Nostalgic Western food, protected by soft stone walls.

Restaurant Noya

Kawabata, who works the kitchen, joined a hotel restaurant after graduating from university, then went on to gain experience in French and Italian cuisine before opening "Pooh Yokocho" in 1985 and "Restaurant Noya" in 1998. The sister restaurant, Pooh Yokocho, is also housed in a former onion warehouse built of soft stone. When renovation work first began there, photo studio owners and florists reportedly showed up a step too late, disappointed to learn the space was already spoken for. Ever since, Kawabata has carried the thought — "what if they had rented this place instead" — and a wish never to monopolize this soft-stone building for himself alone. That's part of why Noya now hosts exhibitions of flowers, paintings, and photography, as well as rakugo performances, and has become especially known for its live music events. The building's soft-stone construction is well regarded for its ideal acoustics, drawing musicians from all across the country.

Open the "Recipe Book," styled like an old school attendance ledger, and you'll find yourself torn over the sheer variety of the menu. Beyond pasta, pizza, and doria, there are unconventional items like ojiya (Japanese-style rice porridge). All the sauces used in the cooking are made in-house. The white sauce for the seafood doria skips heavy cream for a lighter finish, pairing with the shop's special tomato rice to bring out the flavor of the scallops and flatfish. According to Kawabata, old reference texts inspired techniques like adding chicken flavor to milk for extra richness, or blending in Dutch Edam cheese with the mixed cheese for added depth — no effort is spared in pursuit of flavor. That same meticulous care extends beyond the food, into the interior and furnishings, and the restaurant as a whole. That, perhaps, is the real charm behind Noya's more than 15 years of drawing people back.