Recommended 5 shops of stylish and delicious lunch around Nara/Horyuji Temple | Ikaruga specialties such as Tatsuta-age and Kakinoha-zushi of the long-established shop

In the vicinity of Horyuji Temple, the World Heritage Site, there are many shops where you can enjoy a delicious lunch unique to Nara, such as a shop for the Ikaruga specialty of "Tatsuta-fried" and a long-established "Kakinoha-zushi". This time, we introduce 5 recommended lunches.

Ikaruga specialty! Juicy Tatsuta-age lunch/Wa CAFE Fukokuen

A café that renovated a part of a mansion where Kitabatake Harufusa, who served as a judicial officer during the Meiji period, lived in his later years in the Kinnō family at the end of the Tokugawa period. In a space where you can feel the history, you can enjoy lunch (11-14 o'clock) and sweets that stick to the ingredients of Nara.

We want to taste it by all means, "Ikaruga meibutsu Tatsuta-age lunch" 1750 yen is mainly made of domestic chicken fried Tatsuta-age, which is pickled in salt, and is filled with rice noodles with Yoshino shiitake mushrooms, and seasonal small pots. The rice progresses to deep-fried Ryuta, which is crisp outside and soft and juicy in the middle. In addition, Nyumen uses whole grain-filled somen, which is a collaboration between the manufacturer of Fukokuen and Miwa Somen. You can enjoy the original rich flavor of wheat.

■ Wa CAFE Fukokuen

Address: 2-2-35 Horyuji, Ikaruga-cho, Ikoma-gun, Nara
Phone: 0745-44-8787
Opening hours: 10-16:00 (15:45 LO)
Closed: Wednesday (open for public holidays)
Access: 8 minutes walk from the bus stop Horyuji-sando

Authentic Italian at an old private house near Horyuji Temple/Felice Piccione

A 3-minute walk from Hōryū-ji Temple, a well-located trattoria. In a space renovated from an old private house that is more than 100 years old, you can taste authentic Italian, mainly made from vegetables from Nara Prefecture, at a reasonable price. At lunch (10-15: 30 LO), you can enjoy five kinds of pasta for 1300 yen each, and you can enjoy a menu with pasta, two kinds of focaccia, and a salad bar for 1500 yen.

Among the five types of pasta to choose are: Amatricana, lemon pasta with oil sardine, as well as bolognese, squid ink pasta, ravioli of chicken and mashrooms. It's hearty, so it's enough to eat.

■ Felice Piccione

Address: 2-9-10 Horyuji, Ikaruga-cho, Ikoma-gun, Nara
Phone: 0745-43-6911
Opening hours: 10-16:00 (15:30 LO)
Closed: Tuesday
Access: 8 minutes walk from the bus stop Horyuji-sando

Body-friendly rice with plenty of local vegetables is popular/Green Sun Food

The café stands in a quiet residential area, just east of the Hōryū-ji Sando. It is planted with various trees, and you can spend a leisurely time admiring a small forest-like garden.

The popular "Balance Gohan Teishoku" 1100 yen is a menu with plenty of local fresh vegetables, literally a nutritional balance. The menu is a weekly change, with carefully prepared dishes made with many ingredients served on a plate that is colored and served well, with rice from Nara Hino Hikari rice and miso soup. You can also choose 1400 yen with drink and 1850 yen with cake and drink.

After relaxing with delicious rice that is friendly to the body, it is also recommended to take a walk in the garden.

■ Green Sun Food

Address: 1-9-33 Horyuji, Ikaruga-cho, Ikoma-gun, Nara
Phone: 0745-40-1382
Opening hours: 11-17 (16:30 LO)
Closed: Mondays (open holidays, closed next Tuesday)
Access: 1 minute walk from the bus stop Horyuji-mae

Taste to be rich and nutritious brown rice lunch/Genmai-an

A vegetarian brown rice restaurant that is particular about seasonings such as naturally fermented miso and soy sauce. Lunch "Kobachi set" 2100 yen (menu changes monthly) is served by brown rice, one main dish of veggie meat, seven small pots, brown rice cakes, miso soup, Kounomono, mini desserts. The brown rice, which the master cooks with a furnace every morning, is plump, and the more you bite, the more the taste of brown rice overflows.

Soy-born vege meat is very healthy, with plenty of seasonal vegetables in a small bowl. It's also nice to be able to taste a variety of dishes little by little, and brown rice cakes baked over charcoal are also exquisite. A delicious and good brown rice lunch, which makes you feel full of body and mind.

■ Genmaian

Address: 1-3-24 Hōriyuji Higashi, Ikaruga-cho, Ikoma-gun, Nara
Phone: 0745-74-1986
Opening hours: 11-15 (ends when sold out; reservation required at 5 days in advance in the night)
Closed: Wednesday (the next day if it is a public holiday)
Access: 10-minute walk from bus stop Chuguji-mae

Slowly enjoy the long-established taste of Kakinoha-zushi/Hirasou Horyuji-ten

Hirasō was founded in the first year of Bunkyu (1861). It is a long-established shop of Japanese local dish, Kakinoha-zushi, in the Nara Yoshino region. The main store is located in Yoshino. This is a dining space at the back of the stand in front of Horyuji Temple, and you can slowly taste Kakinoha-zushi. The recommended "Nara Lunch" 2100 yen is a set of four Kakinoha-zushi, Miwa Somen and Warabi mochi. It is served in dishes unique to Nara.

You can also taste shaved ice here, and the name "Kaki-Gori" (offered only in the summer), which has a rich sweet syrup of Fuyu-gaki, which is a specialty of Nara, is also very popular. Kakinoha-zushi and Kaki-gori to be tasted at the front of Horyuji Temple, which also has the famous phrase "Kaki kueba...". Maybe good for the commemorations of the Ikaruga trip.

■ Hiraso Horyuji-ten

Address: 1-8-40 Horyuji, Ikaruga-cho, Ikoma-gun, Nara
Phone: 0745-75-1110
Opening hours: 11-15 o'clock (LO); sales are 10-16 o'clock (Saturday, Sunday, public holidays-17 o'clock)
Closed: No Closed
Access: 1 minute walk from the bus stop Horyuji-sando

• This article is created based on the contents of "Rurubu Information Edition" or "Rurubu & more." "Rurubu +".
• The data listed are as of March 2025. Prices, business hours, regular holidays, menus, etc. may change or may not be available due to temporary holidays. Please check in advance when using it, as the content may change.
• The holiday of stores and facilities omits the year-end holiday, Obon holiday, Golden Week, and temporary holidays in principle.
• The published fees are in principle the fee including consumption tax that we have confirmed at the time of the interview, and the entrance fee is the adult fee if there is no special mention.
• In principle, the published times are open (hall) to closed (hall). Please note that the last order or entrance (hall) time is 30 minutes to 1 hour before the normal closing (hall) time. The last order is denoted LO.
• For the spring quality and efficacy of the hot springs listed, manuscripts are prepared based on answers from each facility.