Kaisentonya Sannomiya Seriichi is a recommendable Kobe izakaya because it offers a menu of seafood straight from Japan’s representative ports. These include fishing ports in Wakayama, Nagasaki, Hokkaido, Aomori, and Miyagi.

Thanks to the longstanding achievements and negotiations made by the head chef, he’s able to buy ingredients directly from the fishermen. The restaurant’s biggest characteristic is that it serves top-quality seafood for very low prices.

It’s located right in-between Sannomiya and Motomachi. You can find it on the first basement floor of a building on a road facing the northside of the JR line.

The pleasant aroma of seawater hits you upon entering the restaurant. Freshly caught fish and shellfish are sent in while they’re still alive and let go into the restaurant’s fish tank. When the restaurant gets an order, they catch the fish again and prepare it. Here you can enjoy the original umami and sweetness of seafood along with its firm texture.

Named after the Japanese word seri - a method of bidding for items and products, this restaurant is unique for occasionally holding auctions. Seri at a fish market is recreated by bringing in fresh catches of the day from seven major fishing ports in Japan. Participants include the northern port of Hokkaido all the way down to the southern port of Kagoshima.

At this entertaining recreation, you can enjoy feeling like you’re at an actual fish market.

It’s nice to have so many options for private rooms. Some of these include table seating, horigotatsu (a traditional Japanese table on a recessed floor), completely private rooms with walls and a door, and even semi-private rooms partitioned off with bamboo blinds. Many types of rooms are available with their capacity ranging from three to 25 people. You can choose one that fits your situation and needs.

The most popular item on the menu is the overflowing salmon roe rice bowl. Large pieces of Hokkaido roe from freshly caught salmon are steeped thoroughly to create a refined flavor. In addition to the regular-sized bowl, there’s a mini bowl (1,680 yen) and a mega-sized bowl (4,580 yen).

Being able to heartily eat sea urchin is what makes this restaurant unique. Sea urchin <shabu-shabu|i@>, a hotpot where thin slices of meat and vegetables are dipped into a broth, extravagantly uses a direct shipment of high-quality sea urchin from Hokkaido.

You can enjoy this limited specialty by dipping raw snow crab, paradise prawn sashimi, sea bream, and amberjack into the sea urchin soup. Rice porridge that’s made from this soup is also recommended. Sea urchin and rice from Tanba City in Hyogo Prefecture are used to make sea urchin pot rice.

In addition to this, there’s the luxurious dish of beef-wrapped sea urchin nigiri sushi. For this dish, you’ll find a direct shipment of sea urchin from Hokkaido wrapped in beef.

*All prices shown exclude tax.

Covid-19 Countermeasures
This restaurant has alcohol disinfectants and other disinfecting liquids, ventilates, and separates its seating areas with rolling screens and bamboo blinds. The countermeasures below are also taken.

Disinfection, sterilization, and cleaning of shop and facilities / Sanitizer installed / Disinfected after each guest leaves / Ventilation measures in place / Staff wear masks, gargle, wash hands regularly, and monitor body temperature / Limited capacity / increased space between seats / Reservations required with restricted admission / Entry declined to anyone who is feeling unwell

At Wakanoshizuku Sannomiya, it is recommended that you try Japanese Black beef and beef tongue shabu-shabu with the restaurant’s secret special sauce. It has good accessibility being only a two to five-minute walk from every line of Sannomiya Station.

The 18 private rooms incorporate the atmosphere of machiya - traditional wooden townhouses in Japan. These rooms all have different concepts and can be used from two guests at a time.

Being able to enjoy a meal in a relaxing atmosphere is a characteristic of this restaurant. All rooms embody the calm, traditional Japanese aesthetic by incorporating Japanese-style lighting as well as latticework. Also, horigotatsu and table seating options are available.

Whether it’s for a quick drink or for when you want to take time to enjoy a meal, this is a space for many occasions. As it’s an entirely private room with a door, you can also acquire a personal space as a group.

A characteristic of this dining experience is that all single item dishes are available at a very reasonable 380 yen. A dish that we recommend the most is the mouth-watering Chicken Nanban, deep-fried chicken generously dressed in tartar sauce.

This delightful Kobe izakaya also provides an all-you-can-eat course for their specialty of shabu-shabu. You can enjoy the high-quality umami of the carefully selected meat in the simply prepared dashi-a Japanese soup stock made from fish and kelp.

There are many options for the all-you-can-eat courses ranging from inexpensive ones with great cost performance to options that include beef, pork, chicken, and even Japanese Black beef. In addition to hotpot, there’s a large selection of side dishes. This is great because you can fully enjoy this dining experience without getting bored of the menu.

■120-minute All-you-can-eat course (from 2,680 yen per person, last orders are 30-minutes before the course ends)

*All prices shown exclude tax.

*As of January 14th, 2021, this restaurant has been temporarily closed to prevent further spread of Covid-19. Please check for details of reopening on the restaurant’s official website.

Covid-19 Countermeasures
Temperature check for customers and employees / Sanitizer installed / Coin trays used / Staff wear masks, gargle, wash hands regularly, and monitor body temperature / Entry declined to anyone who is feeling unwell/Disinfection, sterilization, and cleaning of shop and facilities / Disinfected after each guest leaves / Ventilation measures in place / Limited capacity / increased space between seats

Subaru, a Kobe izakaya that made its grand opening in October of 2020, has great accessibility, being located a two to five-minute walk from every line of Sannomiya Station.

The biggest characteristic of this restaurant is that it provides a range of entrees, including sumptuous meat dishes and seafood dishes that use a direct shipment of fish from the port. In addition to this, it also offers completely private rooms that can be used for many occasions. Another great aspect is that these rooms are separated by a door, so you can acquire a private space as a couple or a group.

Let’s take a look at some of these private rooms. The photo above shows a relaxing, completely private room for two with sofa seating and a door. It is perfect for couples.

This private room with table seating has a capacity of four people, but you can also use the room spaciously with two people. With its relaxing ambiance, this room is like a secret hideaway.

This is a stylish private room that fits eight, available to use for many occasions.

This room fits up to ten people and has table seating. Also, the other private rooms at this Kobe izakaya accommodate small, medium-sized, and large groups. The capacity for these rooms ranges from two to fifty people. Here you can find a space for any intended use. It’s easy to use because you can reserve just the room.

The dishes incorporate carefully selected meat and very fresh seafood chosen by the head chef himself. These ingredients are not overly seasoned and are prepared in a way so you may enjoy the original umami flavors.

Out of the many options, we recommend the sashimi assortment made from the daily direct shipment of fish from the fish market. The freshness is superb, and the fish is tender. There are also many options on the a la carte menu, such as the large catch platter.

The restaurant’s most popular option is the surf and turf course. You can enjoy a total of nine dishes with this luxurious course that serves a direct shipment of freshly caught seafood made into a sashimi assortment along with an aged aitchbone steak.

There are also reasonable courses starting from 2,980 yen, such as the eight-dish, long grilled beef nigiri sushi course, lemon miso hotpot course, or the umami and spice-filled Korean hotpot course. You can also find more extravagant courses that serve a total of 11 dishes. It’s nice to have so many options.

*All prices shown exclude tax.

Covid-19 Countermeasures
Disinfection, sterilization, and cleaning of shop and facilities / Sanitizer installed / Disinfected after each guest leaves / Ventilation measures in place / Coin trays used / Staff wear masks, gargle, wash hands regularly, and monitor body temperature / Limited capacity / increased space between seats / Entry declined to anyone who is feeling unwell

You can be at ease, given that each of these fine Kobe izakaya have firm countermeasures against Covid-19 as well as many options for private rooms. Please use these rooms for dinner after sightseeing in Kobe, for a date, or any other occasion.

*Due to the spread of Covid-19, there may be some changes regarding business hours, holidays, and service methods.