Food-wise, Miyakonojo has many restaurants and quaint culinary gems hidden away and ready to be unearthed by the intrepid.

Taste of Jamaica (website/menu)
One of Miyakonojo’s own foreign residents, Nathaniel Salmon, opened up a delivery services for the most amazing Jamaican food. Having worked as a villa chef and cooked for many high profile customers, Nathaniel is a certified and talented chef. You can have jerk chicken, BBQ fried chicken, stewed beef of pork, banana fritters, homemade lemonade, and so many more Jamaican staples delivered right to your door (Miyakonojo and Mimata only) for a great price! There are even sets available to enjoy a feast with friends. Pre-ordering at least a day in advance is strongly recommended and can be done by calling 080-9142-1530 or emailing Nathaniel at njs_salmon@yahoo.com.
There is a cafe in the works for the near future.

Tomato Ramen
A sensational ramen venture that makes the most of pro-vegetarian palates in the most delectable way. Starting with a tomato-based broth, you can customize your ramen with any number of variety of ingredients and toppings!
Locations: Opposite Hirose on Route 332. Opposite Sushiro on Route 10

Daruma Pizza (map)
An amazing alternative gift shop with a pizza shop in the back! Slightly difficult to find the first time but you won’t go anywhere else for pizza once you have found Daruma.

Sushiro
Super cheap kaitenzushi restaurant. Pretty tasty, but it can get busy!!
Locations: Rt.10 (City Hall),  Rt. 10 (North)

Sushi Tora (map)
A more up market sushi place just past the Jusco Old Aeon Mall. Sushi is more expensive than Sushiro but A LOT nicer…still pretty busy here too!

Sajwan (map)
Indian restaurant just off of route 10. The oldest Indian restaurant in the ‘Jo! Definitely try the honey glazed nan bread.

Pasta Café 1973 (map)
A small pasta and pizza café on Route 33. The staff are super friendly and they have an amazing selection of tea, juice and Italian desserts. If a break from the Japanese style pizzas (mayonnaise, potato, shrimp, mayo, ham that they call “bacon”, and more mayo), is in order then look no further than Pasta Cafe 1973.

K & E Diner (map)
This is an American diner on the top end of Route 10. The diner offers a great selection of burgers, fish and chips, onion rings, hot dogs, rich desserts and real American beverages like Dr Peppers and Mt Dew. It’s a foreign favourite in the ‘Jo so a reservation is recommended for large groups. The menu is in English with Japanese description and the chefs can customise dishes to cater for dietary requirements.

Burger Cabin – (map)
Homemade burgers at a cabin in the Sankyu supermarket car park. The burger patties are pretty thin but they are relatively cheap and taste great. Go early because they sell out fast!

SFLA Cafe (map)
Cafe by day, Bar by night.  If you happen to be around during the day the 750 Yen lunch specials are all spectacular.  The menu itself rotates during the week so always expect something new and exciting.  During the night this cafe boasts some amazing cocktails as well.

Bamboo Cafe (map)
A strong contender for favourite cafes in the Miyakonojo area – this cafe boasts a solid selection of food.  The atmosphere is quite delightful and unique – a warm rustic industrial decor with a bit of flavour from the owner’s love of motorcycles. We strongly recommend the Avocado Taco Rice from this cafe – best we’ve had anywhere!

King’s Restaurant “Olive” (map)
This is a perfect cafe for animal lovers! This charming cafe has a beautiful bird enclosure made entirely of glass in the centre for patrons to enjoy. In the back of the restaurant there are pet rabbits to play with – so cute! This cafe is a perfect spot for dates but also caters to groups well. The Couple’s Set gives you quite a bit of bang for your buck – 2 main dishes, 1 large salad to share, 1 large pizza to share, 2 desserts, and unlimited drink bar access all for 1500 Yen each.  Definitely go with your special someone, a good friend, or some some random stranger – it’s really quite the restaurant!

Tanaka Fruits (map)
If you are craving delicious parfaits, look no further than Tanaka Fruits. This is one of the most popular and well known restaurants in the Miyakonojo area, and for good reason.  The parfaits taste as good as they look, and damn do they look tasty! We recommend their mixed fruit parfait if ever there’s a chance to visit. Ever wonder what a tropical paradise tastes like? Tanaka Fruits’ parfaits can answer that question!

Muna (map)
Indian curry restaurant with all-you-can-eat naan! The cheese nan is a solid 10/10. The staff speak Japanese, Hindi and some English and their ability to remember a face is uncanny. The butter chicken set for ¥1,500 will get you a half sized rice or nan, butter chicken, a side salad, soup, a drink and two pieces of tandoori chicken. Never mind the spiciest number 10 option, the real challenge is finishing it all!

Cafe Medusa (map)
Owned by a local couple, Carmen and Julian. They speak phenomenal English, and have hands-down the best coffee in town!

Hamazushi (map)
Hamazushi is a 100円 kaitenzushi (sushi train) restaurant. With counter or table seating options, Hamazushi can cater for solo dining or group outings. On the weekends, it’s absolutely packed so either expect to wait a short while or aim for weekdays instead. The menu is in both Japanese and English and there are meat options for the seafood disinclined out there. Open until 11pm, it’s a great option for late night hunger.

Megumiya
Megumiya is an Izakaya chain (Japanese-style pub). This place gets ridiculously busy, so reservations are recommended. There are three Megumiya’s in the ‘Jo.
Locations: near Miyakonojo City Hall, Mutamachi, Okimizu district. 

Coco Ichibanya (map)
A Japanese curry chain with cheap curry. Eat-in and take away options available.

Curry Club Ruu (map)
Curry Club Ruu is a Miyakonojo secret, even though they’ve appeared on national television multiple times for their amazing curry. They’re open in two bursts during the day; 11am-5pm and 6pm-9pm. Their chicken nanban curry is their most famous dish and possibly amongst the best nanbans available in Miyazaki which is saying something of the prefectures specialty dish. If not for the curry, go to meet the yellow mask wearing Curry Club Hero!

Ippu (map)
An okonomiyaki and ramen shop.

Dinner Restaurant Ryu (map)
For that chicken nanban craving!