3 days ago
Discover some of the best snacks in Atami, a wonderland of Japanese street food
There's a lot more to the city than just hot springs and seaside views.
While there are beaches in the capital, most Tokyoites travel to one of the nearby seaside resorts in one of the neighboring prefectures to get their dose of sunshine with an ocean view. While Enoshima and Zushi are both excellent options for soaking up the rays nearby, if you're willing to go a little farther, Atami in Shizuoka is also an amazing location to enjoy.
Of course, visitors will want to hit up Atami Sun Beach, but the city is also well known for its hot springs and museums. However, the one part that should not be missing from an itinerary involving Atami is the street food.
As we discovered on our recent visit there, the shopping streets right next to Atami Station are packed with locations serving mouth-watering treats, and have a wonderful lively atmosphere even on weekdays.
To the right of the bus rotary behind Atami Station, you will find the shopping arcade called Nakamise-dori Shotengai, as well as Heiwa-dori Meitengai, which runs parallel to it. First, we'll take a look at Heiwa-dori.
Close to the entrance of the street, we spotted a line of people outside a shop named Maruten, which offers freshly fried iso-age (deep-fried fish cakes).
With eyes sparkling in anticipation, we joined the line and picked up the Shrimp Mayo Stick for 420 yen (US$2.83). It was surprisingly hefty and piping hot. Biting into it, we were hit with the springy texture of the shrimp and oozing mayonnaise. It was unbelievably good. While there's no seating at this store — customers usually stand and eat outside stores like this — there are plenty of benches throughout the shopping street, so you can easily find somewhere to sit and eat comfortably.
Continuing on, we passed by several shops selling Atami's specialties of hot spring steamed buns and dried fish, as well as a place where you can dip your hands into the local hot spring water, if you didn't get a chance to hop into the footbath near the station. We even spied cute square cream puffs at Atami Square Chou a la crème, and beautifully displayed fruit sandwiches at Atami Fruit King.
Reaching the end of the street, we looped around to the outside and found ourselves surrounded by even more enticing shops like Atami Milchee's, where you can buy Basque cheesecakes and Bon Bon Berry, which looked to be stuffed full of strawberries.
As hard as we tried to resist, we eventually caved and bought a standard pudding from Atami Purin for 400 yen. While there's usually a long line, we happened to pass by during a time when there were no customers at all, so if that's not a divine sign saying that we had to buy one, then what is?
The only regret we had was that before we'd pulled into Atami, we had already eaten lunch, so we were pretty full. We decided to leave the pudding for the next day, and the bitter caramel made for a perfect pairing with the rich egg flavor. It was undeniably delicious.
Following our jaunt down Heiwa-dori, we strolled around into Nakamise-dori, which is no less dangerous for the small-stomached, with shops like Atami Gelato King, Atami Yogurt, and Mataichian's Atami Butter An, all tempting us to indulge in just one more little treat.
We were weak and we couldn't help ourselves — the sweetened yogurt from Atami Yogurt (400 yen) just looked too good to pass up on. It had this unique, stretchy texture that was akin to what you'd find in Turkish ice cream, which had us twisting and twirling it around. Despite being sweetened, it wasn't overly so, and had a mild tartness with a refreshing flavor. It was definitely worth purchasing.
Passing by a dried fish shop called Aoki, we stumbled across something a little unusual: Dry-cured tuna (1,209 yen). We decided to pick some up as a souvenir, since it's not a product you generally see in Tokyo.
We continued down the hill toward the ocean, reaching a third shopping street in about 15 minutes on foot. As we wandered through Atami Ginza, we were drawn to shops like Kiito, known for its thinly layered Mont Blancs, and Chabakka Tea Parks, a Japanese tea shop, but we held strong.
We had a purpose to our journey, a destination that must be reached with room to spare in our stomach: The matcha dessert specialty store Atami Satori, which is known to serve crepes where you can fully enjoy the taste of matcha. Knowing that, we knew we had to check it out.
We ordered the Big Atamai!!! Crispy Crepe for 850 yen. It's a crepe designed to highlight the natural aroma and flavor of matcha, so it comes without fillings, only matcha sauce and a sprinkling of nuts. Biting into it, it was thin and crispy, and the bitterness of the tea really came through.
As we worked our way through the impressively sized crepe, a group of older ladies happened to pass by and spot it, prompting exclamations of 'Oh, my! What a large crepe!', 'Huh? There's nothing inside it?' and 'Is it tasty? Is it?' They seemed so adorably excited by the crepe that we offered a little bite to them, creating one of those fond little travel memories.
Coming out of the final shopping street, we discovered a restaurant called Himono Dining Kamanari, which specializes in dried fish dishes, as well as offering dried fish chips and burgers for takeout. We've added it to our must-visit list for our next journey to Atami.
Our final stop of the day was Atami Seaside Park, where we enjoyed a stroll along the promenade as we gazed out at the ocean. It's also a great location from which to watch Atami's fireworks displays.
There were many shops that sold food, miscellaneous goods, and vintage clothing, so our excitement levels stayed high throughout the entire walk as we continued to discover new and interesting places that we absolutely must go to in the future.
Atami is a fantastic destination for a holiday with family, friends, or even just by yourself. With so many things to do and delicious things to eat, you're bound to have a great time. Just be sure to arrive with an empty stomach and leave time for a leisurely walk once you're full.
Related: Maruten, Atami Square Chou a la crème, Atami Fruit King, Atami Milchee's, Bon Bon Berry, Atami Purin, Atami Gelato King, Atami Yogurt, Mataichian's Atami Butter An, Aoki, Kiito, Chabakka Tea Parks, Atami Satori, Hoshimono Dining Kamanari
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