef grilled over binchotan coals at a Japanese BBQ restaurant with a Hiroshima-grown lemon sour. Find a local izakaya to explore a series of small dishes made to share around the table with locally crafted sake. Next get your protein fix served on a skewer at a neighborhood yakitori shop. Toast the evening with a refreshing hassaku citrus craft beer after a day exploring the city. Our night dining breakdown follows the latest trends and traditional standbys.

Jiyuken (自由軒)

Jiyuken is an izakaya (Japanese style pub) located a five-minute walk from JR Fukuyama Station, with a retro purple curtain as its landmark. The most popular menu item at Jiyuken is oden, a Japanese home-style dish made by simmering daikon radishes, eggs, and other ingredients in a soy-based broth. At Jiyuken, oden is served with miso sauce, which goes well with the gentle flavor of the broth.

Moment of Joy

The attraction of Jiyuken is the free style of ordering, just as the word “Jiyu” in the restaurant’s name implies (自由 – Jiyu means “freedom”). You can order from a wide range of menu items, from Western dishes such as omelets and cabbage rolls to Japanese dishes such as tempura and miso soup. The most popular menu item is the oden, which is simmered in the restaurant. Another popular menu item is omelet rice (ketchup rice wrapped in a thin baked egg). It is one of the signature dishes that many customers order for both lunch and dinner.