Stepping into Hiroshima is stepping into a city that feeds both the soul and the senses. When you’re there, be sure to listen out for the sizzling sound of open top griddles and breathe in the comforting aroma of the local cuisine. Many people visit Hiroshima for the Peace Memorial Park and Atomic Bomb Dome to learn more and have a deeply moving experience. However there is another side to the city, with Hiroshima food revealing its own story of comfort and the welcoming community.
When in Hiroshima, you’ll want to savour the city’s signature okonomiyaki or try out freshly caught local oysters which are often served grilled or deep-fried. There are also raw oysters available as well as other Hiroshima specialties to try, but you’ll want to know which places are reputable offering fresh and delicious food.
This is where having someone local who knows which restaurant to go to, plus can order the food in Japanese for you and can navigate booking a table at peak times becomes invaluable. The best way to experience it all is by joining a Hiroshima food tour with a knowledgeable English-speaking local guide from a trusted company such as Arigato Travel.
The Best of Hiroshima Food Tour by Arigato Travel
After spending the day immersing yourself in Hiroshima’s history, one of the most rewarding things to do in the evening is joining the Best of Hiroshima Food Tour.
Led by an expert guide, you’ll explore the city’s vibrant food scene visiting neighbourhood eateries and hidden gems that many visitors would miss. Operated by Arigato Travel, Japan’s leading cultural and food tour company, this experience offers not only delicious Hiroshima food and drinks, but also fascinating local stories and cultural insights that truly bring the city to life.
In this article, we share our honest experience of the Best of Hiroshima Food tour, what to expect, some of the places we visited, and finally our overall impressions.
Tasty Hiroshima Food: Momiji Manju
The tour began at the meeting spot which was at the entrance of Hiroshima Orizuru Tower, located near the Atomic Bomb Dome. After meeting our guide for the evening, Ryan, we kicked things off with a local specialty snack — Momiji Manju, a maple leaf–shaped Japanese sweet unique to Hiroshima. These treats come in a range of flavours, including pumpkin and lemon.
On the way to the first sit-down location for the evening, Ryan stopped at two spots. The first was a retro café, complete with vintage vending machines that looked straight out of the seventies, while the second was a shop selling calligraphy brushes from nearby Kumano City, which is a major production area for brushes.
Best Hiroshima Food: Locally Sourced Fresh Oysters
When it comes to Hiroshima food, sampling the locally sourced oysters is a must try for those who can eat them! We stopped at a craft beer brewery where along with an amber lager and a serving of Japanese style potato salad, we enjoyed perfectly deep-fried panko breaded oysters.
Hiroshima Produced Sake
Next we popped into a souvenir shop, where Ryan recommended a regional citrus flavoured snack before we moved on to a standing sake store. Here you can try a flight of excellent Hiroshima produced sake, paired with some superb dishes ー Hamo (Pike conger eel) tempura, tender duck, and sweet potato mousse.
Okonomimura (Okonomi Village)
Following this, we headed to Okonomimura ー a building that boast a collection of 25 okonomiyaki restaurants over 3 floors. Apart from each restaurant having a distinctive way to create okonomiyaki, they also have a selection of hot-plate grill dishes. To set expectation, Okonomimura is very well known by tourists, so you’ll likely hear a lot of English in the building!
Must-try Hiroshima Food: Koune
What’s great about this spot, Okonomimura, is you can taste the variety of Hiroshima food including hot plate dishes such as Koune, which is thinly sliced and grilled a rare cut of beef chuck shoulder and it’s quite delicious. Koune has a very rich flavour and it is one of the must-try Hiroshima delicacies.
Signature Hiroshima Food: Hiroshima-Style Okonomiyaki
One of the things to do in Hiroshima that you can’t miss is trying the city’s version of Okonomiyaki. Unlike Osaka, Hiroshima-style is to build up the layers of this savoury pancake with noodles and cabbage, and then you have your choice of toppings. At Okonomimura, you’ll have a fantastic opportunity to interact with local chefs as they prepare your okonomiyaki right in front of you.
Finally on the way back, there was still time (and room) for dessert. We called at a Taiyaki shop that was actually promoting Aerosmith’s new CD which you may see in the photo. The Taiyaki itself was a tasty pastry and we tried the new mango filling available, which was far better than expected!
Final Thoughts
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the evening ー not only did we get to try out some of the famous Hiroshima food, but we learned a great deal about the city from Ryan. If you’re wondering what to eat and where to eat in Hiroshima, we’d highly recommend joining Arigato Travel’s Best of Hiroshima Food Tour as their guides strike the right balance between sharing local insights and offering a friendly experience catering for different interests and food preferences.
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Note: All the information and details are correct at the time of publishing. We would recommend checking the Arigato Travel website for the latest information.
Disclosure: Our food tour experience was offered by Arigato Travel for introducing their food tours to the Best Japanese reader base. We did not receive compensation for this and the opinions expressed here are entirely our own. We only recommend products and services we would use ourselves. When you make a purchase through some links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, at no cost to you.
