Robata RuBi An
52 Chamachi, Yonago, Tottori
Tel. (81) 08 59 32 0021
Opening Hours: Mon-Sat 18:00-22:00; Closed Sunday

Mr. Hirofumi Gion took over his father’s coffee house and made it into a Robata-style restaurant, specializing in fresh seafood, as he had the foresight to see that too many coffee shops would be opening in the area. He only offers daily catches of fresh seafood and when the catch runs out – he closes.

Agora Restaurant

Nogawa Bldg. 1st Flr., 14 Chamachi, Yonago, Tottori
Tel. 0859-32-2267
Opening Hours: 11:30 – 14:00  18:00 – 21:30 Closed Monday

Agora is a fairly recent addition to the dining scene in Yonago, along with Cous-Cous and some others. It is a one man operation with the chef acting also as waiter, wine steward, table runner, pantry man, and dishwasher. Granted, it is one of many chef owned micro-restaurants popping up all over Japan and only has five seats at the counter in front of the open kitchen and one table seating a maximum of four however, it takes a lot of precision to get all of the timing right – and he does. The cooking is very good and as I have just stated, there was no real waits for courses to arrive. Bravo!

Bransh Avenue, Ellmole 1st Street, Kakubancho, Yonago City, 683-0812, Tottori Pref.

Tel. 0859-22-5850

Sanpou means “Three Treasures” and Chef Jan Nadatani serves chicken in every conceivable way. If you feel like having chicken this is the destination and all of the recipes have survived the test of time.

Local Sake

Home made pickles to accompany the beer and sake

Chicken gizzards from what we know are reliable birds

Fried chicken with just a light dusting of coating

Bento Box chicken

One of the highlights of a springtime visit to Southern Japan is the opportunity to taste tiny, transparent, freshwater whitefish and eat them while still alive as they squirm in a mixture of beaten egg and soy sauce. Quite curiously, while they put up a tremendous fight to resist being eaten, once into the mouth they stop movement immediately. They were able to survive swimming in the sauce for over ten minutes, slowly turning from transparent to a light red color as they absorbed the color of the liquid. The chance to indulge in this delight comes but once a year for a two week period as the fish spawn. I realize that this is not for everyone, as even some of the Japanese nationals in our party were repelled at the sight of the writhing mass.
Raw prawns were in the pink of condition and sweet to the taste and in the many tanks were turtles and Fugu (Balloon fish) along with a really unattractive shell called Akabe.
The thick and crispy Nori (dried seaweed) had a praiseworthy flavor and when wrapped around crab tomalley and sushi rice there could not have been a more admirable finish to this gastronomic dinner.