Restaurants and Bars

With regards to dining and drinking, Nagasaki may not be in the same group as some of the larger Japanese cities like Tokyo, but there are still plenty of great places to eat and drink the night away. Just remember to pace yourself! After a night of eating and drinking, the city's many steep hills can pose a formidable challenge to even the most fit.

Hamanomachi

For a wide range of casual dining options, the Hamanomachi Arcade is a great place to start. This strip and Kanko-dori, which crosses it, has dozens of restaurants, coffee shops, diners and cafes. You should not hesitate to wander down the side streets here, as many are packed with tastes to explore. Geographically the heart of the Nagasaki, this area is especially convenient for those who are staying near the city center.

If you want to forget manners and get a little greasy, try an iizakaya, a Japanese-style pub. Kyabetsu is a popular place for this style of Japanese bar food; however, there are many others.  Just enter any store with red paper lanterns hanging outside. Or if the lounge-type environment is more to your liking, the Nagasaki Building at the edge of the Hamanomachi region has a number of recommended places. Cocktail Bar Joy is the most popular of the several lounges in the building, but Bar g Soul is more likely to attract youth, while the Suntory Jigger Bar on the second floor is appropriate for just about anyone.

One street to the north, Bar 10c, is popular amongst those who like sipping elegant cocktails, and one street beyond that, there are two other drinking spots of considerable popularity: Fanfan and Panic Paradise. If you are in your 20s, you may want to keep going north a couple of streets. Along this strip lies the legendary Ayer's Rock, where local youth gather to drink and dance to hip-hop sounds.

Shianbashi

An area popular among adults is a strip that runs through Shianbashi called Gourmet Street. This area is interspersed with many bars, snack stands, and a number of Japanese restaurants, many of which stay open late. For traditional local cuisine, Ryotei Kagetsu is one of the nicest Japanese restaurants in the city. You will need a reservation and money to burn here but the ambiance and presentation of the food is as excellent as the cuisine itself. Alternatively, an excellent quasi-Japanese restaurant is the Steak House Okano. This highly regarded restaurant is renowned for both the quality of the food and wine and its pleasant interior.

But dining isn't the only thing to do in this popular district.  Many people head here after dinner for the nightlife at places like Piano Bar Zucchini and the exceptional Inaka.

Shinchi-machi

The most well-known area to dine in Nagasaki is China Town. Many visitors come to Nagasaki with dinner here at the top of their agenda, and for good reason. Along the crisscross of the streets that define China Town, you will find a dozen or so restaurants, some quite luxurious, others rather cheap. It was the Chinese who introduced Nagasaki's nationally famous staple dish, champon. This is a soup and noodle dish, also well known because sumo wrestlers consume it in large quantities. Another popular Chinese dish is the ubiquitous gyoza. You will not find a Chinese restaurant that doesn't have these on the menu. If you want to try one of the more formal, expensive (though still not exorbitant) restaurants then Kyokaen is a good place to start, with Pink Bloom Garden being another option for fine Chinese dining. Shinwaroh on the corner is fairly good, too, as is Kohzanroh, and for as casual as Chinese gets, visit Sanseigo.