茶房 月東 — Restaurant in Yufu

A cute little cafe away from all of the chaos in the central area (at least when we went). Their new-ish addition of their ADORBALE kitty Hana-chan has been making them a bit more busy than normal, so maybe call/inquire ahead if you can! They have 1-2 people working max, so food takes time! Free mugicha while you're waiting/eating! We really enjoyed the dango shiru set and yaseuma, as well as the shiso and banana drinks! It appears I neglected to get photos of half the dishes since I was so focused on the kitty. Overall they were incredibly kind, and even the locals who make up their customer base were super friendly, and even made photo-ops for us with Hana-chan, among other nice gestures! We visited the temple across the street afterwards and had a very peaceful and relaxing time. Enjoy these photos...

Had the dango juri set (the first item on the menu). It had some yam(?), mushrooms, burdock(?) and handpulled noodles. Not my style but it brought out the unique flavour of each ingredient and is worth a try if you’re in the oita region. It came with some chewy ball that had mushroom taste. This is paired with yuzu sauce (I like this) or green pepper sauce. Dessert was cold hand pulled noodle with bean powder. The lady boss was really nice though I couldn’t speak Japanese. I felt bad for the cats outside who looked like they wanted to...

Wonderful place for a break when walking around Yufuin, when going around to see the shrines and temples. Lovely owner and staff. Very friendly. Tasty unique edible amazake. Free cold hojicha tea. Owner feeds temple cats 🐈‍⬛. What a serene, lovely and pure...