Tourists visiting Japan, especially for the first time, often have itineraries whose cities include a handful of the top names – Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima – but many of Japan’s smaller cities hold just as much charm. Even prior to Covid-19, domestic travel has always been a popular pastime for locals whose prefectures have unique points of interest that draw travellers, even from just the next province over.

The city of Okayama is no different, though this took a bit of research to learn. Keen to boost the number of stops using our 7-day JR West Sanyo-San’in Pass, Okayama came on our radar when we learned that of their most notable agricultural products, two would be coming into fruit-picking season just at the time of our visit in June: grapes and peaches. The out-of-the-way mountainous farm locations made it difficult to work into a tight 7-day schedule, but the charm of what Okayama had to offer secured it a 1-day spot in our schedules.

Okayama for a Visit

Okayama’s famed peaches is a central selling point of the city’s tourism campaign, thanks to the city also being the setting for the famous Japanese folklore surrounding a boy named Momotarou (桃太郎). His name, meaning roughly “Peach boy” in English, is derived from him having been born from a giant peach. As such, you can find statues depicting Momotarou and his companions on their adventures all throughout the city. One of its most popular souvenirs to take home is kibidango millet dumplings (黍団子), the snack from his mother which won the friendship of his famous companions. It’s similar to mochi glutinous rice dumplings with its soft, chewy texture, and variations on flavours and fillings can be found at souvenir stores near popular tourist locations.

We paid a visit to the Okayama Korakuen Garden (岡山後楽園) and the Okayama Castle (岡山城), which are both very popular places to visit. They’re close by to each other and within walking distance from the Shiroshita Tram Station (城下駅). There are also tea houses dotted throughout the garden, meaning there are plenty of options for refreshments during the day – traditional Japanese meals and snacks, ice cream for hot weather, and hot tea for when it’s cold. There are plenty of other attractions in or around Okayama City which makes it great for those looking for stops outside of the most famous cities, whether or not you stay a night.

Okayama’s Speciality Dishes

It wouldn’t be Twinspeak without us gorging on some of Okayama’s local speciality dishes, and thanks to the prefecture’s proximity to both mountainous land and sea, they boast plenty of good eats.

Fish

Okayama has many dishes that feature some of their most popular locally-caught fish. These include tai (sea bream), saba (mackerel), sawara (Spanish mackerel), and mamakari (herring), and can be eaten cooked or raw, as part of an everyday meal or during special occasions. Some of these dishes may be seasonal or depend on the catch of the day, but you can expect to find seafood easily in Okayama.

Fukuzushi (福寿司)

With so many options but such stomach capacity, it was difficult to narrow down which of the many seafood dishes we would sample in Okayama. We visited Fukuzushi, a small sushi restaurant located a few minutes’ walk from Okayama Station, with the hopes of sampling some of the local fish without blowing our budget. The menu is fairly extensive, offering a range of sushi, sashimi, and meal options like rice bowls, bento boxes, tempura fritters, and set meals. There are a number of assorted sushi options which gives you the opportunity to sample a little bit of everything, and all for a very reasonable price.

We opted to try the mamakarizushi herring sushi (ままかりずし; ¥200 or US$1.90 each) and the sawaradon Spanish mackerel rice bowl (さわら丼; ¥1,500; US$14.40), as well as a plate of assorted sushi. The herring came as nigiri, or a slice of raw fish on top of a small ball of rice. This can be dipped lightly into the soy sauce and is typically eaten in one bite. The herring was delicately fragrant, most closely described as the flavour of fish oil that hardly as pungent or fishy as supplement tablets. Rather than the firm texture of other sashimi, the texture of the flesh had a slight flake to it, almost as if it had been cooked already. It’s absolutely delicious, and it’s convenient to be able to order by the piece.

The quality of the seafood is fantastic, the price is very reasonable, and thanks to its proximity to the main JR station in central Okayama, Fukuzushi is an ideal restaurant to visit for those interested in trying fish besides salmon and tuna. This restaurant is Jos’ pick for good eats.

Demikatsu-don Demi-Glace Pork Cutlet Rice Bowls (デミカツ丼)

One interesting Okayama specialty is actually the result of a combination of two youshoku (洋食), or western-influenced Japanese dishes, tonkatsu crumbed fried pork cutlets (とんかつ) and demi-glace sauce. A demi-glace is a rich, brown sauce originating from France roughly consisting of a beef stock and some tomato paste, all reduced and thickened with a brown roux.

This sauce is popular in Japan on youshoku dishes such as Hamburg steaks (ハンバーグステーキ) or on some versions of omurice rice omelettes (オムライス). We decided to visit the restaurant from where the demikatsu-don (デミカツ丼), a rice bowl topped with pork cutlet and demi-glace sauce, originated.

Ajitsukasa Nomura (味司 野村（のむら))

As mention, Ajitsukasa is the origin of the demi-glace pork cutlet, though there are other restaurants throughout Okayama who serve their own variations. The menu for the restaurant is very limited, consisting of different sizes of the demi-glace pork cutlet bowl on rice or their tamago-toji katsudon (玉子とじカツ丼), which is a pork cutlet cooked into a sort of omelette with onions. You can also choose either pork tenderloin (ヒレ) or pork loin (ロース), with the former being a little more expensive. We opted for the ⅔ size of pork loin for each of the demi-glace cutlet and the egg cutlet, which was each ¥700 (US$6.70).

The pork cutlet was delicious, crispy despite the sauce and tender. The demi-glace sauce was very dark and rich, very savoury, sweet, and a little fruity, similarly to a Worcestershire sauce. Sitting on top some sweet cabbage and fluffy rice, it’s hearty, rich, and very satisfying.

The egg pork cutlet was much lighter in flavour than the demi-glace though still plenty savoury with the dashi stock and soy sauce. The beaten egg was tender and fluffy, and while the pork cutlet was no longer very crispy it wasn’t any less enjoyable. The best part about the bowl was the rice, which was soaked in the seasonings, fluffy and flavourful and very tasty. While the demi-glace is good for people who like stronger flavours, the egg pork cutlet is great for people who prefer a lighter seasoning.

Parfait (パルフェ or パフェ)

As mentioned, Okayama grows a lot of fruit, and are very proud of what they produce. Besides packaging their fruit up in beautiful boxes and shipping them off to expensive department stores or supermarkets, one of the ways they showcase what they grow is by putting them into a popular dessert in Japan, the fruit parfait (フルーツパルフェ). Similarly to the American style of parfaits, they consist of layers of ingredients such as cake, whipped cream, fresh fruit, ice cream, and cornflakes. These are popular in cafés and in family restaurants, especially those that serve youshoku western-style dishes.

Okayama is so proud of their parfaits that they have a dedicated site that lists some of the most famous eateries whose menus feature parfaits, ranging from small dessert stores to big hotels, and even fruit stores who make value-added products. You can visit their site (Japanese / English) for a comprehensive list of eateries who have parfaits that change seasonally, featuring fresh Japanese fruits.

URBANO – ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel

There are plenty of places to visit for a good fruit parfait, and we opted for one close to our AirBnb – the URBANO restaurant at the ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel, located just across from the west gate of Okayama Station. URBANO has fruit parfait for around ¥1,500 (US$14.40), though there can be different prices and options, as it’s a highly seasonal product. During our visit in early June of 2019, they offered a standard seasonal green melon parfait at ¥1,500, and a deluxe one at ¥4,000 (US$38), which had to be booked online 2 days in advance. We recommend either making reservations for the restaurant, who serves the parfait in the afternoon between 2.30pm-5.00pm, or coming early to secure seating.

We’ve always known that Japan takes great pride in their agriculture, and it’s reflected in the quality of their fruit. The melon in our parfait, though not exceptionally sweet, was fragrant and very juicy. The parfait ingredients were not necessarily expensive to produce, but there were many components, including blueberries, sticks of chocolate, a butter cookie, vanilla ice cream, sorbet with pop rocks, a cube of sponge cake, layers of cream, fruit puree, green jelly, a scoop of red beans, and all topped with a cherry. Despite the size, the parfait was neither too rich nor too sweet, made lighter by the mild jelly, fresh fruit, and the refreshing sorbet. It was delicious, and a great experience for a parfait if we’re only to have one in Japan.

We also ordered a slice of the strawberry shortcake from the dessert selection (¥750; US$7.20), which had delightfully fluffy layers of sponge cake and whipped cream, and exceptionally fragrant strawberries, despite being out of strawberry season. The cake was definitely not worth its price, but it was still a delicious dessert to end our afternoon.

If you’re thinking of visiting Japan we highly recommend getting a Japan Rail Pass and pocket WiFi for stress-free travel! You can check out our post on choosing the best JR Pass for you, or click here to purchase a pass on the JRPass.com website. Purchases made using our affiliate link won’t cost extra, but we earn commissions which help to support us as small creators.