Eat Like a Local

If you want to experience life like a local, go to a noodle place. You’ll see office workers on their lunch breaks, friends grabbing a quick bite while catching up, families out to dinner, and coworkers unwinding after a long day in the office. The simplicity of noodle dishes allows subtle regional variations to shine, while the versatility of being served warm or cold makes them reliable options for any season. Combined with its role as a pillar of ordinary life, a noodle shop is one of the best places for an understated experience of local flavor and an intimate glimpse into life in the area.

Make it Matsusaka-Style

One style of noodles unique to Matsusaka is a twist on the vintage chuka soba (literally “Chinese-style noodles”), the precursor to modern ramen. While typical chuka soba uses a simple shoyu or shio broth, Matsusaka’s style features a broth enhanced with seafood-based dashi (some with upwards of seven different dried and fresh ingredients) and adds a heaping serving of sliced cabbage, carrots, and other umami vegetables on top. In addition to chuka soba, you’ll find classic noodle dishes like udon and buckwheat soba with a variety of toppings and sides, like crispy vegetable or shrimp tempura. Try modern variations like the Matsusaka local's favorite, curry udon, or dishes featuring the signature Matsusaka beef.

What Locals Recommend

Fujiya

Established in 1929, Fujiya was one of the first restaurants to put chuka soba on a menu in Matsusaka. Their signature chuka soba set the precedent for Matsusaka-style chuka soba with its unique seafood-based dashi broth and extra vegetables. Their menu includes special items like Matsusaka beef chuka soba, seasonal chilled chuka soba, and a Fujiya original creation: a thick, savory gravy with mixed vegetables poured over crunchy yakisoba. You’ll be hard pressed to find a Matsusaka resident who doesn’t know of Fujiya—their established reputation and consistent quality keep families coming generation after generation.

Fujiya
Address: 1900 Nakamachi, Matsusaka, Mie (Google Maps)
Phone: +81 0598-23-9605
Hours: 11:00 - 14:30, 16:00 - 19:00 (Closes 18:00 on Weekends and Holidays)
Closed: Every Thursday
Website: https://www.e-228.com/sp/

Sarashina

Another one of Matsusaka’s original chuka soba places, Sarashina has been beloved by the community since its establishment in 1925. Their popular curry chuka soba, featuring Matsusaka-style chuka soba ingredients drowned in a creamy curry broth, is top of the menu alongside their standard chuka soba. Sarashina also offers seasonal buckwheat soba, like a savory duck broth soba or comforting hot-pot style soba in the cold winter months, or a natto and dried bonito soba for the summer. Their newest menu provides set options that combine refreshing sashimi rice bowls with a serving of soba. For dessert, try the roasted buckwheat flavored soba-no-mi ice cream, made from the same buckwheat in soba.

Sarashina
Address: 84-6 Sotogomagaricho, Matsusaka, Mie (Google Maps)
Phone: +81 0598-21-1168
Hours: Lunch 11:00-15:00 (Last order 14:45), Dinner 17:00-20:30 (Last order 20:15)
Closed: Every Tuesday
Website: https://www.instagram.com/matsusaka_sarashina/

Ohnishi

A sweet curry broth made of roux blended with dashi serves as the backdrop for hand-kneaded, hand-cut wheat udon noodles with the perfect chewy bite in the popular curry udon at this hidden gem restaurant. Choose from an extensive menu, including curry udon topped with Matsusaka beef, chicken, shrimp tempura, or pork cutlets. If you’re feeling something a little simpler, Ohnishi provides classic options for clear broth udon dishes. Take a leisurely stroll around the beloved community park just outside the establishment after your meal to stave away the food coma.

Ohnishi
Address: 772-15 Kawaimachi, Matsusaka, Mie
Phone: +81 0598-26-3315
Hours: Lunch 11:00 - 14:00 (Last order 13:45), Dinner 17:00 - 20:00
Closed: Every Wednesday

Aoyagi

Owned and run by one of the most reputable Matsusaka beef restaurants in the city, Aoyagi is the place for a casual meal of Matsusaka beef for a reasonable price. Their standard menu features udon in a simmering Matsusaka beef broth, topped with tender cuts of Matsusaka beef, with options for ginger-simmered ground Matsusaka beef on the side in a rice ball or in inari sushi. Aoyagi’s central location near the city’s historic residences and the Matsusaka Castle Ruins being a short walk away makes it the perfect lunch option on a day spent touring the downtown district’s best sights.

Aoyagi
Address: 1657 Uomachi, Matsusaka, Mie (Google Maps)
Phone: +81 0598-22-1808
Hours: 10:00-16:30 (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays), 10:00-14:30 (Sundays)
Closed: Every Monday, Thursday, and Sunday
Website: Official website, official Instagram