Aoba — Restaurant in Ibusuki

I was looking for somewhere to eat after bathing at the local Onsen and google recommended this restaurant. When I arrived there was a line out the door, which I personally view as a sign of quality. After all, nobody lines up for bad food at dinner time. I waited for 45 minutes and even missed my train to dine here and I can say it was well worth it! I had the black pork cutlet and it was out of this world. They have you grind sesame seeds by hand in a mortar and pestle to create the dipping sauce at the table. Everything was so delicious that I wanted more. However, after a second serving of rice I was full. The service was great and the atmosphere was very authentic. This was my last meal before I leave Japan and I couldn’t have asked for it to be any better. I hope to return in the future to...

Right near Ibusuki station, we were looking for lunch before our train (Ibusuki No Tamatebako) ride back to Kagoshima & this was one of the few places open.

To our surprise they served the prefecture specialty for shabu shabu in a lunch set - Kagoshima Berkshire pork which we had been looking to try; as well as local Wagyu.

What a fantastic feast, both meats were soft & tender, & the accompanying side dishes were almost a meal of their own! Everything came quickly even though it was a fairly busy lunch period & the menu politely indicating the broth may set menu may take some time to come.

Lovely decor & they were playing nice instrumental piano Christmas standards making for easy relaxing atmosphere. Definitely recommend for anyone...

Visited for lunch alone and was directed to a booth to my surprise. It's common for restaurants in cities to be reluctant to assign 4 pax booths to solo diners, but there was no hesitation here. Its one of those booths where you take off your shoes, and even has a heating mat to warm your frozen feet in January.

My order was of course Ontamarandon, the hot spring egg rice. My taste buds aren't refined enough to tell the difference in egg, but the meal was delicious. The ingredients go along well, bean sprouts giving crunch and balance to the flavorful sauce on the pork.

980yen for a delicious meal, good service and that close to train station? Thank you for the...