10 Places Where Locals Love to Eat in Chiba

Mohachi Sushi gave Chiba its reputation as the prefecture to head for if you're looking to be served food in large portions. Inaka sushi, which is often introduced on TV, is a set of nigiri that includes mackerel sushi using a whole fish, medium fatty tuna, salmon roe, and a special unrolled thick omelette. The toppings are large, making this a hearty dish. It’s definitely Instagrammable, but what makes it different from a mere extra-large dish is its history. 

Founded in the Edo period, the restaurant is now in its 7th generation. It uses fresh seafood from Minamiboso and local Nagasa rice, and the eggs used for the thick omelette are also from the Boso Peninsula. It’s a bit out of the way in Tateyama, but it’s more than worth making the effort to visit. It’s also completely smoke-free, so families with children can eat here with peace of mind.

Kogureya is always included among lists of Japan’s top eel restaurants. One thing to note when dining here is that you can’t place an additional order of eel dishes no matter how much you crave for it, so make sure you order everything you want. Dishes on the menu include eel rice box, grilled eel without sauce, and skewered eel innards. Even though it’s a famous restaurant, the prices are reasonable. 

If you’re looking for a snack to go with alcoholic drinks, try the skewered chicken using branded Hyuga chicken with a secret sauce. The eel served here is tender and the fragrant sauce it's served with is beautiful. The flavours on offer here more than compensate for the journey. Be prepared to wait at least 30 minutes, though, as dishes are made to order.

Sasuke Shokudo, in the Uchibo area of Futtsu, is a popular restaurant that serves one of Japan’s best fried horse mackerel dishes. The standout dish is fried Ohgon horse mackerel. Ohgon horse mackerel is a branded fish that’s landed at the local Kanaya Fishing Port. It grows in a rich environment in the bay to a considerable size and has an excellent flavour and fat content. 

The fried horse mackerel set meal comes with 5 pieces of large fried Ohgon horse mackerel. It’s a hearty but very affordable dish. The fish is soft and juicy, with a crispy breadcrumb coating. It’s easy to see why customers keep coming back. The Sasuke set meal that comes with sashimi and 3 pieces of fried horse mackerel is very popular. Sasuke Shokudo is a 5-minute walk from Hamakanaya Port, a ferry terminal in Tokyo Bay. You might as well combine a meal here with a trip on a car ferry.

Takeyabu Kashiwa Honten is a soba noodle restaurant in a house located on a hill overlooking Lake Tega. It was founded by Mr Takeo Abe, who was a leading figure in handmade soba-noodle-making using housemade buckwheat flour. He’s called the originator of modern buckwheat noodle restaurants. Many people who learned soba-noodle-making at this restaurant went on to start their own businesses and are now known as soba masters in their own right.

Here you’ll find inaka soba using buckwheat specially cultivated in Kurohime Kogen, hand-ground with a stone mill, which has a popping texture, or tempura soba served with mixed shrimp tempura. This mysterious space is like a hermitage or traditional Japanese-style house and it has a total of 32 seats. Forget about the time and relax as you enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime soba experience.

Ushimaru is an Italian restaurant that locals consider among the best restaurants in Chiba. Chef Uchiya is passionate about ingredients from Chiba and purchases the very best seasonal ingredients every morning. The restaurant offers only course meals for both lunch and dinner. 

You can enjoy about 13 dishes including appetizers with seasonal onion from Shirako, surf clam from Kujukuri, mackerel from Choshi lightly roasted in straw fire, housemade focaccia, and charcoal-grilled Diamond Pork from Tomisato. The nearest station is JR Matsuo Station. A provincial building in the countryside marks the spot. It’s best to make a reservation at least 2 weeks in advance.

Sitar opened in Kemigawa, Chiba in 1981, becoming a pioneer of Indian restaurants in Japan. Dishes with ingredients and spices adjusted to suit the Japanese palate quickly became popular, bringing this restaurant enthusiastic fans nationwide. 

It’s so popular that there’s often a long queue at lunchtime on weekends and holidays. The tandoori lunch set that comes with curry, naan, rice, tandoori chicken and dessert, is a great choice. Okinawan sea salt is used for the fluffy naan bread, which is one of many highlights. The restaurant also sells Indian spices, so have a look for some unfamiliar spices if you’re searching for souvenirs.

Ristorante Sakura is a popular Italian restaurant in Chiba known for its relaxing setting and where you can dine in style. The restaurant is often fully booked for a month in advance. You can reach it after a 15-minute walk from JR Chiba Station – it’s a bit out of the away, which gives it its calm hideaway-like atmosphere. Although it’s a luxury restaurant that serves course meals costing about 10,000 yen at dinnertime, Ristorante Sakura offers lunch at reasonable prices. 

The course meal includes excellent dishes consciously using seasonal ingredients from Chiba, such as corn soup using corn from Chiba, risotto of sweetfish and edamame, and sautéed Yachiyo black beef from Asahi. They softly heat the meat at a low temperature and brown it on a charcoal fire. This is a special restaurant for a special occasion, the kind of place where you’ll want to look through the extensive wine list and pick out a gem. Private rooms are also available.

Ramen Hachibei is in an isolated area and became famous as Japan's most remote ramen restaurant. Curious visitors stumbled upon it and became fans of its ramen. It’s in a traditional Japanese house located in an area that looks unexplored. Trains and buses are not frequent, and it even takes a 15-minute drive on the mountainous road from the motorway exit. 

The Arirang ramen served here has become famous and is considered as one of the best 3 ramen in Chiba. Another popular dish is Arirang char siu, which is with plenty of onion, pork, and garlic chives, and you’ll be asked how spicy you’d like your red soup to be. A bowl of thick noodles topped with thick slices of grilled pork belly (char siu) is superb. Many visitors come on the weekends while taking a drive, and its inconvenient location oddly attracts more and more diners.

Club 33 is a members-only restaurant where you can enjoy a meal while looking at the Cinderella Castle of Tokyo Disneyland right ahead. Directors and major shareholders of sponsor companies of Oriental Land, which manages Tokyo Disney Resort, can become members. And members need to make a reservation for you to have a meal here. 

A door marked “33” in the World Bazaar in Tokyo Disneyland opens when you give the reservation name. It only serves course meals, and it’s the only restaurant in Tokyo Disneyland that serves alcohol. This restaurant is like a dream where everyone wishes to go if there’s an opportunity. If you ever get the chance to visit, you’ll want to fully enjoy the exclusive atmosphere.

Oshimaya has been featured on TV and magazines many times for offering Japan’s best pork cutlet rice bowl (katsudon). It’s actually a soba noodle restaurant, but 90% of customers order the delicious pork cutlet rice bowl. The famous bowl is a big meal made with thick slices of the Higashi no Takumi branded pork from Katori, Chiba. Pork tenderloin cutlet rice bowl is made with Imobuta Pork from Chiba, which was exhibited at the Expo Milan, and shows the results of changing the production area according to the quality of the meat. 

Both dishes present an exquisite harmony of its runny soft-boiled egg, delicious rice, and sweet sauce. It’s about 3 km from the nearest Yachiyo Station, and more and more customers are visiting the restaurant as a cycling destination. The warm hospitality of the landlady is another reason for its popularity.