Panorama — Restaurant in Yakushima

Some of our favorite Yakushima memories were made at this restaurant. :) The food was so inventive and tasty, and the service so engaging and friendly, that we came here two nights in a row. The first night, we had a reservation and therefore got seats right at the bar. The next night, we just tried our luck near opening time, but they were very busy. We were able to get a table outside, and were well under cover, which is good, since it was raining.

This wound up being a good restaurant for long conversations. At least two of the staff members spoke very good English. One actually used to live in Banff, Canada, where she was a tour guide. This meant we got the opportunity to converse with Yakushima locals and ask some questions about life on the island. On the second (very busy) night we visited, and were seated outside, we welcomed a German tourist to sit at our table, and likewise spent hours chatting with her, sharing all of our travel stories.

The restaurant menu advised that we must each order a drink, so my husband and I went for the housemade ginger ale. It was fantastic! As for food, we each shared so many delightful little plates. I don't think there was anything we didn't like, though I will advise it wasn't exactly health food. ;) I think even the grilled vegetables must have been slathered in butter.

Speaking of indulgence, the creme brulee was a showstopper. I wanted to get it the second night, too, but they were sold out!

Do make sure to notice which days the restaurant is open. When we visited back in May 2024, I think they were closed Mondays and Tuesdays, but now it looks like they are only closed on Wednesday? Be sure to double check. Also, on days when other popular restaurants in town are closed, Panorama is sure to be extra busy. So a reservation will help to avoid disappointment. I was able to email the owner via the website to request a reservation in advance...

So... I don't usually write reviews but this one was special, the food was great the staff and the chef (which is also the owner) we're very nice and social. I really do feel like I can keep praising this little place for eternity because literally everything was spot on and perfect. We (my mom and myself) picked out of the menu the following:

Drinks - Tankan beer - 10/10 Cedar beer - 10/10 Dark beer - 9.5/10

Appetizer - Soft custard egg - 9/10

Main - Deer meat dumplings (best dumplings ever) - 10/10 Pork belly rice ball with egg yolk - 10/10 Minced Flying fish katsu with japanese mayo - 10/10 Glazed pork belly with tofu (which tast like heaven) - 10/10 Pork ribs - 10/10 simple and delicious (done to perfection)

Desert - So on the desert side of thing we kind of started bumbed out because we wanted to take the cream Brule flavored black tea and tankan (local tangerine) and they just ran out of it or didn't make it for this service (we we're the two of us plus 3 people in the rest). Instead we took the vanilla ice cream and sweet potato and we weren't let down i can tell you that, it was amazing 10/10!!!!!!

P.S. Important note! I am not paid i paid the full price for my meal I visited there with my mom on a vacation and it was absolutely perfect, thanks for the hospitality, thanks for...

Food: 3 star, some dishes 4 star. The price to quality and quantity ratio is way off. With the exception of the pork belly, which was delectable, the other food we had was average in taste and nothing special - it was just fresh food. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Ambiance and service: 5 star. The restaurant was nice and the staff and chef were very friendly and warm. The reason for 2 stars is the cost. Our final bill came to a weirdly large sum of 8,210 yen. We were so exhausted from the day that we just paid, but we couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. After reviewing photos of the menu, we realized our total should have been 6,800 yen. Mistakes happen, but we got a completely different bill! The restaurant is small, so this should not have happened. Overall, we were much happier eating at another local restaurant the following day. We had more to eat and drink and it only cost us 2,500 yen. And we found the...