10 Best Local Restaurants in Kanazawa

Ajiwai Koji is a dedicated restaurant area in the Kanazawa Hyakubangai Anto shopping mall at Kanazawa Station. More than 10 famous restaurants stand side-by-side in this traditional Japanese space.

Popular choices include Hachiban Ramen, with its popular vegetable ramen known as a Hokuriku soul food, Go Go Curry, the originator of Kanazawa curry, and other restaurants offering local cuisine, sushi, tonkatsu (pork cutlet), Chinese food, and oden. Ajiwai Koji is directly connected to JR Kanazawa Station, so it’s super-easy to get to.

FUWARI is an izakaya (Japanese-style pub) that was made by remodelling an old traditional Japanese-style house. It serves delicious charcoal-grilled dishes and fresh seafood. At the entrance you’ll see a lantern, and inside you’ll find yourself in an old townhouse. This a great place to experience the atmosphere of the ancient city of Kanazawa.

This restaurant is all about savoury charcoal-grilled dishes cooked with two types of binchotan charcoal (high-grade charcoal produced from ubame oak) and fresh seafood caught locally. You'll always get a warm welcome here, and the time-consuming cuisine is an absolute joy to taste. FUWARI caters to a wide range of customers, including families and international visitors (there’s an English menu available), and there are private rooms with Japanese-style sunken seating if you fancy trying that. It’s handy, too, only a 3-minute walk from Omicho Market.

PLAT HOME Kanazawa Kitchen keeps it real with delicious sake served alongside inventive Japanese-style dishes. Set in a renovated 100-year-old warehouse, this is one of Kanazawa’s most stylish restaurants inside and out. Inside, there’s a unique vibe with displays of old Japanese tools and antiques from America and Europe.

The dishes served here are beautifully presented works of art, a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. PLAT HOME Kanazawa Kitchen is a 15-minute walk from Kanazawa Station, or even quicker by bus.

At Kanazawa Maimon Sushi Kanazawa Station, conveniently located inside the shopping mall at Kanazawa Station, you can enjoy the delicious taste of fresh local seafood. In addition to using freshly caught seafood such as Kanazawa delicacies like nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch) and shiraebi (Japanese glass shrimp) for sushi toppings, the rice and seasonings are carefully selected, which explains why this is such a popular place.

Kanazawa Maimon Sushi Kanazawa Station is located in the Ajiwai Koji restaurant area in the Kanazawa Hyakubangai shopping mall Anto at Kanazawa Station. They also have sushi platters, which are a great way of trying a variety of sushi to match your appetite and budget. Check out the “Best Sushi Set” for a selection of 7 pieces of sushi made with locally caught fish.

Seasonal Cuisine Oden Kuroyuri is a restaurant that specialises in Kanazawa-style oden (a Japanese dish containing all kinds of ingredients cooked in a special broth) located in the Kanazawa Hyakubangai Anto shopping mall, which is directly connected to Kanazawa Station. Their Kanazawa oden is a superb dish made by simmering local ingredients in a secret dashi (soup stock) whose recipe has been passed down for over 50 years.

The restaurant also serves local cuisine such as kamo no jibuni (duck meat simmered in a soy-flavoured broth) and a wide selection of local sake, including the famous Manzairaku. Over lunchtime (from 11.30 am to 3 pm), you can get Kanazawa oden and Kaga cuisine at great prices thanks to some set meal options.

Omicho Market, which recently celebrated its 300th anniversary, has about 40 restaurants that use only the freshest ingredients.

You’ll find seafood bowl and sushi restaurants aplenty, but there are also other types of restaurants where you can taste the best local cuisine, such as Aburi Nodoguro to Ishiru Mesh, which specializes in nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch), and Kaga Shunsai Omicho Teishokuya Yuzu, which is all about local ingredients. Omicho Market is a 15-minute walk from Kanazawa Station. Or you can take a bus and hop off at the nearby Musashigatsuji bus stop.

HUNI is a dining bar set in a renovated 100-year-old traditional Japanese house located about 15 minutes by bus from Kanazawa Station. Here you can enjoy pasta and meat dishes skilfully combined with various ingredients in a calm atmosphere.

The interior is decorated with Buddhist sculptures and wood carvings made by the owner, creating a quiet and comfortable space. From the counter seats, you can enjoy a view of the Asano River and Mt. Utatsu. For an unforgettable trip, enjoy an evening here tasting delicious dishes and sake while enjoying the beautiful views and conversation with the friendly owner.

Takasakiya Sushi is a friendly sushi restaurant run by a couple. All items on the menu, including the most popular seafood chirashizushi (scattered sushi), are made with Koshihikari rice produced in Ishikawa Prefecture and fresh seafood.

Takasakiya Sushi offers sushi at a reasonable price at any time of day, but you should visit between 11.30 am and 1.30 pm if you want to grab a lunchtime bargain. Takasakiya Sushi is located just south of Omicho Market, about a 15-minute walk from Kanazawa Station.

Set in Katamachi, Kanazawa's busiest nightlife district, Iwashigumi is an izakaya (Japanese-style pub) that specialises in sardine dishes. Fresh, fatty sardines are brought in from all over the Hokuriku region, and the restaurant serves all kinds of sardine dishes, from popular salt-grilled sardine to fish bone crackers and sardine steaks.

If you want to try a bit of everything, go for the set meal menu that includes sardine sashimi, sardine dumpling hot-pot, salt-grilled sardine, and rice. There’s also a fine selection of local sake from Hokuriku and other regions that goes well with the sardine dishes.

Okonomiyaki Shizuru is an okonomiyaki (Japanese-style savoury pancake dish) restaurant located in one corner of Tatemachi Shopping District. Here, you cook your own okonomiyaki and yakisoba (pan-fried noodles) on an iron plate at your table. While you’re waiting for it to cook, you get to enjoy the irresistible smell.

The most popular item on the menu is the “All Mix Yaki” that contains 4 kinds of ingredients, including local squid and shrimp. Side dishes include squid tentacles sautéed in butter and squid cartilage, which is tastier than it sounds. This is great place to experience okonomiyaki with friends and family.