Culinary Heaven in Kyushu’s Seven Hells: 10 of Beppu’s Best Eats

One of Kyushu’s most popular tourist destinations, the city of Beppu in Oita Prefecture has always been popular with locals for being one of the premier onsen hot spring towns in Japan’s southernmost major island. 

But as a seaside town, Beppu also has a reputation for being one of the culinary hotspots of eastern Kyushu. An active fishing industry means it has access to some of the best seafood, such as the native seki-saba (mackerel) and seki-aji (horse mackerel). 

At the same time, since it borders Kumamoto and Kagoshima, it has ready access to some of the finest beef, pork and chicken on the island. Not to mention, its gentle slopes make for a vast expanse of farmland to raise some of Kyushu’s best beef — the Oita Bungo wagyu. 

In general, it’s almost impossible to go wrong wherever you choose to grab a bite in Oita. However, here’s a selection of some of the places you would do well to keep an eye — and an empty stomach — out for. 

1. Beppu Hirokado
2. Oryori Hatano
3. Kikusaiko
4. Jigoku Mushi Kobo Kannawa
5. Otto e Sette Oita
6. Yakiniku Arata
7. Amamichaya Beppu
8. Oaso
9. Toyotsune Honten
10. Waon

Beppu Hirokado needs no explanation. It is far and away Beppu’s most famous restaurant, consistently coming out on top of the city’s restaurant rankings on the notoriously strict Tabelog. Chef Hirokado Taizo’s 20-plus-year career took him to the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants across the nation. He even became the sous chef of Ginza Shinohara, a restaurant highly respected even among the multitude of Michelin Star holders in Tokyo.

While everything is delicious at the restaurant, the highlight is no doubt the soba, which is a part of every course menu there. Chef Hirokado personally apprenticed under a soba master for a large part of his career, which had a significant impact on his culinary philosophy and outlook.

Visitors from overseas will also be pleasantly surprised to find that Chef Hirokado speaks fairly fluent English: during a hiatus in his career, he spent a year backpacking in Okinawa, where he rubbed shoulders with many overseas travelers, even cooking fish he personally speared for them. It’s with this spirit of companionship that he interacts with customers across his six-seat counter, serving food made from the heart.

Reserve your table at Beppu Hirokado!

Kaiseki restaurant Oryori Hatano received two Michelin Stars in the Michelin Guide Kumamoto and Oita 2018, making an already popular restaurant even more popular. Chef Hatano Shigeru has been working in the culinary industry since he was just 19 — so his Michelin accolades have been a long time coming. 

Every bit of his decades of experience is present in every element of Oryori Hatano. It’s a highly measured experience; from the traditional tableware to the delicate plating to the exquisite interior design, each service at the restaurant is designed with the philosophy of “once in a lifetime” in mind — that exact combination of seasonal ingredients and preparation cannot ever truly be replicated. 

Of course, that doesn’t stop Oryori Hatano from seeing its fair share of repeat visitors, each one looking to see what fresh new combination of ingredients Chef Hatano has with each new course meal. It’s a little bit inland, far westward to the point where it’s almost outside of Beppu proper, so it’s best to drive there. Nonetheless, if you’re willing to walk, the bus is a viable option too. 

Reserve your table for Michelin-recognized kaiseki cuisine at Oryori Hatano!

Like Oryori Hatano above, Kikusaiko received two stars in the Michelin Guide Kumamoto and Oita 2018.

Likewise specializing in kaiseki-style cuisine, Kikusaiko follows the philosophy of “five flavors, five colors, five methods,” which Chef Amano Kosaku calls the fundamental principle of Japanese cuisine. It uses ingredients from Oita and the greater Kyushu area to create course menus that showcase the terroir of the region. 

As a certified wine and sake sommelier both, Chef Amano’s specialty isn’t just preparation of excellent traditional Japanese food, but also crafting immaculate wine and sake pairings to go with his intricate course menus. 

Located in the Hotel Shiragiku just an 8-minute walk from Beppu Station, all of the restaurant’s seats are private room seating, designed in sukiya-style traditional Japanese interiors — a truly immersive experience. 

Reserve your seat at Kikusaiko for kaiseki cuisine!

It’s a waste to go to Beppu and not try the jigoku-mushi style of cooking: steaming food above hot spring water naturally heated by the geothermal energy beneath the earth. It’s as simple as that — anything from potatoes and eggs to seafood and even horse meat is considered jigoku-mushi. 

There are several restaurants in which to enjoy this cooking style in Beppu, most of them located around the northwestern part of Beppu, near the Jigoku Meguri, but the most iconic by far is the restaurant called Jigoku Mushi Kannawa. 

The restaurant provides a wide variety of different types of ingredients to steam, from fresh-caught seafood like spiny lobster to locally raised beef cheek. All you have to do is just put your ingredients of choice into the steamer, then put a large wooden lid on top — and wait. 

For a fee, you can also bring in your own ingredients — nothing stopping you from dropping by some local farmer’s markets or even the local supermarket to amass your own stockpile. Steamed horse meat? Kurobuta pork bacon? Maybe an avocado? You’re limited only to what you can fit into the steamer. 

It might be hard to believe that one of Japan’s finest Italian restaurants would be found in eastern Kyushu, but a single bite of the food at Otto e Sette is sufficient to erase all doubts. The secret? Jigoku-mushi. While unmistakably Italian in its cuisine, Otto e Sette uses the traditional Beppu method of steaming to put a distinctly Beppu-flavored spin on its menu offerings. 

The restaurant uses spring water from the Beppu hot springs to boil its pasta, which gives it a springiness and flavor that is remarkably akin to dashi broth. Otto e Sette also claims that steaming in geothermal heat gives its vegetables a particularly bright color and taste, as well as anti-aging effects. 

Whether this is true or not is up for debate, but you’re welcome to try it for yourself. Otto e Sette has a wide variety of pastas and other traditional Italian dishes, made with local Kyushu ingredients. According to the restaurant, the kurobuta black pork bollito is a must-try.

Almost every prefecture has its own specialty wagyu, and Oita is no exception. The prefecture is the home of Oita Bungo wagyu (sometimes just called Oita wagyu): a beef that takes advantage of the mild climate and vast expanses of fertile land in the prefecture. Farmers claim it’s these factors that make the beef so deliciously marbled and tender, as well as the fact that the cows are fed on a diet of rice and beer lees. 

As such, this results in an abundance of yakiniku, teppanyaki and steakhouses in Beppu, many of them taking full advantage of the proximity of nearby ranches that raise exclusively Oita Bungo beef. Yakiniku Arata is one of the most famous of these restaurants, just a few minutes’ walk east along the main road from Beppu Station. 

Oita Bungo beef aside, Yakiniku Arata also offers a wide variety of other Japanese Black beef — kuroge wagyu — from all around Kyushu, letting diners compare the nuances between Miyazaki wagyu, Kumamoto wagyu and the Oita specialty. Which beef reigns supreme? There’s only one way to find out. 

Well-loved by locals, Amamichaya is one of the best places with which to try all of Oita’s specialties in one place. The restaurant aims to serve “nostalgic” food, making use of local Oita ingredients to let visitors experience the true taste of Oita. 

It’s primarily a tea house and sweets shop, but also has more substantial fare on the menu as well. The ox-tail curry is a particularly popular item, made with the Oita wagyu mentioned above, and the toriten is a must-order for parties looking to share plates of snacks. The restaurant also serves the Oita specialty dango-jiru — a type of miso soup with various vegetables and flat noodles. 

But the sweets and small plates are the primary draw. Try traditional fare like zenzai (red bean paste with mochi balls) and warabi-mochi (traditional jelly sprinkled with soybean flour or powdered matcha) or sample the house signatures, like freshly pounded mochi with soy sauce and vinegar — a uniquely savory take on what’s usually a sweet fixture.

While typically associated with neighboring Kumamoto Prefecture, ba-niku, or horse meat, is also highly popular in Oita. Horse meat is leaner and has a slightly gamier flavor than beef, but otherwise tastes largely similar. 

Beppu’s proximity to the Aso region — one of the largest producers of ba-niku in the whole of Kumamoto — means it has ready access to some of the highest-quality horse meat in Japan.

Located in the popular Kitahama waterfront district of Beppu, and just a few minutes’ walk from Beppu Station, Oaso is the undisputed place to go to try this local delicacy. There, adventurous guests can try horse meat prepared in every single conceivable form. Stewed horse innards, horse heart sashimi, horse meat skewers grilled over charcoal — each delicious in its own way.

The highlight is, of course, the sakura nigiri: raw horse meat served in the form of nigiri sushi; squint, and it could easily be mistaken for the more traditional wagyu beef sushi or even the standard maguro (tuna) sushi. Try this traditional delicacy in a traditional setting overflowing with signature Japanese omotenashi hospitality. 

You can get tori-ten (chicken tempura) almost anywhere in Oita — it’s a local delicacy, after all — but the most iconic tori-ten in the whole city is probably found in Toyotsune Honten. A tempura specialty restaurant, Toyotsune’s main branch is a stone’s throw from the Kitahama waterfront, and is where the legacy started.

Another branch is located about two blocks from Beppu Station, for those less inclined to make the walk down to the seaside.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the tempura in Toyotsune is among the finest in the whole city, in no small part thanks to the freshness of the seafood; open-mouthed children gathered around the restaurant’s signature fish tanks are a common sight. The restaurant also pays careful attention to the temperature of the frying oil and the duration of which each piece is fried, as well as the composition of the batter. Each bite is a beautiful, satisfying crunch.

While the tori-ten is legendary, those not trying the other offerings are simply missing out. The tendon — an assortment of tempura over rice and drizzled with sauce — is supremely cost-effective, with colossal portions.

Like Toyotsune above, traditional Japanese seafood restaurant Waon is hugely popular not just for the quality of its food, but also for its affordability. Located on the waterfront, the restaurant is particularly popular among families and college students looking for an inexpensive, delicious meal. 

Unsurprisingly, the most popular menu items are the seki-saba and seki-aji, which can reportedly only be found off the Oita coast. Compared to regular garden-variety mackerel and horse mackerel, the Oita varieties are supposed to have firmer flesh, and the slightest golden shimmer when viewed in the right light. While delicious in every way, the restaurant recommends enjoying these as a sushi platter.

Nigiri assortments are also available, featuring not just seki-saba and seki-aji but also a bevy of other local, freshly caught seafood, like flounder, greater amberjack, sea urchin, squid and more. If you’ve already visited Toyotsune but are still hankering for more tori-ten, then Waon is your place to go for a second seafood fix. 

Most visitors to Beppu come via Oita, the capital city of Oita Prefecture. As is common for Kyushu, there is no shinkansen directly to Oita Station. Rather, visitors coming by shinkansen must disembark at Kokura Station, and switch to the JR Sonic Limited Express. The journey to Beppu from there takes about an hour and 30 minutes by train. 

For those flying in, Beppu does not have an airport, but it is about an hour and 15 minutes by bus from Oita Airport.

Beppu’s most famous foods include toriten (chicken tempura), seki-saba and seki-aji (mackerel and horse mackerel), Oita Bungo wagyu beef, and of course anything made in the style of jigoku-mushi (food steamed in natural hot spring steam). Make sure to try them all before you leave!

Other attractions in Oita Prefecture include Oita City itself, the capital of the prefecture and the largest city within it. Just over two hours westward by train from Beppu is the mountain town of Yufuin, also famous for its hot springs and traditional architecture. 

Of course, the most famous attraction in the “hot spring capital of Japan” is the hot springs. Beppu boasts numerous hot spring baths with various mineral properties and settings, including the iconic seven Hells of Beppu, known as the Beppu Jigoku Meguri. 

Each pool has its own mineral concentration and temperature, giving each one a distinct color and odor. Alternatively, take the Beppu Ropeway to the top of Mount Tsurumi for panoramic vistas and access to some of Kyushu’s best hiking trails. For those who’d rather take it slow, visit one of the many sand baths around the city, such as in the onsen resort Marugamiya, where visitors can lie in hot, geothermally warmed sand said to nourish the body and skin. The perfect way to rejuvenate yourself. 

Beppu is a great tourist destination all year round. Spring temperatures are warm, perfect for enjoying cherry blossoms. Summer is hot, but great for beach or lakeside activities. When the weather cools down in autumn, it’s perfect hiking temperatures to see the bright red foliage. Even the winters are relatively mild, which makes it ideal for a dip in the famous hot springs.