Shiroyama Honten

Ever have those restaurants that you've only stumbled upon through luck? Shiroyama Honten is that restaurant for us. We were showing some visiting friends around our area of Minamiuonuma and had just visited Hakkaisan Ropeway, but found ourselves getting hungry for lunch. Enter Shiroyama Honten - it was one of the first restaurants we passed on our drive back home, and what a pleasant discovery it was!

Shiroyama Honten is labeled as a Chinese restaurant, but it's a bit of Chinese-Japanese fusion if you will. There are plenty of dishes on offer, including various types of ramen, fried rice, a delicious mapo tofu (tofu in a spicy sauce), char siu pork and more. The char siu pork is mind blowingly good - it literally melts in your mouth. The menu is only in Japanese, however you will find a number of pictures on it, so for certain menu items you can just point and order. Otherwise, Google Translate - or a pal who can read Japanese - is your friend!

The eats are delicious, and the views are just as good. The large windows showcase the natural beauty of the surrounding mountain ranges, including the iconic Mt. Hakkai itself. It's the kind of restaurant where you'll find yourself wanting to linger because of just how pleasant the scenery is.

The restaurant is open from 11.30 am until 7.30 pm daily but they're closed on Wednesdays, so bear this in mind if you're planning to visit. They also only accept cash - make sure to have some yen on you!