Eating Nagoya food in your room: where to get takeout and how to enjoy it in a stay with a kitchen

Nagoya food is not only for eating at the restaurant: you can take it away and eat it in your room. ESCA, the underground mall at Nagoya Station, lists hitsumabushi, Yabaton miso katsu bento, tebasaki chicken wings and tenmusu among its takeout options on its official site. Nagoya Umaimon-dori inside Nagoya Station also sells takeout and souvenirs. In a private stay with a kitchen and microwave, you can reheat it and eat at your own pace, even with children or a large group. This article explains where to get takeout and how to enjoy it in your room.

Where can you get Nagoya food to take away?

Nagoya Station is the most convenient. ESCA, the underground mall on the Shinkansen side of the station, lists its takeout options on its official site, including these Nagoya specialties:

• Hitsumabushi (grilled eel on rice): from three shops
• Miso katsu: Yabaton's waraji tonkatsu bento and hire tonkatsu bento
• Tebasaki (chicken wings): Furaibo and Torikai Sohonten (Torikai Sohonten also has a Nagoya Cochin oyakodon)
• Tenmusu (shrimp tempura rice balls): Senju Honten
• Others: curry udon from Wakashachiya, takeout from Komeda's Coffee and more

ESCA is 1 minute's walk from JR Nagoya Station. Shops are open 10:00–20:30 and restaurants 10:00–22:30 (some differ), and it is closed on 1 January, the 3rd Thursday of February and the 2nd Thursday of September. Items and prices may change, so check ESCA's official site for the latest.

Nagoya Umaimon-dori, on the Taiko-dori side of Nagoya Station, has 17 Nagoya food restaurants, including Misen, Yabaton, Maruya Honten and Ekikama Kishimen, and you can buy takeout and souvenirs there too. What each restaurant offers to take away varies, so ask at the counter.

Beyond Nagoya Station, the long-established hitsumabushi restaurant Atsuta Horaiken has a takeout-only shop, the Matsuzakaya Chika store. Atsuta Horaiken's official site says its takeout-only menu is also popular as a Nagoya souvenir. It is a good stop on the way back from shopping in Sakae.

Can you get breakfast to take away too?

ESCA's cafés are open 7:00–22:30 (some differ), and its takeout list includes Komeda's Coffee takeout. You can stop by on the morning of an early Shinkansen or on a day you pass through Nagoya Station. In a stay with a kitchen, you can also have breakfast in your room with bread or fruit bought the day before. With an electric kettle, you can make coffee or tea in the room.

How to eat your takeout in your room

ESCA's takeout page says its items should be eaten on the day of purchase. Head straight back to your stay and make it that evening's dinner. With a microwave, you can reheat anything that has gone cold.

• Hitsumabushi: according to the long-established Atsuta Horaiken, eating it with condiments or as ochazuke (with tea poured over) became established in the Meiji era. Boil water in the electric kettle to make tea, and you can have it ochazuke-style in your room
• Miso katsu bento: fried food can be reheated in the microwave
• Tebasaki: share around the table with beer or tea
• Tenmusu: small rice balls, easy to share alongside other dishes

Why eat in your room?

Popular Nagoya food restaurants can have queues at lunch and dinner. Takeout means less time queuing and no waiting for a table. Families with small children can eat without worrying about others around them. A large group can buy hitsumabushi, miso katsu, tebasaki and tenmusu from different shops and compare them at one table. At a restaurant you only eat that restaurant's food, but in your room you can lay out several Nagoya dishes and try a little of everything.

On a long trip, eating out every day can be tiring. Mixing days of eating out, takeout and cooking for yourselves helps you keep a comfortable pace.

Tips for getting takeout for a big group

• Split the shopping: hitsumabushi, miso katsu, tebasaki and tenmusu come from different shops. Dividing up the buying cuts the waiting time
• Decide quantities first: agree on what and how many to buy before you reach the counter
• Plan the reheating order: a microwave can only take so much at once, so start with what is best eaten hot, such as fried food
• Use the stay's tableware: House and Residence have cookware and tableware, so you can put food on plates and share it
• Eat it the same day: as ESCA advises, buy only what you can finish that day

What is in the kitchens at Central Nagoya?

All three Central Nagoya stays (Stays, House and Residence) have a kitchen, and no meals are served. The kitchen at House has a 2-burner gas hob, fridge, microwave, rice cooker and electric kettle, plus cookware and tableware, and a dining table big enough for a large group. The kitchen at Residence has a gas hob, fridge, microwave and electric kettle, plus cookware and tableware, and also a dining table for a large group. At House you can cook rice in the rice cooker to go with your takeout dishes.

How far is it from the stays to Nagoya Station?

From Nakamura Koen Station, the nearest station to House and Residence, Nagoya Station is 4 stops on the Higashiyama Line with no change, about 7 minutes and 240 yen. House is 7 minutes' walk from Nakamura Koen Station and Residence 2 minutes. Stays is 4 minutes' walk from Taiko-dori Station, 1 stop from Nagoya Station on the Sakura-dori Line. After buying takeout at Nagoya Station, you can get back with no change.

What are the rules for eating in?

• The stays are in residential areas. Please keep quiet from 20:00 to 8:00 at House and after 20:00 at Residence
• No parties or events
• No smoking anywhere
• Please follow the stay's guide for rubbish

Because of the evening quiet hours, starting your takeout dinner early gives you time to enjoy it slowly.

• A week in Nagoya like a local →
• Long stays: choosing a place with a kitchen →
• Where to stay near Nagoya Station with a kitchen →

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