One very important theme of travel is finding and having good food and drink while you travel, and this very much influences how you feel about the entire trip.
So, we would like to strongly recommend that you to come to Yokogawa when you visit Hiroshima.
Yokogawa in Hiroshima City now has a catch phrase “Yokogawa, the Kingdom of Kanpai (Cheers!),” and this is where you can enjoy good food and drink!
Now, we are introducing a few bars and diners which won’t leave you disappointed.

The first one is “Nice☆Yukari” which opens at noon, and is a drink-while-standing style bar.

This bar is filled up with frequent customers and businessmen in the early evening every day.
Appealing points are the reasonable prices and various tasty foods cooked by Yukari, the owner of the bar.

Most of the menu items are nothing special, just ordinary food which is eaten at any Japanese home.
Yukari cooks dishes one by one with a frying pan, and it reminds us of our own mother standing in the kitchen.

▲Simmered cloud ear mushrooms with egg (from 300 yen for 2 people)

This is the simmered cloud ear mushrooms with egg, the special of the day.
This is very homey and simple dish, but the taste is so professional!

This bar even has standing-style dining, and many of the customers not only drink but also eat as well.
I totally understand why!
It is recommended to come to this bar early in the evening as you might not be able to find yourself a space late at night.

Nice☆Yukari
Address／2-5-21, Yokogawa-cho, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima
Access／3-minute-walk from JR Yokogawa Station or Hiroshima Dentetsu Line Yokogawa Station
Phone／082-292-0026
Open／12:00〜23:00（LO22:15）
Closed／Mondays, some Tuesdays
*Please check the schedule on Facebook

The second place is for serious eating and drinking.
“Gohan-ya (meal shop) Haru-chan” is a popular izakaya, and its lunch is also highly recommended.
A married couple runs this place.

▲Tomato filled with minced meat 580yen, Zucchini rolled with sliced meat 450yen, Kani-miso Gratin 580yen

Actually, regular customers often request food NOT on the menu, and they can accept your request if they have the ingredients there.
This kind of request can be accepted because the chef has a good cooking technique and culinary sense, right?

This is the one of the most popular dishes of Haru-chan, “Kani-miso Gratin.”
Haru-chan style is dipping a thinly sliced baguette into this thick and tasty cream of crab miso.

All of the dishes served at Haru-chan are really good with beer, sake, or wine.
But the owner’s recommendation is Japanese sake, and you can see how much he loves sake if you look at the line-up of cold-served sake bottles piled into the fridge!

*We recommend making a reservation beforehand when you plan to visit there as a group and/or on Fridays and Saturdays.

Gohan-ya Haru-chan
Address／2-14-1, Yokogawa-cho, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima
Access／6-minute-walk from JR Yokogawa Station or Hiroshima Dentetsu Line Yokogawa Station
Phone／082-294-5245
Open／11:30〜13:30, 18:00〜23:00
Closed／Sundays and National holidays

The last place is the newcomer, opened in May 2019, “Trois Copain.”
This place is run by a liquor store which deals in more than 1,000 kinds of wine from all over the world.

The drinking-while-standing counter is pay as you go, and the price is a little bit cheaper than having drinks at a table.

There is a wine cellar on the ground floor, and maybe it is fun for you to choose the wine for the night even though there is a 1,000 yen opening fee.
Ask the chef for his advice if you cannot choose one by yourself.

1Fは立ち飲みスペース以外に2人掛けのテーブル席が3つ、そして2Fは写真の通り落ち着きのある空間に4人掛けのテーブル席が4つあります。こちらは予約も可能なので、ゆっくりしたいときは2階席を予約するのがおすすめです。

The second floor has a very calm and composed atmosphere.
You can make a reservation for the seat on this floor, so if you would like to relax and take your time there, reserve your seat and table in advance.

Trois Copain
Address／3-3-2, Yokogawa-cho, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima
Access／2-minute-walk from JR Yokogawa Station or Hiroshima Dentetsu Line Yokogawa Station
Open／17:00～24:00（L.O.23:30）
Closed／Sundays, and one random Monday each month
Phone／082-942-1635

How do you like it?
These 3 shops are truly highly recommended places by a “hard drinking” writer, and she recommends all of these places with confidence.
When you come to Hiroshima, you should go to Yokogawa and drink a few toasts!

Photographs and text by Akiko Isonaga