Ninomae, a Japanese restaurant located a 5-7 minute walk from Ashiya Station, is one of Hyogo's top-rated establishments, contributing to the area's reputation alongside many famous eateries. It has been selected as one of the top 100 Japanese restaurants in the West for 2025 and has also received a Tabelog Bronze award for 2025 and 2026.Reservations can be made online through the Omakase site, and the reasonably priced lunch courses on weekends tend to be highly sought after. While dinner reservations are easier to secure than lunch, many dates fill up quickly on the first day of the month when reservations open.Here’s what I enjoyed during my visit:-----------------------------◾️ Appetizer We started with an appetizer featuring Isaki (a type of fish), loquat, fig, bell pepper, and sesame oil. The sweet sesame sauce brought the dish together, making for a fresh and captivating first course.◾️ Seasonal Delicacies Next was a beautiful seasonal platter that hinted at the end of spring. It included sweet simmered green plums, crispy fried yam, a refreshing dish with seasonal greens, sushi made with trout flavored with tree buds and soy sauce, and freshly fried tempura of young corn and mini okra. Each item was exquisite.◾️ Soup The soup featured sake-steamed whiting and freshly harvested asparagus. The umami of the broth was delightful, and the asparagus was cleverly prepared to provide a variety of textures.◾️ Sashimi The sashimi consisted of sweet shrimp, aged with kombu, and over 2 kg of squid caught in Awaji Island. It was a pleasure to enjoy it with various condiments like salt, wasabi, sudachi, seaweed paste, and soy sauce.◾️ Intermezzo A refreshing intermezzo of braised eggplant, generously topped with shredded white leeks. The rich oiliness and deep sweetness made it a satisfying bite.◾️ Grilled Dish The grilled dish featured ayu (sweetfish) that had been slowly grilled over charcoal for about 40 minutes, served with a mild wasabi miso. The fish was perfectly cooked, with concentrated flavors and a crispy texture, while the wasabi miso softened the bitterness of the fish, making it very enjoyable.◾️ Finale For the finale, we had a hearty tempura rice bowl made with den-suke anago (conger eel) and a rice bowl topped with tuna flakes and raw egg. The eel had a firm, bouncy texture, packed with flavor inside a crispy coating, and paired excellently with the clay pot rice. The egg rice was simple yet delicious, allowing the sweetness of the rice to shine through.◾️ Dessert The dessert was a handmade peach daifuku, made fresh right in front of us. The warm dough, combined with the rich sweetness of the smooth red bean paste and the texture and sweetness of the peach, was simply the best.-----------------------------The chef's wonderful personality and the bright atmosphere made for a delightful dining experience, so I highly recommend visiting this gem.Thank you for the meal!*Instagram Gourmet Account https://www.instagram.com/shunsuke.naka/ (Over 10,000 followers!)*Gourmet Blog https://syn-gourmet.com*Comprehensive Links https://lit.link/syngourmet
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