Yossou Food Review

Yossou Nagasaki: Best place for Chawanmushi

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Last updated on April 27th, 2024

It’s worth a try to go to a place like Yossou Nagasaki for a true Japanese dining experience. This place specializes in chawanmushi for over 150 years. Highly recommended by the locals.

Dating back to 1866, Yossou (吉宗) is one of the best and oldest traditional restaurants in Nagasaki with a long history. It is famous and popular with locals and tourists alike for its local food. The highlight of their food is the chawanmushi (Japanese steamed egg custard), alongside other iconic dishes such as tri-color sushi, tempura, and sashimi. It was known as one of Japan’s first restaurants to sell Chawanmushi.

Check out our dining experience in Yossou, one of the great places for Nagasaki’s best food.

How To Get to Yossou

Yossou Nagasaki

Yossou is located just off the main shopping arcade of Hamanomachidori. The nearest tram stop is Kankadori Station. Once get off from the tram, enter the Kankodori Shopping Arcade and continue walking straight for a few minutes. Yossou will be on the right.

You can easily spot its historical exterior, with a row of big lanterns and food display so you won’t miss it!

Yossou Takeaway shop

Note that there is also one Yossou shop at Kankodori Shopping Arcade but this is only for takeout option.

Yossou, Nagasaki (吉宗)
Address; 8-9 Hamamachi, Nagasaki 850-0853, Nagasaki Prefecture
Opening Hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 14:30 and 17:00 to 20:00. Closed on Monday and Tuesday
Website: yossou.co.jp

Our food Visit to Yossou Nagasaki

Inside Yossou - Traditional Japanase Building

We came to Yossou for lunch during our visit to Nagasaki. It was around 13:30 and we were seated immediately without waiting. You might need to wait for a while if coming during peak lunch hours.

Once entered, we had to remove our footwear before proceeding to the upstair dining area. A staff would give you a wooden block to get your footwear back when you leave after the meal.

Yossou is quite huge with two cozy floors in a traditional Japanese building.

Tatami Seating at Yossou

The first floor has Western seating and counter seating for solo travelers. You will not need to take off your shoes if seated here.

While the second floor is bigger. You can either enjoy your meal at a Western-style seating or experience the traditional local culture by dining on the tatami floor on the second floor.

Western-style Seating at Yossou

We were seated at the section with a dining table and chairs on the second floor.

What to Order

How to order at Yossou

Ordering was smooth and easy with an electronic device attached to your table.

Just switch to English and it will list out all the menu and pictures. The Chawanmushi and tri-color sushi rice bowl are the must-eat for Yossou.

Yossou Chawanmushi set meal

We decided to go with the Chawanmushi set meal, which contained several dishes the restaurant is famous for, including their steamed egg custard, tri-color sushi rice bowl, as well as a few other small vegetable side dishes.

Yossou Ohitorimae

While another set is Ohitorimae which comes with only Chawanmushi and a tri-color sushi rice bowl.

Tri-color Sushi Rice Bowl

Tri-color Sushi Rice Bowl

The tri-color sushi rice bowl was also very delicious. It consists of shredded dried shrimp floss (pink), egg shreds (yellow), and minced pork or vegetables (brown), all on a bed of steamed rice.

Yossou Tri-color Sushi Rice Bowl

The portion was generous and the quality of the ingredients was so fresh. This was an interesting dish and very Japanese. It is good and comforting but not so much to our taste. Probably very Japanese. Still, a great dining experience!

Smoothest Chawanmushi

Yossou Chawanmushi

Our set comes with the Chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し), which is the highlight of the meal. The canwanmushi is really good, probably the best I’ve ever had. The texture was very silky smooth and it just slid down your throat. The size is also very big and is twice larger than any other places we had.

Yossou are very generous with the other ingredients, which include fish, chicken, mushroom, bamboo, ginko, and eel. It was by far one of the most “packed” Chawanmushi I had when it came to the ingredients.

Absolutely delicious!

Overall: Yossou Food Review

What to eat at Yossou Nagasaki

All in all, Yossou is a great place to try authentic Japanese cuisine. It is not exactly the usual food we get to eat in other parts of Japan. But it’s worth a try when visiting Nagasaki. Excellent place to eat local cuisine in Nagasaki.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful time exploring Nagasaki!

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Visiting Kyushu and looking for some inspiration for what to do in Kyushu then be sure to read our Kyushu travel blog here: How To Plan Your Kyushu Itinerary: Ultimate Guide